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Witness in murder retrial claims Powell confessed
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| Warren Powell makes his way to the courtroom for the resumption of his murder trial Monday in Columbia County Court. (Robert Ragaini/Hudson-Catskill Newspapers) |
Day six of testimony includes convict and defendant's former employer
By Andrew Amelinckx
HUDSON — Testimony concerning an alleged jailhouse confession came to light Monday during the second-degree murder retrial of Warren Powell being held in Columbia County Court in Hudson.
This is the second time the 38-year-old Valatie native has stood trial for the murder of his 22-year-old first wife, Mary Ann Powell.
He was convicted in 1997 of strangling his wife to death in their Halfmoon home on Oct. 1, 1994. The victim’s body was found in 1996 washed ashore at Gay’s Point on the Hudson River near Stockport.
Powell’s conviction was reversed in 2004 due to a procedural error by the court.
The first witness Monday, the sixth day of testimony, was Powell’s former employer James Pourcaro, who is the owner and operator of Apex Sewer and Drain, where Powell worked in 1994.
According to the witness, Powell called him up the night of Oct. 1, 1994 and asked him if he could work the next day. “I assume to make some extra money,” Pourcaro said. “He was not scheduled to work.”
This is in direct contrast to what Powell told police at the time of his wife’s disappearance. According to police, Powell told them that Pourcaro had called him and asked him to come to work on Sunday.
During cross-examination by Powell’s attorney, Stephen Coffey, Pourcaro said that Powell did work that Sunday and that he had several service calls.
Joseph Hutton, a 47-year-old convict was next to take the stand.
According to Hutton, Powell confessed to killing his wife to him in 1995 while Hutton was at Powell’s residence in Schenectady.
Hutton said that he was having trouble with a woman and complained to Powell about it.
“He told me ‘you could just get rid of her just like I did’, ” recalled Hutton. He said Powell then told him that he had “done in” his wife after an argument. “I didn’t even know he had a wife until then,” said Hutton.
He was also unaware of Mary Ann Powell’s disappearance in 1994.
Hutton has a long criminal history and by his own estimation has spent close to 20 of the last 30 years behind bars. “I’ve done the time for every crime,” he said.
He is currently serving time in Florida for drug possession and aggravated assault.
“All my crimes were victimless,” Hutton said. He elaborated, saying that the aggravated assault conviction came from a high-speed chase with police on the back roads of Highlands County, Fla. “Nobody was hurt,” he said.
He said he came forward with the information about Powell because he felt the authorities needed to know.
“I want people to know the truth,” said Hutton.
According to Hutton, he did not receive anything for his testimony. “There’s nothing you could do for me,” he told Senior Assistant District Attorney David Costanzo during direct-examination.
Hutton said he was looking forward to getting back to prison in Florida, citing the fact that there was nothing to do at the “raggedy county jail.”
The next witness, Donald Boyle, also gave testimony concerning an alleged confession by Powell, this one inside the Schenectady County Jail.
According to Boyle, he, Powell and a man he only knew as “Indian Joe” were playing cards together in May 1997.
Boyle was serving a 30-day sentence for a DWI conviction and Powell was in on suspicion of killing his wife. Boyle could not recall the exact details of how the conversation began, but, he said, Powell said something in the presence of the two men that made them stop talking and look at one another.
“I can’t believe I killed my own kid,” Boyle recalled Powell saying, adding, “there were tears welling up in his eyes.”
He said the three of them continued to play cards and neither he nor “Indian Joe” questioned Powell further.
Boyle did not testify in the original trial. He said he saw on the news that Powell’s case had been overturned in 2004 and decided to come forward with the information at that time.
“I though he was going away for 40 years and I wouldn’t have to get involved,” Boyle said of not coming forward earlier. “I had my own problems.”
Boyle was referring to Powell’s drug conviction from Schenectady County, for which he is currently serving a 15 to 30-year sentence.
The next witness to take the stand was Columbia County Coroner Angelo Nero. He said in March 1996 he was called out concerning the recovery of a body.
“A bag was found along the river,” he said, “with human remains inside.”
The bag had been found by Walter Werhammer of Cairo who had been walking with his wife at Gay’s Point.
The hockey bag was moved from the swampy area where it was found by New York State Police via boat to dry land at Stuyvesant Landing, said Nero.
He removed the body found inside to a body bag and the remains were transported to St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany for an autopsy. He said there were rocks found inside the bag.
During cross-examination Nero told the jury that he and several others moved the body from the hockey bag. Coffey, from his opening statement onward, has questioned whether it was possible for one person to move a bag and body weighing up to 220 pounds, especially by boat as the prosecution contends.
The last witness of the day was Randell Plass, a butcher at Price Chopper who is also a Stockport firefighter and avid boater. He said he has been boating on the Hudson for close to 30 years and is familiar with Gay’s Point and the various boat launches nearby.
He said he used to launch his boat from Newton Hook, at the end of Ferry Road, before barriers were put up to stop people from launching boats at that spot. He said he believed the barriers were put up in the early 1990s.
This testimony was in direct contradiction to a prosecution witness from last week.
Holly Gervais, a member of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation took the stand last Thursday and testified to the fact that the Ferry Road parking lot, which is cared for by Encon, had barriers put up in 2005 by the agency to prevent boats on trailers from entering the Hudson River at the spot.
According to both Gervais and Plass, Gay’s Point was less than a mile from the parking lot. Plass estimated it would take between five to seven minutes to reach the point from the landing.
Plass also testified there were five houses on Ferry Road in 1994 and that there were no houses near the launch.
Coffey, during cross-examination, asked Plass about the Stuyvesant boat launch. Plass said there were houses that look out toward the boat launch.
Coffey asked if there was a launch north of Stuyvesant to which Plass replied there was — the Newton Hook Boat Club — but he wasn’t sure what county it was located in.
The defense attorney also questioned Plass on whether he had ever taken a boat out on the Hudson at night without lights. He said he had. Coffey has contended that if his client had dumped his wife’s body in the river it would have been at night, without lights and therefore incredibly dangerous. Plass didn’t seem to think it so. “I don’t really agree that lights would help you on the river,” he said.
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call 518-828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com.
By Andrew Amelinckx
HUDSON — Testimony concerning an alleged jailhouse confession came to light Monday during the second-degree murder retrial of Warren Powell being held in Columbia County Court in Hudson.
This is the second time the 38-year-old Valatie native has stood trial for the murder of his 22-year-old first wife, Mary Ann Powell.
He was convicted in 1997 of strangling his wife to death in their Halfmoon home on Oct. 1, 1994. The victim’s body was found in 1996 washed ashore at Gay’s Point on the Hudson River near Stockport.
Powell’s conviction was reversed in 2004 due to a procedural error by the court.
The first witness Monday, the sixth day of testimony, was Powell’s former employer James Pourcaro, who is the owner and operator of Apex Sewer and Drain, where Powell worked in 1994.
According to the witness, Powell called him up the night of Oct. 1, 1994 and asked him if he could work the next day. “I assume to make some extra money,” Pourcaro said. “He was not scheduled to work.”
This is in direct contrast to what Powell told police at the time of his wife’s disappearance. According to police, Powell told them that Pourcaro had called him and asked him to come to work on Sunday.
During cross-examination by Powell’s attorney, Stephen Coffey, Pourcaro said that Powell did work that Sunday and that he had several service calls.
Joseph Hutton, a 47-year-old convict was next to take the stand.
According to Hutton, Powell confessed to killing his wife to him in 1995 while Hutton was at Powell’s residence in Schenectady.
Hutton said that he was having trouble with a woman and complained to Powell about it.
“He told me ‘you could just get rid of her just like I did’, ” recalled Hutton. He said Powell then told him that he had “done in” his wife after an argument. “I didn’t even know he had a wife until then,” said Hutton.
He was also unaware of Mary Ann Powell’s disappearance in 1994.
Hutton has a long criminal history and by his own estimation has spent close to 20 of the last 30 years behind bars. “I’ve done the time for every crime,” he said.
He is currently serving time in Florida for drug possession and aggravated assault.
“All my crimes were victimless,” Hutton said. He elaborated, saying that the aggravated assault conviction came from a high-speed chase with police on the back roads of Highlands County, Fla. “Nobody was hurt,” he said.
He said he came forward with the information about Powell because he felt the authorities needed to know.
“I want people to know the truth,” said Hutton.
According to Hutton, he did not receive anything for his testimony. “There’s nothing you could do for me,” he told Senior Assistant District Attorney David Costanzo during direct-examination.
Hutton said he was looking forward to getting back to prison in Florida, citing the fact that there was nothing to do at the “raggedy county jail.”
The next witness, Donald Boyle, also gave testimony concerning an alleged confession by Powell, this one inside the Schenectady County Jail.
According to Boyle, he, Powell and a man he only knew as “Indian Joe” were playing cards together in May 1997.
Boyle was serving a 30-day sentence for a DWI conviction and Powell was in on suspicion of killing his wife. Boyle could not recall the exact details of how the conversation began, but, he said, Powell said something in the presence of the two men that made them stop talking and look at one another.
“I can’t believe I killed my own kid,” Boyle recalled Powell saying, adding, “there were tears welling up in his eyes.”
He said the three of them continued to play cards and neither he nor “Indian Joe” questioned Powell further.
Boyle did not testify in the original trial. He said he saw on the news that Powell’s case had been overturned in 2004 and decided to come forward with the information at that time.
“I though he was going away for 40 years and I wouldn’t have to get involved,” Boyle said of not coming forward earlier. “I had my own problems.”
Boyle was referring to Powell’s drug conviction from Schenectady County, for which he is currently serving a 15 to 30-year sentence.
The next witness to take the stand was Columbia County Coroner Angelo Nero. He said in March 1996 he was called out concerning the recovery of a body.
“A bag was found along the river,” he said, “with human remains inside.”
The bag had been found by Walter Werhammer of Cairo who had been walking with his wife at Gay’s Point.
The hockey bag was moved from the swampy area where it was found by New York State Police via boat to dry land at Stuyvesant Landing, said Nero.
He removed the body found inside to a body bag and the remains were transported to St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany for an autopsy. He said there were rocks found inside the bag.
During cross-examination Nero told the jury that he and several others moved the body from the hockey bag. Coffey, from his opening statement onward, has questioned whether it was possible for one person to move a bag and body weighing up to 220 pounds, especially by boat as the prosecution contends.
The last witness of the day was Randell Plass, a butcher at Price Chopper who is also a Stockport firefighter and avid boater. He said he has been boating on the Hudson for close to 30 years and is familiar with Gay’s Point and the various boat launches nearby.
He said he used to launch his boat from Newton Hook, at the end of Ferry Road, before barriers were put up to stop people from launching boats at that spot. He said he believed the barriers were put up in the early 1990s.
This testimony was in direct contradiction to a prosecution witness from last week.
Holly Gervais, a member of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation took the stand last Thursday and testified to the fact that the Ferry Road parking lot, which is cared for by Encon, had barriers put up in 2005 by the agency to prevent boats on trailers from entering the Hudson River at the spot.
According to both Gervais and Plass, Gay’s Point was less than a mile from the parking lot. Plass estimated it would take between five to seven minutes to reach the point from the landing.
Plass also testified there were five houses on Ferry Road in 1994 and that there were no houses near the launch.
Coffey, during cross-examination, asked Plass about the Stuyvesant boat launch. Plass said there were houses that look out toward the boat launch.
Coffey asked if there was a launch north of Stuyvesant to which Plass replied there was — the Newton Hook Boat Club — but he wasn’t sure what county it was located in.
The defense attorney also questioned Plass on whether he had ever taken a boat out on the Hudson at night without lights. He said he had. Coffey has contended that if his client had dumped his wife’s body in the river it would have been at night, without lights and therefore incredibly dangerous. Plass didn’t seem to think it so. “I don’t really agree that lights would help you on the river,” he said.
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call 518-828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com.
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