NORWICH – Day three of testimony in the Peter Wlasiuk murder trial found the prosecution continuing to detail the events of April 3, 2002, specifically what the Chenango County District Attorney’s Office is calling a staged automobile crash into Guilford Lake. It’s alleged that Wlasiuk – charged with one count of second degree murder – staged the accident in an effort to cover-up the murder of his wife, Patricia.
Wlasiuk was first charged with the class A-1 felony in 2002. He has twice been convicted – in 2003 and 2008 – sentenced to serve 25 years to life in state prison. Both convictions were overturned on appeal, in 2006 and 2011, respectively.
Marlene Brown, a Bainbridge resident and volunteer firefighter with the Bainbridge and Oxford fire departments, was one of six witnesses called to the stand by the prosecution Monday. As a registered EMTD – one of the first on the scene – she testified that Peter Wlasiuk showed no symptoms of hypothermia when she examined him, despite the approximately 40 degree temperature of the lake and his claim of trying to rescue his wife from the submerged truck. Wlasiuk, said Brown, “seemed fine,” although he did start shaking when she introduced herself as an EMTD.
According to Brown, Wlasiuk told her that his wife “had swerved to miss a stupid deer,” and although he had been able to get Patricia out of the truck, he was unable to get her out of the water. Brown listed the symptoms of hypothermia: A white, waxy or blue-ish tint to the skin; uncontrollable shivering; skin extremely cold to the touch; lethargic speech; and goosebumps. Wlasiuk, she added, showed no such symptoms and his hair was “perfect” and “dry.”
Brown said that, “in all honesty,” Wlasiuk’s story seemed theatrical, calling it “bad drama” and “bad acting.”
Once an ambulance arrived on scene, Brown transferred Wlasiuk’s care to others before heading down to the lake where Patricia Wlasiuk had just been pulled from the water. Brown said she immediately began chest compressions, one of two components to CPR along with mouth to mouth resuscitation, and said the area of Patricia’s breast bone was “very soft.”
Brown admitted to thinking she had broken Patricia’s ribs, something that has never happened in her time as an EMTD. She also said she could smell alcohol on Patricia’s breath and there was a trickle of dried blood on her temple, along with some purplish bruising on her neck. Mrs. Wlasiuk, she added, had no pulse.
In his cross examination, defense attorney Mark Loughran asked if the heat was on in the police vehicle where Brown first examined Wlasiuk, as well as why she never inquired as to how long he was in the lake. Asked if different people react differently to any medical situation, Brown said she did not know.
Brown, under cross examination, admitted Wlasiuk had cried when his children were mentioned, and said someone “had to get his wife.”
Other witnesses to take the stand yesterday included Brown’s husband, Chad Brown, also a volunteer firefighter; Dwight Meade with the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office; Jamie Bell, New York State Police diver at the time of the incident; and Kenneth Constable, who transported Wlasiuk’s truck to Spencer’s Towing in Oxford.
In his testimony, Constable said the doors to Wlasiuk’s vehicle were locked when it was pulled from the lake, the driver’s side window was open 12 to 18 inches and the truck was in drive.