Defense continues to paint Webb as a suspect in murder trial

CANTON — Defense attorneys called another witness in the murder trial of Wayne T. Oxley Jr. Thursday that pointed to Robert “Chase” C. Webb as the one who killed Bernard A. Trickey Jr.

Wayne Simmons, who is incarcerated at the St. Lawrence County jail, said he was in the county jail in 2005 when he overheard Mr. Webb say that he and his brother murdered Mr. Trickey.

Jamal Thompson, a federal prisoner, testified that he could not remember anything. Judge Jerome J. Richards ruled that Mr. Thompson was unavailable to testify.

Oxley’s attorney, Peter A. Dumas, Malone, told Judge Richards he thought Mr. Thompson was lying.

Partially redacted testimony from the 2010 trial will be read into the record by District Attorney Nicole M. Duvé and Mr. Dumas.

Ms. Duvé also got her chance to begin cross-examining Michelle A. Disotell, who testified that Mr. Webb told her a week before the murder that he wanted to kill Mr. Trickey. She said he was at Mr. Trickey’s home the night of the murder. And she testified Mr. Webb told her he was the one who killed Mr. Trickey.

But Ms. Disotell’s story has been far from consistent since the first trial.

Months before Oxley’s second trial, Ms. Disotell told prosecutors that she didn’t know what the truth was, and she was not at Mr. Trickey’s home the night of the murder.

In cross-examination, Ms. Duvé focused on that statement from July 2010. She will continue her questioning Friday. She may also use portions of Ms. Disotell’s mental health history despite strong objections from Ms. Disotell’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Robert Ballan, who described her as being vulnerable.

Mr. Ballan said it is an intrusion of Ms. Disotell’s privacy and a threat to her.

“It goes right at the heart of her credibility,” Judge Richards said.

Judge Richards told her she could be charged for perjury for her different testimony.

“She chose to testify,” Judge Richards said. “It’s not anybody’s fault but her own.”

Oxley, Ogdensburg, is accused of beating his neighbor Mr. Trickey to death with a wooden baseball bat in August 2005.

Oxley was convicted of second-degree murder, but an appellate court sent the case back for a retrial. A second trial ended with a hung jury.