NORWICH – Accused murderer Richard T. Babcock admitted in Chenango County Court Monday that he was the trigger man in the November 2008 slaying of William E. Lee.
Babcock, 27, has maintained his innocence since his arrest 19 months ago, but decided to accept a plea deal late last week, according to Public Defender Alan Gordon.
Appearing before Acting Chenango County Court Judge Joseph F. Cawley Jr. of Broome County, Babcock told the court a 72-hour drug binge led to Lee’s shooting. He also said he’d argued with the deceased about obtaining more drugs; the defense claims Lee was a local drug dealer.
“I was using drugs for approximately three days, a binge on cocaine,” said Babcock. “We had a brief argument and I shot him in the head and took the narcotics.”
Prosecutors accused Babcock of approaching the 61-year-old Norwich native while he was on his couch at his Tanner Hill home. They say Babcock shot Lee in the head with a 16-gauge shotgun at point-blank range. The cause of death was confirmed by Pathologist Dr. James Terzian, who performed an autopsy at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.
Gordon said his client would be sentenced to 15 years in state prison under the plea arrangement.
District Attorney Joseph McBride said the agreement was made with the consent of the family, who wished to put the tragedy behind them.
The DA said Babcock killed Lee on Nov. 9, 2008 and that state police discovered Lee’s body on Nov. 13.
Following the killing, McBride said Babcock stole “several thousands in cash” and contacted a local cab service for transportation to the Binghamton bus station. Prosecutors were prepared to call the cab driver and a convenience store clerk to the stand to testify that Babcock was “flashing a big wad of cash around,” just hours after the shooting, said McBride.
“Mr. Babcock took a bus to North Carolina where he was robbed while attempting to purchase cocaine at a bus station there. He then returned home to get funds from his mother and was picked up in Binghamton by state police investigators,” he said.
Babcock was arrested Nov. 14, the day after Lee’s body was discovered by troopers, but he was not immediately charged in connection to the homicide. He was instead held on charges of fifth degree criminal sale of a controlled substance in relation to the drug investigation he eventually pleaded guilty to in October.
Though Babcock could not recall the specific date of the incident in court, McBride said that on March 21, 2008, the defendant sold prescription drugs to an undercover narcotics officer.
McBride said Babcock met the officer and another man in the stairwell of a Norwich apartment house, where he sold the two men pills of lorazepam, a prescription anxiety drug.
Police used the pending drug case to hold Babcock in the Chenango County Correctional Facility for more than seven months while they investigated Lee’s murder. Babcock was a suspect in the Lee case during that time and prosecutors revealed a sealed grand jury murder indictment on July 24, 2009 officially accusing him of six felony counts – two of them second degree murder.
Prior to Monday’s plea, Gordon had described the environment surrounding the incident as one full of potential criminal suspects, alleging that Lee sold drugs along with Babcock.
At a May 10 hearing, Gordon said Babcock had been staying with Lee at his 5220 State Route 23 in the Town of Norwich, in the weeks leading up to the murder.
During this time, Babcock claimed he observed a number of drug-related activities going on at the residence, including the accusation that Lee owed $12,000 to another local drug dealer who provided his cocaine.
It was also revealed at the hearing that following the murder, Babcock received a text message on his cell phone from the rival dealer in which they allegedly claimed responsibility for the murder and threatened to kill Babcock’s girlfriend.
“He texted ‘Lee is dead, your girlfriend is next,’” said Gordon in the hearing.
McBride told the court police investigated the claim and found it to be without merit, saying the individual was “clearly not in the area at the time the murder took place.”
McBride said Tuesday that the individual sending the text later recanted that message, explaining it was an attempt to intimidate Babcock, whom he considered to be a rival drug dealer.
Chenango County Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Cobb testified at a previous court hearing that Babcock told police the home was the site of a large amount of drug activity.
“He said Mr. Lee was selling approximately eight ounces of coke out of his house a week,” testified Cobb.
“Once again, the drugs and money involved have caused another homicide in our small little community and if anybody thinks they aren’t a clear and present danger, then they aren’t paying attention to what’s going on in Chenango County,” said McBride.
After accepting the plea, Judge Cawley warned Babcock that any change in his willingness to assume responsibility for the crime before the official sentencing could result in a longer prison term of up to 25 years in prison.
Babcock will be sentenced on Sept. 27 in Chenango County Court. Lee’s family, who denied to make any comments following the plea, said they would speak at the sentencing.