Wlasiuk murder conviction thrown out for a second time
NORWICH – The New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division on Thursday upheld twice-convicted murderer Peter Wlasiuk’s appeal in the death of his wife, Patricia Wlasiuk, whose body was recovered from Guilford Lake in April of 2002.
Wlasiuk was first convicted of the crime of second degree murder in connection with Patricia’s death, which he maintains was accidental, in 2003. In 2006, that conviction was overturned, due to errors regarding the admittance of prejudicial evidence. As a result, the Chenango County Court granted Wlasiuk’s motion for the dismissal of the original indictment.
Wlasiuk was re-indicted in 2007 and was convicted a second time of second degree murder in 2008. He was subsequently sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division reversed Wlasiuk’s latest conviction on the grounds that he “received ineffective assistance of counsel” from his attorney, Randel Scharf, due to Scharf’s failure to “join in the prosecutor’s request that juror No. 5 be discharged for cause once it became clear that the juror had committed misconduct in obtaining his seat on the jury” and “introduced evidence that this Court previously held to be unduly prejudicial, inadmissible hearsay,” according to the Dec. 29 Supreme Court memorandum.
The evidence in question – entries from a diary allegedly kept by Patricia – was a point of contention in 2008 when Wlasiuk was last convicted. At the time of his sentencing, Wlasiuk said he deserved a new trial, due to the fact that the jury made its decision based on diary entries he had not had a chance to respond to in court. According to the Supreme Court memorandum – in response to a jury note asking if the diary entries could be considered evidence – Wlasiuk’s attorney stated, “Yeah, they can have it. It’s evidence.”
Shortly thereafter, the members of the jury reached a guilty verdict. The memorandum goes on to state that “certain jurors subsequently revealed that they switched their votes to guilty based upon the diary entries – indeed juror No. 5 gave television interviews explaining that he convinced ‘three holdouts’ to vote guilty based upon the diary entries – and defense counsel conceded that he should have requested a limiting instruction.”
Juror No. 5, at the time of Wlasiuk’s second trial, said while he knew Joyce Worden – a witness for the defense in Wlasiuk’s first trial and baby-sitter for his and Patricia’s children who was sexually involved with the couple – in a professional regard, he could be fair and “didn’t even know much about the [first] trial,” according to the court memorandum. He had, however, been interviewed by police at the time of the victim’s death, knew the victim and had worked with her in a professional setting and had heard nurses discuss Patricia and Peter’s marital problems. Wlasiuk’s attorney, according to the memorandum, “adamantly resisted” his discharge from the panel, however.
The Supreme Court memorandum puts forth that, “In the alternative defendant argues – and we agree – that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel due to defense counsel’s refusal to consent to the removal of juror No. 5 for cause.”
In 2002, during the initial investigation of the accident, Wlasiuk provided several different accounts of the events leading up to his wife’s death. According to the court memorandum, Wlasiuk “indicated that he was driving his pick-up truck and had swerved to miss a deer, driven into the lake,” and that Patricia’s body was still in the truck. At other times, Wlasiuk stated that his wife was driving, had swerved to miss a deer and that he was able to pull her out of the truck, but not the water.
In the days and months following the accident, Wlasiuk “continued to give different accounts to investigators,” and stated that Patricia had “swerved, fish-tailed and then driven into the lake at 50-60 miles per hour,” that he and his wife had been “sucked under the truck,” and that Patricia “was not drinking before the accident,” according to the memorandum.
Later, Wlasiuk claimed his wife had been drinking prior to the accident and had driven into the lake after making a K-turn during an argument, never swerving to miss a deer.
Testimony by an accident investigator and reconstructionist, however, put forth that the pick-up – which sustained no significant damage – was traveling 30 miles per hour or less when it “entered the lake through the only direct opening to the water from the road in the vicinity.”
In addition, there were no markings to suggest that the truck had swerved at any time before entering the lake.
According to the court memorandum, investigators also testified that nearby witnesses did not hear any sounds of an accident nor Wlasiuk “screaming the victim’s name,” as he claimed he had been, and that one resident – who attempted to rescue the victim – was told by Wlasiuk not to enter the water as it was too dangerous. According to first responders at the scene of the accident, Wlasiuk’s hair was “neat and dry, he was not hypothermic, did not seem to be cold, and appeared to be faking his shivering,” despite the fact that he said he’d entered, for several minutes, the roughly 40-degree water of the lake.
Prosecutors also noted that Patricia’s neck was bruised and scratched, and that her body bore injuries inflicted prior to her death and “consistent with having been smothered after a struggle,” according to the court memorandum, which also states that Wlasiuk had recently taken out a life insurance policy on he and his wife, would stand to gain a death benefit through the state’s retirement system in the event of her death, had been physically violent toward and threatened to kill his wife, isolating her from her family and expressing his opinion that “it would be easy to kill someone and make it look as though the person had drowned in Guilford Lake.”
In conclusion, the Supreme Court memorandum puts forth that while “many of [Wlasiuk’s] remaining arguments are rendered academic by our determination that a new trial is required herein ... we have considered and rejected as meritless his assertions that County Court improperly denied his motions to suppress evidence and to dismiss the indictment.”
Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride had no comment on the court’s decision Thursday but said his office is “ready to proceed when the time comes.”
The family of Patricia Wlasiuk also had no comment when contacted Thursday.
Wlasiuk was first convicted of the crime of second degree murder in connection with Patricia’s death, which he maintains was accidental, in 2003. In 2006, that conviction was overturned, due to errors regarding the admittance of prejudicial evidence. As a result, the Chenango County Court granted Wlasiuk’s motion for the dismissal of the original indictment.
Wlasiuk was re-indicted in 2007 and was convicted a second time of second degree murder in 2008. He was subsequently sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division reversed Wlasiuk’s latest conviction on the grounds that he “received ineffective assistance of counsel” from his attorney, Randel Scharf, due to Scharf’s failure to “join in the prosecutor’s request that juror No. 5 be discharged for cause once it became clear that the juror had committed misconduct in obtaining his seat on the jury” and “introduced evidence that this Court previously held to be unduly prejudicial, inadmissible hearsay,” according to the Dec. 29 Supreme Court memorandum.
The evidence in question – entries from a diary allegedly kept by Patricia – was a point of contention in 2008 when Wlasiuk was last convicted. At the time of his sentencing, Wlasiuk said he deserved a new trial, due to the fact that the jury made its decision based on diary entries he had not had a chance to respond to in court. According to the Supreme Court memorandum – in response to a jury note asking if the diary entries could be considered evidence – Wlasiuk’s attorney stated, “Yeah, they can have it. It’s evidence.”
Shortly thereafter, the members of the jury reached a guilty verdict. The memorandum goes on to state that “certain jurors subsequently revealed that they switched their votes to guilty based upon the diary entries – indeed juror No. 5 gave television interviews explaining that he convinced ‘three holdouts’ to vote guilty based upon the diary entries – and defense counsel conceded that he should have requested a limiting instruction.”
Juror No. 5, at the time of Wlasiuk’s second trial, said while he knew Joyce Worden – a witness for the defense in Wlasiuk’s first trial and baby-sitter for his and Patricia’s children who was sexually involved with the couple – in a professional regard, he could be fair and “didn’t even know much about the [first] trial,” according to the court memorandum. He had, however, been interviewed by police at the time of the victim’s death, knew the victim and had worked with her in a professional setting and had heard nurses discuss Patricia and Peter’s marital problems. Wlasiuk’s attorney, according to the memorandum, “adamantly resisted” his discharge from the panel, however.
The Supreme Court memorandum puts forth that, “In the alternative defendant argues – and we agree – that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel due to defense counsel’s refusal to consent to the removal of juror No. 5 for cause.”
In 2002, during the initial investigation of the accident, Wlasiuk provided several different accounts of the events leading up to his wife’s death. According to the court memorandum, Wlasiuk “indicated that he was driving his pick-up truck and had swerved to miss a deer, driven into the lake,” and that Patricia’s body was still in the truck. At other times, Wlasiuk stated that his wife was driving, had swerved to miss a deer and that he was able to pull her out of the truck, but not the water.
In the days and months following the accident, Wlasiuk “continued to give different accounts to investigators,” and stated that Patricia had “swerved, fish-tailed and then driven into the lake at 50-60 miles per hour,” that he and his wife had been “sucked under the truck,” and that Patricia “was not drinking before the accident,” according to the memorandum.
Later, Wlasiuk claimed his wife had been drinking prior to the accident and had driven into the lake after making a K-turn during an argument, never swerving to miss a deer.
Testimony by an accident investigator and reconstructionist, however, put forth that the pick-up – which sustained no significant damage – was traveling 30 miles per hour or less when it “entered the lake through the only direct opening to the water from the road in the vicinity.”
In addition, there were no markings to suggest that the truck had swerved at any time before entering the lake.
According to the court memorandum, investigators also testified that nearby witnesses did not hear any sounds of an accident nor Wlasiuk “screaming the victim’s name,” as he claimed he had been, and that one resident – who attempted to rescue the victim – was told by Wlasiuk not to enter the water as it was too dangerous. According to first responders at the scene of the accident, Wlasiuk’s hair was “neat and dry, he was not hypothermic, did not seem to be cold, and appeared to be faking his shivering,” despite the fact that he said he’d entered, for several minutes, the roughly 40-degree water of the lake.
Prosecutors also noted that Patricia’s neck was bruised and scratched, and that her body bore injuries inflicted prior to her death and “consistent with having been smothered after a struggle,” according to the court memorandum, which also states that Wlasiuk had recently taken out a life insurance policy on he and his wife, would stand to gain a death benefit through the state’s retirement system in the event of her death, had been physically violent toward and threatened to kill his wife, isolating her from her family and expressing his opinion that “it would be easy to kill someone and make it look as though the person had drowned in Guilford Lake.”
In conclusion, the Supreme Court memorandum puts forth that while “many of [Wlasiuk’s] remaining arguments are rendered academic by our determination that a new trial is required herein ... we have considered and rejected as meritless his assertions that County Court improperly denied his motions to suppress evidence and to dismiss the indictment.”
Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride had no comment on the court’s decision Thursday but said his office is “ready to proceed when the time comes.”
The family of Patricia Wlasiuk also had no comment when contacted Thursday.
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