NORWICH – Broome County Court Judge Joseph F. Cawley will decide today at 3 p.m. whether or not George Ford Jr. is a murderer and deserves to spend up to 25 years in prison for the death of 12-year-old Shyanne Somers.
If found guilty in the landmark case, Ford would be one of the first ever convicted on pivotal GPS evidence in the nation.
Ford, 44, of Piscataway, N.J., is charged with second degree murder in the July 2007 death of his one time baby-sitter and neighbor in the Town of Otselic. Ford claims he accidentally ran her over while turning his truck around on Will Warner Road. The prosecution says Ford murdered her in an effort to silence her over an unknown incident that happened in the hours before her death.
More than 23 witnesses were called in the trial that began Feb. 2. Here’s a rundown of what they said:
• George Ford Jr. Ford took the stand Friday and disagreed with police, saying they had confused the details of his original statements, which were the only ones he has given since the day of his arrest July 8, 2007.
Ford testified that he and his wife, Cindy, were at a South Otselic graduation party for most of the day on July 7, 2007. Ford said he had a few beers, a couple of shots of whiskey and a single line of cocaine at the celebration.
Ford said he picked up Somers’ up at around 11:30 p.m. after first asking if her mother Kathy could baby-sit. Ford said he then took Shyanne to his house to baby-sit his son, but Cindy decided she didn’t want to return to the party. Ford then left to take Somers home. Ford said he decided to stop at his friend’s house to see if he’d go back to the party with him instead. But before leaving, Ford said Somers noticed a beeping GPS unit in his truck that his wife had placed there.
Ford said he decided to go to Sheldon Rose’s residence on Stage Road, but he wasn’t home. Instead, they detoured to an abandoned property on Will Warner Road. Ford said had visited that residence numerous times and wanted to toss the GPS into a pond on the property.
Unable to find the pond in the dark, Ford said he just threw the GPS out the window along with an old syringe that had also been under the truck’s seat. He said he then left the residence to show Shyanne his horses that were less than half a mile down the road.
After driving down the road, Ford said Shyanne climbed out of his pick-up as he tried to turn around on the narrow seasonal road, he accidentally hit the girl.
Ford said Somers died almost immediately. He claims he left the body at the scene and returned to the abandoned house down the road, where he again found the GPS unit and put it in his pocket, for a reason that was never explained.
After spending a period of time at the house, Ford said he returned to the scene at around 3 a.m. and struggled to put Shyanne’s body into his truck before departing for the hospital. On the way to Norwich, Ford said he attempted to take a short cut but realized he made a mistake when he came upon the Town of Georgetown along Rt. 26. He then turned around and headed back to Norwich. Once in Norwich, the GPS showed the truck stop three different times. Ford said he had first stopped to move the girl’s body off the brake pedal, then became overwhelmed and parked on Prospect Street and was looking for help on the third stop.
• Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Richard M. Cobb read the entire five-page statement signed by Ford just over four hours after he arrived at Chenango Memorial Hospital with the victim’s body on July 8, 2007.
Cobb read Ford’s words from the statement: “We weren’t able to see the horses when we got up there. I stopped in the road near the pasture and she got out. She was trying to see the horses. I was driving in the road and she was walking on the side of the road. As we were going up the hill, I got stuck in loose stone. I told her to move so I could turn. I started making a K-turn in the road. There’s a spot up from the pasture that is just wide enough to turn around in. I got stuck, again, so I got out to lock in my hubs for four wheel drive. I got out of the truck and when I got to the front, I saw her under the front left driver side tire. Then I backed up into the road. I got back out and got her in the truck.”
According to the statement, Ford said he sat in the truck for a period of time, but was unable to say how much. “I don’t know. I couldn’t move,” he said.
During the interview, Ford denied all questions relating to any sexual interaction between him and Somers.
No questions about the GPS in the truck were asked and the initial interview was conducted before Ford was charged with murder. Following the interview, police charged Ford with first-degree felony reckless endangerment.
Cobb said police were unable to question Ford over the GPS contradicting his story because it was uncovered after the initial interview and Ford had obtained legal counsel.
Ford took the GPS device from his pocket and tossed it into an outside garbage can during a smoke break at the Sheriff’s Office in Cobb’s presence. Earlier, police had searched Ford and returned the device to him, apparently unaware of what it was.
Cobb later inquired into the whereabouts of the device, and Ford then told police where he threw it out and it was retrieved.
• Vice President of Land Air Sea Systems Steven Moehling, the company which made the GPS found in Ford’s pocket, described in detail the speed, altitude, location and stops of the tracking device on the night in question. The device has been pivotal in the prosecution’s case.
The court watched the recordings from 10:49 p.m. July 7, 2007 to 10:27 a.m. July 8, 2007.
The device showed that it never arrived at the scene of Somers’ death until 3:03 a.m. and recorded a final speed of 2.49 miles per hour. For the hour before that, the GPS showed various movements and stops at a seasonal residence from about 11:50 to 2:58 a.m. McBride said this is when Ford attempted “something inappropriate” with the victim before she escaped and ran away down the road.
Ford did not contradict the GPS evidence on the stand, saying he tossed it out the window at around midnight then drove to the area where he accidentally hit Somers while turning his truck around. He then said he was upset and retreated less than half a mile down the road, back to the seasonal residence and picked the device up again, placing it in his pocket. Ford’s version of events given in his trial testimony did not contradict the GPS readings.
Scharf said 2.5 miles an hour was an unlikely speed for an intentional collision and on cross-examination asked Moehling what the average walking speed was. Moehling said it was about 3.1 miles per hour.
• Medical Examiner Dr. James Terzian performed the autopsy on Somers. He said Somers suffered from massive blunt force injuries, breaking numerous bones, rupturing internal organs and even fracturing her skull. Although the injuries would have rendered Somers unconscious, Terzian said stress damage found inside her heart and chest cavity indicated the moment of death took place minutes after the initial impact.
The pathologist said he administered a “rape kit” on the victim, which was found to be negative. He said he found no evidence of trauma from any sexual activity.
Readings taken from Somers’ body at Chenango Memorial Hospital led Terzian to estimate that the girl’s time of death was “somewhere between midnight and 4 a.m.,” he said.
He was unable to rule the death a homicide.
• New York State Police Forensic Scientist Urfan Mukhtar analyzed blood from the scene identifying DNA from Ford and Somers. Investigators took blood and semen samples from a number of locations in Ford’s truck, the scene, and from the victim’s and defendant’s clothes. Scharf said the during the course of the accident, Ford moved the girl’s body into his truck, dripping blood on himself and the vehicle and that none of findings indicated anything suspicious.
Mukhtar confirmed that a syringe found at the abandoned seasonal home had blood on it that belonged to Ford.
• State Police toxicologist expert Stephen T. Jodush testified that Ford’s blood was positive for cocaine that was probably consumed “six to 12 hours prior to the blood being drawn,” he said. Ford had submitted to a blood test shortly before 9 a.m. July 8, 2007.
Under cross-examination, Jodush said he couldn’t say how much was used or how it may have affected Ford, saying no scientific study had been done on the quantifiable threshold for impaired levels of cocaine use.
• New York State Police Investigator Aaron J. Lewis, an accident reconstruction expert, said evidence at the scene supported the GPS information and not the version of events sheriff’s investigators claimed they initially heard from Ford.
Investigator said Ford told them he was going up the hill, but Ford said Tuesday he meant going up the road, west, which is actually down the hill and is consistent with Lewis’ findings.
“In my opinion, the victim was struck while the vehicle was going down the hill based on the direction of the blood on the road and the damage done to the embankment,” said Lewis.
When asked by Scharf if he had any conclusion if it was an accident or murder, Lewis responded, “I don’t know what it was other than the victim was struck going down hill.”
• Accident reconstruction expert Dale Leonard, a retired state trooper called by defense, testified about muddy fingerprints found on Ford’s bumper and claimed the tracks found at the scene were inconclusive.
Leonard told the court that “finger swipes” were found on the truck’s front bumper, 35 inches off the ground, indicating the victim had been facing the truck and falling down when she was struck.
McBride said it showed a last desperate defensive move by the young girl, but Scharf said it showed the girl was struck facing the truck and that she was low to the ground, making her difficult to see.
• James M. Somers, Shyanne’s father, testified that he allowed his daughter to baby-sit for the first time for Ford, who at the time was considered a friend. He said Ford appeared at his residence at about 11:30 p.m. looking for either his wife or daughter to baby-sit so he returned to a party.
• Seth Johnson was a medic having coffee outside of CMH’s emergency room when Ford pulled up in his truck. He testified that Ford was “disheveled and wild,” demanding he and another medic remove the girl from his truck. He told police that in his opinion, Ford was under the influence “of something” when he arrived. Johnson was also the first medical professional to examine Somers and reported she had several signs of “obvious death.”
• Cindy D. Ford, wife of George Ford Jr., confirmed she placed the GPS tracking system in Ford’s truck because she thought he was having an affair. She said their marriage was over because Ford would stay out all night without returning home and kept a mistress.
• Dominick Verdi, a security guard at CMH, stayed with Ford until police arrived. He described Ford as being upset and irate.
• Deputy Brett Bowen was the first sheriff’s deputy on the scene. He took Ford into custody and read him his Miranda rights. He searched Ford and handed him back the GPS tracker found in his pocket before placing him in a squad car. He said Ford was upset and crying.