NORWICH – Wednesday, witnesses recalled the events of a cold April night six years ago that ended in the death of a local nurse and charges of murder being brought against her husband. On the second day of testimony in Chenango County Court, the prosecution in the Peter M. Wlasiuk murder trial called six witnesses who all played a role on the night of the alleged homicide.
District Attorney Joseph A. McBride called emergency medical technicians, an emergency room doctor and the local citizens who were the first to arrive on the crime scene, to give their version of events on the night Peter Wlasiuk’s wife Patricia, 35, died on April 3, 2002.
Peter Wlasiuk was arrested on April 8 that year, and that fall, a Chenango County jury convicted him of second degree murder. The New York State Appellate Division overturned that verdict on Aug. 31, 2006, saying “a litany of errors” effectively deprived the defendant of a fair trial.
Wlasiuk, 39, is again charged with second degree murder in the death of his wife. Prosecutors contend Wlasiuk killed his wife at their Oxford home and later staged a Guilford Lake truck accident to cover it up.
Three people were staying in a nearby lake house when they were suddenly awakened at about 12:30 a.m. by banging on the cabin walls and front door. Steven Schweichler and Thomas and Jessica Becker all testified Wednesday they heard no sounds of an accident or screaming before a “hysterical” Peter Wlasiuk came to their Guilford Lake cottage looking for help.
Thomas Becker, who is now a state trooper, said Wlasiuk demanded they call 911 and Patricia’s mother, Joyce Cardozo. Jessica Becker said she attempted to contact the mother while Thomas dialed 911. Defense attorney Randel Scharf played the recording of the 911 call several times in court in an attempt to show Wlasiuk’s hysterical voice in the background telling the Beckers he couldn’t get Patty out of the truck.
Jessica Becker told the court that she remembered Wlasiuk being soaked, except his hair did not appear wet; Schweichler testified he thought it was. “I wasn’t sure, but I believe it was wet. I can’t say for certain if it was,” said Schweichler.
After making the 911 call, Thomas Becker and Schweichler drove with Wlasiuk down the road to try to find Patricia. Both men testified that Peter Wlasiuk said he and his wife had swerved to miss a deer and he tried but was unable to extricate Patricia from the truck. Both men also testified they believe Wlasiuk had told them he was driving the truck, not his wife as the defense contends.
Once at the shore, the men could see the submerged truck’s headlights shining beneath the lake. Becker said the truck was too far from shore and the water too cold, so he went back to the cottage to retrieve his boat and wet suit.
Schweichler stayed at the water’s edge with Wlasiuk and said he tried to get information from him.
“I was trying to figure out where she might be. He was really incoherent. It was unclear on whether or not he got her out of the truck,” said Schweichler.
At that point, Schweichler said he began to wade into the lake to try to swim down to the truck, which was more than 80 feet from shore.
“Wlasiuk told me not to go into the lake; he said it was too dangerous,” said Schweichler on the stand.
On cross-examination, Scharf revealed that in Schweichler’s three prior statements to police dated April 3, 6 and 15 in 2002, Schweichler never mentioned that Wlasiuk had told him to stay out of the water.
“I’m not sure why I didn’t tell,” said Schweichler.
Becker returned with the boat and both he and Schweichler attempted to reach the truck, but said they couldn’t because the water was so cold. “I was freezing, having trouble speaking and breathing,” said Becker.
At this time emergency personnel arrived on the scene and the first EMT to examine Wlasiuk, Marlene Martin, testified that he appeared to be exaggerating his condition. On cross-examination, she affirmed her statement, saying, “In my opinion, based on my training and the people I’ve worked with, he appeared to be acting in an exaggerated fashion,” said Martin.
Martin said Wlasiuk did not appear to be cold and that his hair was “perfect and not wet.”
Martin admitted that she never told police of her “opinion” in her April 5, 2002 statement, saying that at the time, she didn’t think it was important.
Patricia’s body was finally pulled from the lake almost 20 minutes after the first emergency personnel arrived at the scene by State Police divers.
The two other EMTs to testify yesterday included Martin’s husband Chad Brown, and James Browning. McBride asked each if they had done any damage to Patricia’s body during the course of the rescue. Each said they had not done anything to harm the body, except for Martin, who told jurors that she may have accidentally broken one of Patricia’s ribs during CPR. “It sometimes happens with people with small frames,” said Martin.
Browning testified that the crew continued to try to revive Patricia all the way back to The Hospital in Sidney.
The emergency room doctor on duty, who had worked with Patricia earlier that day, was Dr. Safa Naman. He pronounced Patricia dead on arrival at 1:20 a.m. He also examined Peter an hour later for hypothermia. Naman said he found no signs of hypothermia and that Wlasiuk’s body temperature was 99.5 degrees, which is actually above the normal core temperature.
“After being in the lake, it’s very unlikely to warm back up, in my opinion, after only two hours,” said Naman.
If convicted of the only charge against him, second degree murder, Wlasiuk could be sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison.
The case is being heard by Broome County Court Judge Martin E. Smith.
Wlasiuk is currently being held at the Chenango County Correctional Facility without bail.