Double murder trial day 3: Fathers of the victims testify about the day their sons went missing
The two fathers struggled to remain composed on the witness stand, trying not to display their sadness and devastation as they testified about the day in March 2017 when their sons went missing and not learning until September of that year their sons went missing because they were murdered.
It was about two months after that, when police charged one of the three defendants standing trial beginning last week when the jury was chosen for the murder of friends, James Smith, 32, of Portage, and Damian Staniszewski, 19, of Duncansville.
Samson Ezekiel Washington, 30, Johnstown, and Devon Lee David Wyrick, 28, Hollidaysburg, formerly Columbus, Ohio, were the first to be accused of the murder of Smith and Staniszewski. Wyrick was severed from the cases and trial regarding the co-defendants the morning of jury selection.
Then on April 30, 2021, Deandre Callender, 29, Somerset, and Marekus Edward Benson, 32, Johnstown, were charged in relationship to the murder on April 30, 2021.
Washington, Callender and Benson are joined as defendants in the case. However, Each of the three defendants allegedly had different roles in the case, and thus, the jurors will have to decide whether they are guilty or not guilty on each of the charges separately.
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Since 2017, the defense has taken on a different look. At one time there were six defendants, then there were five and then four and last week on the day when the jury was to be picked that number went down to three.
On Monday, the third day of the murder trial held in Somerset County Court of Common Pleas, the prosecution called its first witnesses to the stand — Tim Smith, James' father, and Sean Staniszewski, Damien's father.
What the dads had to say
Sean Staniszewski's son James, was living with his grandparents, to help care for Sean's father, he said.
"Our relationship was outstanding," he said about his son. He spoke with him every day.
He spoke with him last on the morning of March 27, 2017. He worried when he didn't hear from him later that day. "I tried to telephone, and text him. Nothing. The following day he received the information that his father's truck was found near a wooded area in Somerset County. He was told to go get it.
"My first impression was that the windows were down. Then, there were no keys in the truck," he testified.
Later when he cleaned the truck he discovered shell casings, he said.
Smith's father said his now deceased former wife called him on March 28, 2017, about their missing son. He drove all around looking for him and then reported him missing to the Portage police.
"I was at a football game in Meyersdale when I learned bones were found at Somerset Pike," he testified as he fought tears.
Case background
Smith and Staniszewski allegedly stole a large quantity of drugs and money from a stash house in Johnstown a day before they went missing on March 27. Once that incident was discovered by members of the East Main Money Gang out of Columbus, Ohio, which allegedly had made inroads in the Johnstown area and was associated with the stash house in question, the two men were put through an ordeal that led to their death. First they were taken by force from the parking lot at the Galleria Mall. Next they were moved to the basement of the stash house in Moxham. And last their horrific experience ended with bullets in a wooded area along Ligonier Pike in Conemaugh Township, Somerset County, according to court documents.
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Building the roadmap
On Monday, the prosecution and two of the defense attorneys presented opening statements to the jury. Opening statements are essentially a roadmap that provides each sides' theories of the case and how they plan to develop those theories.
The prosecution went first.
"Drugs, money, murder, that is why we are here today," said Senior Deputy Attorney General Evan Lowry II. He and Deputy Attorney Kara Rice are prosecuting the case for the state Attorney General's Office.
"There are three killers in the courtroom and they are behind me," he said facing the jury with the defense tables behind him.
Lowry said that the prosecution will answer the question of why the gang out of Ohio came to Johnstown and why they "set up shop."
He delved into why Smith and Staniszewski became victims.
The two victims took drugs and money from the stash house and the gang members wanted it back. Additionally, a statement needed to be made, he said.
The statement: "We put two bullets in your head and leave you in the woods to rot," Lowry said.
Many of the witnesses are addicts and drug dealers, he said.
"It is what it is. But, because someone is an addict or someone has a criminal record, that doesn't mean they are lying," Lowry said. "Just because the Commonwealth makes a deal with a witness for their testimony does not mean they are lying."
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The defense went second.
Washington's attorneys, Jaclyn Shaw, of Pittsburgh, Ashlan Clark, of Ebensburg, decided to wait to make their opening statement until after the prosecution presents its case.
Somerset attorney Matthew Zatko, who represents Callender, told the jury that his client could not be connected to any of the scenes where the crimes are alleged to have happened.
"Mr. Callender was not at the Galleria, not at Boyer Avenue (stash house) when the men were stripped and beaten and he was not in the woods (where they were shot to death)," he said.
Callender was with seven individuals in three cars that went to Portage on March 27 to find Smith, but did not do so, he said. "They had no plan or agreement to do anything when they got back," Zatko said.
His client was not seen again after that, he said.
Somerset attorney Patrick Svonevac told the jury that evidence will show that the prosecution did not present important evidence that because it did not fit their narrative of the events leading up to and the death of Smith and Staniszewski.
"It is important to ask yourself, 'What am I not hearing?'" Svonevac said.
Additionally, he stressed, that it is important that the evidence is not the same against each of the three defendants. Since they are all defendants in the case, and if guilt is found with one of them then "convict them all. That is not your job," he told the jury.
The judge addresses the jury
"Pay close attention to everything going on in the courtroom," said Judge Scott Bittner to the jury. "I don't want you to miss anything," he said.
Then the judge went over the procedure of the trial with the jury, as well as definition of the charges filed against the defendants.
Bittner reminded the jury not to talk about what goes on in the courtroom until after the end of the process, even to each other, until the deliberation phase, or family members and friends until the end of the trial.
"Allowing outside influences is unfair or prejudicial," he said.
Additionally, the judge told the jury not to be concerned with what the possible punishment might be for the defendants.
"The question of guilt and punishment are separate questions," he said.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Fathers of two murder victims testify about their sons gone missing