Thoughts on Mistrial

As a close friend of George Weber’s and someone who has watched every day of this trial, I can’t even begin to describe how shocked, saddened and dismayed I am that the jury was unable to find this monster guilty.  The prosecution proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that this satanic thug, addicted to violence murdered my friend.  The fact that even a single juror could have any doubt about his guilt really shakes to the core my faith in human judgment.  I just can’t imagine this.   The fact that Katehis and his lawyer were dancing around like they just won the lotto makes this even more nauseating.

As horrible as this is, it’s not nearly as bad as the feeling I had when learning George was killed.  He was the first person I saw almost every day for about four years.  We had a friendship that transcended the workplace and he was one of the few people I’ve ever known who was universally liked.  It hurts every day that he’s gone and I miss him terribly. 

Putting this devil in prison for the rest of his life won’t bring George back, but it will ensure that no other family ever has to endure the torment that George’s has.  I look forward to a quick retrial date and hope that justice is ultimately served by a wiser group of 12.

Satan's Lawyer is Out

Jeffrey Schwartz

In between the two mistrials declared yesterday one of the items we didn't get to mention is that Schwartz, the ethically challenged, arrogant,  headline grabbing attorney who doesn't let lack of legal knowledge stand in his way of a loud argument, told the Judge yesterday that the Katehis family would not be retaining him for the re-trial.  The Judge then asked Schwartz if his client could afford an attorney.  Schwartz indicated that he couldn't and the Judge said he would assign an attorney to the case at the public's expense.

As I told you here, Schwartz has been handling this case for free.  My guess as to Schwartz's thnking on this is pure ego.  He was willing to take the case for free just for the publicity in the hopes of either getting an acquittal (unlikely) or a hung jury.  In the event of a re-trial, chances are pretty good that there will be a conviction, so he looks to the uninformed masses like a legal genius for preventing a conviction the first time when a second lawyer couldn't.  He can use the excuse that because this case is so time consuming, he just can't afford to continue to handle it for free.

He's a real slimey guy.  You feel like you need a shower after listening to him talk.  He re-enforces every single negative stereotype about criminal defense attorneys.  I will not be sorry to see him go.

On a much more disappointing note, Anna Nicolazzi might not be able to re-try this case because she is poised to go on maternity leave in a few weeks.  She will be missed as she's not only an immensely talented attorney, and very attractive (which certainly helps in making your case to the jury).  She also strikes me as someone who not only knows the law, but has the absolute highest regard for the principles of our legal system and legal ethics.  I'm sorry to say that many prosecutors in the Brooklyn DA office have a very poor reputation, both in terms of their ability and how they handle cases from an ethical point of view- Anna Nicolazzi is a notable exception to that and I hope that the schedule of the new trial allows her to be the prosecutor a second time. 

Jury was 11-1 in favor of Conviction

The lawyers on both sides had the opportunity to speak with the jurors after the trial.  Apparently the final split was 11-1 in favor of conviction.  They began the first day of deliberations with it being 9-3 in favor of conviction and pretty quickly it became 10-2.  By this morning it was 11-1.  One of the jurors told the NY Post that all three initial holdouts were women.

Apparently this lone idiot voting no wasn't arriving at her position based on the evidence but had this position from the beginning.  While I don't know who this juror was, I do have my suspicions and I don't believe that it was the sleeping juror.  From what I understand, this juror couldn't get past the whole "ick factor" of George's smothering fetish and was totally grossed out by it.  This in spite of the fact that all of the jurors were questioned about this during jury selection and all indicated that even if they thought this was weird, they could arrive at a verdict based on the evidence.  This juror clearly violated her oath and just ignored the law.  It was plain to everyone watching (including the vast majority of the jury) that Katehis was guilty of second degree murder, as it's defined by the law and that his defense of "justification" and/or "intoxication" was pure nonsense. 

I'm really so sad.  I can't even begin to describe the injustice in this.  Because of one renegade juror, this devil remains unconvicted. 

There is a pre-trial hearing set for next week.  If there is going to be a new trial, I hope it's soon so as to spare George's family any further prolonged agony as it relates to this.  Apparently the 11 in favor were surprised when the Judge told them he would declare a mistrial and they wanted to keep going until they got a conviction, that's why they initially asked the Judge for a few more hours.  It became clear though after the Judge left the jury room, that this juror wasn't going to change his mind.

Now though, if I were to guess, there will be renewed plea negotiations between the prosecution and the defense and my guess is after seeing how close this was to a conviction Katehis will take a plea somewhere in the neighborhood of eighteen years to life.  Part of me hopes that's the case, so as to spare George's family another trial and to get this maniac in prison to begin serving his sentence as quickly as possible, but a big part of me would like to see a conviction at trial (which I believe will occur) so that he can get the maximum possible sentence. 

This is just so unfair and I hope this renegade juror who had absolutely no regard for the oath he swore to uphold is as haunted by Katehis and his satanic imagery as I am.

Needless to say, it is unlikely he will be getting bail.

Judge declares Mistrial TWICE!!!!

I've never seen anything like what just occurred.  Upon receiving the jury's note, the Judge declared a mistrial.  There was some discussion of a re-trial date, etc. When they brought the jury out the Judge asked if they'd like to speak to the lawyers and at least six of them all nodded their head in the affirmative. 

The defense attorney then asked the Judge if he would entertain a bail application or if he'd just be wasting his breath.  The Judge indicated that he'd have to see what the split is (how many in favor of conviction, how many in favor of acquittal).  The lawyers suggested at that point that the Judge talk to the jurors first to see if that's something that would be.  So he went back to talk to them and thank for them for their service. 

He returned to the court room two or three minutes later and said that as soon as he went back there, the jurors asked him if they could give them a few more hours because "they think they can reach a verdict".  At this point, the Judge vacated his order for a mistrial and said they would continue deliberating.

Jeffrey Schwartz flew into a rage and was heatedly argumentitive with Judge Firetog.  As they were fighting, Firetog received another note from the jury saying they were deadlocked and again declared a mistrial.

Schwartz's annoyingly sarcastic response to the Judge, "This time no backsies Judge?!?!?!".

The Judge then asked the attorneys if they wanted to go back and speak with the Jurors and Schwartz asked, "Will they then continue to deliberate?", and let out a long sigh letting everyone know how annoyed he was with the inconvenience of a mistrial slightly delayed.

There will be a hearing on a re-trial next Wed, November 3rd and I pray it occurs quickly and ends in a guilty verdict this time.

HUNG JURY...........UNBELIEVABLE

I can't believe I'm writing these words, but the jury has been unable to reach a verdict.  They just sent a note to the Judge saying they're hopelessly deadlocked (not in those exact words).  Will post the text of the note as soon as possible.


Upon receiving the note, Katehis's attorney, Jeffrey Schwartz started giggling like a school girl to his co-counsel.  Katehis's father walked around as if he'd just gotten away with something.  His son certainly has.  For now.

The Judge will now declare a mistrial.  This is so incredibly unfair.  Words escape me.  I feel ill.

Third Day of Deliberations begins

The third day of deliberations has begun.  There's still been no verdict.  There have also been no notes from the jury yet.  It's difficult to describe the feeling here today.  Whereas yesterday was anxious and nervous.  Today has taken on a very different feel.  Today it almost feels as if we're just waiting for bad news (the news of a hung jury) to arrive.

George's sister has come to court today to observe deliberation process.  Seeing how upset she is and how painful this is for her family, makes your heart break all over again as if for the first time. 

Hopefully those who have doubts about "reasonable doubt" will come to their senses soon.

George's sister and brother-in-law at memorial last year

George tells the whole bed bug story

You'll recall we told you about how George had bed bugs.  And the prosecution mentioned that the white powder found in George's apartment was most likely bed bug insecticide and not cocaine, as Katehis had claimed.  You can read all about that discussion here. 

As I was going through some old George clips earlier, I found this clip of George describing his bed bug problem in detail to Mark Simone, Curtis Sliwa, Warner Wolf and Jeffrey Lichtman on WABC.  It's 100% clear to me that this was bug powder not drugs. 





You can listen to it above.

Day 2 ends with no verdict



John Katehis, on trial for murdering George Weber

                              
A few minutes before 5PM, the jury sent another note to the Judge telling them that they had still not been able to reach a verdict.  Since it was a few minutes before their regular dismissal time, Judge Firetog sent them home for the day and told them to come back at 9:45 AM tomorrow.

With several notes indicating that they're unable to reach a verdict, it appears that we are likely to see a hung jury, which means a mistrial and a second trial.  Hopefully though, whoever the holdouts are will come to their senses and convict the man who affectionately termed himself "Greek Satan". 

I'm not optimistic.  In fact, I'm sick to my stomach with disbelief, shock and sadness. This is such an inappropriate post mortem for such a kind soul.



George Weber and his beloved dog, Noodles.



Remember exactly how much of a creep this guy is

Throughout the trial, one of the things that there has been absolutely no discussion about either in court or in the press is exactly what a world class creep, John Katehis continued to be following his arrest.  While his father, who looks like a cross between someone who enjoys torturing animals for fun and someone with a severe mental problem has bragged to reporters how his son continued his education and got his GED from behind the bars.  One thing that he, nor anyone else has mentioned though is this story from shortly after Katehis's arrest in which he proudly declared that he would only do interviews for money, nothing for free.

 This demon masquerading as a human being was proud and anxious to financially benefit from murdering one of the most generous people in the world.  Additionally, he angrilly ranted at his friend not to visit him because he didn't want to waste his visit.

 "Cash offers only!", is what he snarled at a NY Post reporter.

This money hungry, blood thirsty animal hasn't changed his stripes in the least.  He sounds exactly like the kind of person who would stab someone 50 times, rob them and then try to flirt with an EMT taking him to the hospital (which is precisely what he did).  When the EMT testified to that by the way, his friend watching in the court room (who looks equally thuggish) and his father giggled as though they were proud their murdering, prostitute loved one still had the gumption to hit on an EMT even as he was bleeding profusely and just hours after having killed someone. 

When Ron Kuby came for the prosecutor's closing, he asked how someone could possible become this evil, this twisted and this demented at 16.  Seeing how his father reacts in court to the testimony about his son provides a pretty good clue as to how that's possible. 

Still no word on the jury's continued deliberations.  It's so silent you could hear a pin drop.  It is so stuffy in here that it's difficult to breathe and benches we're sitting on are as hard as a cinder block.  George's friends are crying, his family is pensive and anxious and the press is circling the door of the court room waiting to pounce like lions on a gazelle.

This is horrible.  As bad as it is though, it's not nearly as bad as getting stabbed 50 times and bleeding to death, which is what this monster caused to have happen.

Still nothing....

The Judge has given the jury the Allen Charge.  Nothing else new.

View from the 21st Floor

As we await the end of the lunch break, there’s nothing else to do other than pace back and forth, try to read a newspaper, or try to make small talk.  Most of us are just staring out the window of the 21^st floor waiting for the courtroom door to be unlocked so that we can wait inside the court room for a verdict or for a note indicating that they’re still unable to reach the verdict.  As one looks out the window, you’re incredibly cognizant of the fact that George lived and was murdered only a short distance from here. 

In any event, for lack of a more cheerful piece of information to post, here’s what the view looks like.

Another deadlock note..........UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The jury just sent back a note saying they’ve failed to reach a consensus and they’re not going to. 

It read, "No consensus will be made. People’s minds are made up...".

The Judge will now give them an Allen Charge and send them back in to continue their deliberations.

If after Allen Charge, they’re still deadlocked, then the Judge will declare a mistrial and we’ll do this again.

I genuinely can’t believe this is happening.  What a nightmare. 

Day 2...Deliberations Continue....Another Note

Unbelievably, there's still no verdict.  Around 11:30 AM this morning though, the jury did send out another note.  They asked to watch the chilling video of Katehis's "admission" to police after his arrest.  They also asked again for clarification about "Reasonable Doubt".  In addition to that they asked of the Judge, "DO WE THE JURORS SPECULATE ON WHAT IS MISSING OR LACK OF EVIDENCE?".

Finally they asked for a readback of all the testimony regarding the duct tape and the fingerprints on the duct tape.  The court then read back the testimony concerning how the duct tape was found on George's right wrist and bound around his ankles and the fact that there were finerprints from another individual found on both the adhesive and non-adhesive sides of the tape.

Jeffrey Schwartz joked to the Judge that he should feel free to show the jury the portions of his instruction regarding reasonable doubt in "larger font".  It's great that he is able to remain in such a cheerful mood. 

Juror #11, the juror that has been asleep for most of the trial was also smiling and giggling as he walked into the jury box.

This wait, which was already incredibly difficult has now become unbearable. 

The Sleeping Juror

Juror #11 has been asleep each and every day.  He seems totally disinterested in this case.  The only thing that really seems to excite him is the lunch.  I'm serious.  He was wide awake on Monday as the jurors were leaving for the day.  This was a juror that the Judge himself had reservations about after the first day of opening arguments.  I hope that even a sleeping juror can see that this demon is guilty, but if he's the reason there's not unanimity on a guilty verdict then I can't tell you what a travesty of justice that would be.  During a readback of some testimony yesterday, he seemed to be communicating with two other jurors about what was bring read back.  I couldn't tell if there was some sort of dispute between he and the two other jurors or if the three of them were on the same side. 

I've had some experience watching juries in criminal cases and I'm sad to say that this isn't the first perpetually drowsy juror that I've observed.  For the sake of the accused and the departed, I don't think it's too much to ask that jurors take their oath seriously enough to stay awake.

The alternate jurors were dismissed yesterday and told they didn't need to return for deliberations today.  That would seem to indicate we're stuck with "Snoozy", as several courtroom observers have nicknamed him.  I just pray that when he sleeps he's as haunted by nightmares of this absinthe guzzling, knife wielding devil as I am.



The lone good thing about this sleeping juror is that it did remind me of this humorous entry from George's blog about a sleepwalking dog that he posted just a couple of weeks before he died. 

After Day 1, No Verdict

Right before the close of of the deliberation day, the jury sent the Judge a third note at 4:48 PM.  The note essentially said something to the effect of:

We haven't reached a unanimous decision on said case.  Please instruct us. 

After discussion with both attorneys, the Judge indicated that it was too soon for an Allen Charge (an instruction from the Judge to continue deliberating and basically to try harder; it's sent after a jury indicates they are deadlocked) and that it was only a few minutes before he would  normally send them home for the day.

The Judge then brought in the jurors and gave them the standard jury instruction- do not discuss the case, don't read any media about the case, etc. 

He then sent them home for the day and told them to come in at 9:45 AM tomorrow.

Before leaving the court room, John Katehis saw his father in what was apparently a new suit (dark black with think white pin stripes) and motioned that he liked the suit and then smiled and laughed in a manner that was chillingly reminiscent of the manner in which he did in on his MySpace page while posing with knives. 

How anyone can be undecided as to the guilt of this twisted, sick individual is completely beyond me.  I hope whoever has reservations as to his guilt comes to their senses tomorrow and quickly delivers a guilty verdict.

Jury Having Trouble Reaching A Verdict

At 2:50 PM, the jury sent the Judge the following note:

"WE ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY REACHING A VERDICT BECAUSE THERE IS STILL AN UNCERTAINTY ABOUT "REASONABLE DOUBT" AS WELL AS THE EVIDENCE AND LACK OF EVIDENCE AND IT'S IMPACT ON "REASONABLE DOUBT".

Both sides agreed that a prudent course of action would be for the Judge to redefine the term "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" even though the jury hadn't asked him to do so. 

As this note was read, Katehis had a devilish smile on his face, which made me want to vomit.

The Judge told the jury that reasonable doubt is an honest doubt about the defendant's guilt for which a reason exists based on the evidence.  He said it had to be an actual doubt not an imaginary doubt.  The prosecution was obligated to prove its case "beyond a reasonable doubt" not beyond all possible doubt.  It's a doubt that a reasonable person might have when weighing a matter of this importance.

Needless to say, this note doesn't come as welcome news to Team Weber, although I've been told that while some inexperienced defense lawyers might be pleased with a note like this it often means that many on the jury are convinced of the defendant's guilt and it could be just a juror or two that has questions about it. 

The fact of the matter is we must continue to wait and wonder.

Jury Deliberations Begin

The Judge gave the jurors their instructions this morning and they began to deliberate.  They could come back with a verdict at any time.  Until they do, the rest of us are just left to wait for notes from the jury.  The notes could say anything.  They could ask for a read-back of testimony, a clarification of the law, anything- until they send a note that says they have a verdict.

Thus far there have been two notes. 

The first, which the court received at 11:25 AM asked for several pieces of evidence including:
- a readback of testimony of the first officer to respond to the scene at George's apartment.
- All of the email correspondence between George and Katehis.
- All of the Craigslist documents.
- The EMT Report (the EMT that picked up Katehis and took him to the hospital for his injury(
- The crime scene photos.

The second note, which the court received at 12:25 PM asked for the elements included in the charge, which in this case is "2nd Degree Murder".

The Judge brought the jury back into the court room and read back the testimony of Officer Tavis Watson who described the scene when he entered George's apartment.

The Judge then re-read the elements necessary to prove Second Degree Murder.  In order for the jury to find Katehis guilty of Second Degree murder, there are three elements that they must find:

1) That on March 20th, 2009, John Katehis caused the death of George Weber.
2) That he did so intentionally.  In this sense "intent" means with a conscious objective or purpose.
3) That the defendant wasn't justified in taking George's life (in this case justification refers to defense claims of self defense).

I can't describe what it's like waiting for this verdict.  Time almost has no feeling or meaning and the anxiety and anticipation is almost overwhelming.  Hopefully it ends soon with a swift guilty verdict.

Prosecutor makes convincing case that George's hands were bound

Among the strongest parts of Anna Sigga-Nicolazzi’s closing yesterday was her analysis of the duct tape and the strong likelihood that George’s hands were bound, as well as his feet during the attack. 

In his videotaped “admission” following his arrest, Katehis said that only George’s feet were bound with duct tape and that his hands were free.  It was with one of these free hands that Katehis claimed George pulled out a knife, which preceded to make a paranoid Katehis nervous and fly into a rage.  Several of the lies that Katehis told in this video have already been disproved, including the fact that George had plied Katehis with cocaine.  This story about George’s hands being free appears to be just another lie.

Katehis told police that since George’s hands were free (which would bolster Katehis’s self-defense claim) that “if you found duct tape around his hands it might’ve been because he was trying to remove the duct tape from his legs…”.  As Nicolazzi pointed out yesterday, this just defies common sense. 

There was duct tape found on one of George’s hands when police found his body.  Katehis’s defense attorney said in his closing that because the duct tape was found on only one hand and that the tape was fairly loose, it’s probably unlikely that George’s hands were bound.  Nicolazzi though contended though that George’s hands were indeed bound. 

She didn’t just speculate as her adversary did though but provided some supporting evidence for her suggestion.  First she discussed George’s injuries, particularly those to his hands, pointing out that the injuries to George’s hands were far more consistent with someone flailing around trying to ward off his attacker, while his hands were bound- including stab wounds and incised wounds on the webs of his hands.  She then suggested to the members of the jury that if George had both hands free, wouldn’t he have gone after not only the knife with both hands but after his attacker??

But the most compelling part of Nicolazzi’s presentation though was her use of the defendant himself.  She replayed a portion of the video in which Katehis is describing how he and Weber are fighting over the knife.  In doing so, Katehis was holding his hands together (as if they were bound) saying “….he was going like this…”.  It was remarkably convincing and Nicolazzi reminded the jurors that they would be able to review the video tape should they need to.  As she spoke to the jury, the video of Katehis’s confession was freeze framed on this killer holding his hands together, just as he said that George did. 

I can’t imagine a more convincing or compelling image.  Katehis didn’t commit this murder in self-defense as his lawyer says.  He did so in cold blood.  Hopefully the jury will come back today with a quick conviction. 

Summations End; Jury to begin deliberating tomorrow morning

Both the prosecution and defense rested this morning.  The defense called no witnesses and the prosecution called a police witness to clarify a few things in the crime scene report.  This was followed by the closing summations for both the prosecution and the defense.

Jeffrey Schwartz, the defense attorney for Katehis began his closing around 11:00 AM and went on for a little longer than an hour.  Schwartz's closing was a hodgepodge of desperate attempts to make Katehis look human (no easy feat), relying primarily on his young age at the time of the crime (16), villainizing George Weber and highlighting supposed police conduct.  Schwartz seemed to rely on three areas to exculpate his client:

a) his status as a minor.  He played up the fact that George had agreed to meet him for some sort of sexual act, which Katehis couldn't legally consent to, saying that it was wrong for an adult to have contact with a child in this manner.  He tried to imply that George pressured him to do things he wasn't comfortable doing and played up the image of Katehis as just another skittle eating, root beer drinking, knife obsessed regular teenage kid.  He actually said several times in spite of an objection that was sustained and a warning from the Judge "What if he was Jane Katehis and had been a 16 year old girl?". 

b) that  he was intoxicated.  Schwartz tried to play up the one beer that Katehis had as making him loopy and in spite of the fact that the white powder Katehis says George gave him to snort was almost certainly bug powder and not cocaine, continued to insist that whatever it was he supposedly ingested made him act in a bizarre manner.

c) self-defense (or justification).  Schwartz says that Katehis felt threatened when George allegedly pulled his knife out, there was a life or death struggle for this knife and Katehis was merely fending off his attacker.  In my view, this argument fell incredibly flat when one considers that George was stabbed 50 times and Katehis's injuries were limited to some cuts on his hand. 

Scwhartz also tried to create the impression that police, prosecutors and investigators didn't do their jobs well, that they essentially tried to lure Katehis into trusting them and disregarded everything he said about this being |"an accident".  His lone defense for the repeated lies Katehis has been caught in, which we have alluded to in previous posts, was that Katehis was nervous, scared "and just a kid".  Not that I'm objective in the least,but Schwartz's entire closing smacked of desperation, inauthenticity and pure fiction.  I hope and pray that the jury saw the same closing I did.  George's friend and colleage from WABC, Curtis Sliwa, was on hand for the closing as were several of his friends from his neighborhood.

The prosecution summation, delivered by Anna Siga-Nicolazzi COULD NOT HAVE CONTRASTED MORE GREATLY WITH THAT OF HER ADVERSARY.  Ron Kuby, a noted and accomplished attorney in his own rite said it best when he told reporters afterwards that, "not only did she remove any reasonable doubt, but she removed any possible doubt".  Kuby, who was teary eyed throughout most of Nicolazzi's presentation said that it was one of the best prosecutorial closings he had ever seen and while I've seen far fewer, I'd have to agree. 

Even now, it's difficult for me to imagine how my friend spent the final minutes of his life being tormented by this monster and bleeding to death rapidly, without getting nauseous and really broken up.  Nicolazzi used logic and common sense to itemize for the jury all the lies Katehis told police, showed evidence of how they differed with the facts and painted (from my perspective) a very chilling, very accurate portrait of a man who committed an unspeakable atrocity.   While she made no attempt at all to excuse George's inappropriate and illegal behavior, she reminded jurors that although they might be uncomfortable with the circumstances surrounding how they met that it didn't change at all what Katehis had done, intentionally killing George Weber by plunging a knife into his body 50 times.  After telling the jury to take as much or as little time as they needed, she asked them to deliver a guilty verdict on the only charge Katehis is facing, murder in the second degree. 

In my view, Nicolazzi, who in spite of the fact that she's visibly pregnant is as breathtakingly beautiful as she is articulate could not have handled this case better.  While it's still difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that my friend was brutally murdered, Nicolazzi has been the finest surrogate that any victim could ask for.  She came across in her closing and throughout the trial as sincere, truthful and logical.  Her style has been as different as possible from that of her adversary (a former prosecutor himself).  Quite frankly, I don't see how after looking at the evidence, any reasonable human being could come back with a verdict of anything less than guilty.

Tomorrow the Judge will read and explain the charges to the jury.  They should then begin deliberating by 11AM.  They will order lunch in and continue their deliberations through lunch and until they can come to a verdict on what Katehis is charged with, Second Degree murder.  The rest of us will be waiting on the 21st floor of Brooklyn State Supreme Court with baited breath. 

NO DRUGS IN HIS SYSTEM; JUST MURDER ON HIS MIND...YET ANOTHER LIE

Since shortly after his arrest, John Katehis has insisted that George Weber, prepared for him three lines of cocaine, which he subsequently snorted.  He contends that this made him paranoid, trippy and "freak out".  So that when George pulled out a knife, he reacted in a paranoid manner and "accidentally stabbed" him.  Keep in mind, George was stabbed over twenty times all over his neck, torso, back, shoulders and face. 

After the prosecutor, Anna Siga-Nicolazzi finished calling all of her witnesses on Thursday, she entered into evidence the medical reports from the hospital the night Katehis was admitted.  In the process of murdering George, Katehis cut his finger and was bleeding badly.  This led paramedics to take him to the hospital.  Once admitted, he was given morphine for the pain.  In the tests administered at the hospital, morphine was the ONLY opiate or heavy drug found in his system.  THERE WAS NO COCAINE, HEROINE OR ANY OTHER MIND ALTERING SUBSTANCE.

Mrs. Nicolazzi entered into evidence the documents showing this and the documents indicating he was given morphine.  This totally contradicts Katehis's story about George giving him drugs.  As you may recall, the white powder found in George's apartment was tested and was not drugs (most likely some sort of insecticide to combat bed bugs).  So, the fact that Katehis didn't have any drugs in his system is completely consistent with the fact that no drugs were found in George's apartment.

Katehis didn't kill George because he was high.  He killed George because he is a deeply disturbed, murderous monster, addicted to violence. 

Defense begins Mon

The prosecution will rest its case on Monday morning and the defense will put on its case.  Judge Firetog he expects to get to summations on Monday afternoon and give the case to the jury.  Yesterday (Thursday) at the charge conference, defense attorney Jeff Schwartz, continued to spar with the Judge on everything from recalling witnesses to what instruction the Judge would give the Jury about the charges.  He also put on record an objection with the Judge that he wasn't showing impartiality in front of the jury and that in re-phrasing Schwartz's cross examination questions to witnesses was actually playing the role of prosecutor.  This accusation was laughable to anyone who has been watching the trial.

Katehis will be arguing self defense, essentially saying that he killed George because he felt threatened and thought his life could be endanger.

In my limited experience watching Judge Firetog, he seems incredibly smart, very fair and a very respected Supreme Court Justice, among both his peers and other lawyers.  One lawyer said earlier in the week, that "there wasn't a better Judge in the building".  Indeed his reputation seems to indicate that as he's been a Judge for three decades and was formerly the Chief Administrative Judge for the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.

Knives

John Katehis admitted he carried a knife with him on most days.  As you can see in the dizzying array of photos with knives above, he certainly seems to have an affinity for them.  I spent almost every day with George for about four years, never once did I ever see him with a knife.  Yet, John Katehis claims that on the day he murdered George, he just happened to not bring a knife with him.  He also claims that as he was smothering him, George just took a knife out of his pocket, which is what prompted Katehis to flip out and go on a stabbing spree.  Look at the demonic look in the eyes of this lunatic.  Does this look like a man who didn't love knives.  In my view, this is just another lie created by a murderous, Satanic, disturbed individual.  I don't believe for a second that the knife they struggled over was George's and not his. 

Try to Imagine this....

Yesterday afternoon, we heard some very emotional testimony from George's brother-in-law, Jason.  Jason, who is married to George's sister talked about George's family life and the circumstances immediately after his murder.  He said that in addition to George's sister and parents, who both reside in other states, George had a brother that died of leukemia at a very young age. 

It was Jason, who was summoned to New York from Maryland to identify George's body after he was stabbed over 20 times.  Imagine that.  Jason, who because of his geographic distance, only saw George 5-7 times a year at holidays, etc. had to come to New York to see his brother-in-law stabbed.  Jason also testified that George was a regular drinker.  This would seem to indicate that it wasn't unusual for George to have alcohol in his system as he did the night he was killed.

Jason's children were very fond of their Uncle George and I can tell you that I would accompany George before most of his trips back home to see his family as he would go to a nearby magic shop to pick out magic tricks for his kids, spending alot of time to select tricks that would be advanced enough to dazzle on-lookers but simple enough for them to master despite their youth. 

George absolutely loved his family as you can hear in a portion of the audio in the video below.  Seeing Jason and the emotional toll that his taken on George's family really underscores what an incredibly vile injustice John Katehis committed and how evil he truly is.  Trying to comprehend their pain, genuinely puts a chill up my spine. 



George wrote about his sister, niece and nephew here.

Prints belong to murderer

The prosecution called its final witness today, Detective Arthur Connolly, an expert in the field of latent finger prints.  After a brief (and fairly interesting) science lesson about finger print science, Det. Connolly talked about his analysis of the fingerprints recovered at the crime scene.  While, Det. Connolly didn't dust for the prints himself, he conducted the analysis comparing them to other prints in the NYPD database.  In addition to George's fingerprints, he was able to identify the fingerprints of three others, including those of John Katehis.  This doesn't come as a surprise at all, as no one denied that Katehis was at George's Henry Street apartment the night of the murder.  Katehis's prints were found on George's cable box in his bedroom and on a bottle of Smirnoff vodka.  Katehis claimed, in his videotaped admission, that George gave him a light beer and that after "accidentally" stabbing George he took a sip of whiskey before fleeing the scene. 

The fact that Katehis's prints were at the scene though would seem to erase any lingering doubt about his whereabouts that evening and confirm 100% that he was in George's apartment. 

Curtis and Kuby support

Guardian Angels founder and radio talk show host, Curtis Sliwa came to court today in support of Katehis's prosecution and his former colleague's memory.  He was on hand to see the prosecution call its final witness- a latent fingerprint expert, who testified that the finger prints of John Katehis were found at the scene.  He joined not only yours truly and several members of George's family but Ron Kuby's beloved Marilyn, a frequently referenced mention of The Curtis and Kuby morning ensemble.  Kuby, himself was in court on Monday and was overcome with emotion in listening to how his former colleague spent his last hours of life.  It's been nice and gratifying to see the outpouring of support from George's friends and former colleagues.  Curtis and Kuby worked with George for the better part of ten years at WABC. 

All of us are pictured in the photo above at WABC, along with Warner Wolf.

You can see a short video of George working alongside Curtis and Ron below.

Bugs NO Drugs

Part of the Katehis defense from Day one has been that George plied him with drugs (namely three lines of Cocaine) and alcohol (a Bud Light).  It was the Coke that supposedly made him paranoid and jumpy.  Katehis claimed that when he saw George grab a knife that he "flipped out", got nervous, paranoid, etc.  He said they fought over this knife and the knife fell in the process, hitting George in the neck. 

Yesterday, we heard testimony from a chemistry expert, who works for the NYPD and specializes in controlled substances.  He testified that they tested the white powder that was found at George's apartment doing both what's called a color test and an instrument test.  Both tests found there was NO trace of anything related to cocaine, opiates, heroine or any other controlled substance.

Those of us who knew George no that he had a perpetual battle with bed bugs as he himself blogged about here.  The white powder that was found in George's apartment, was a type of insecticide designed to ward off bed bugs.  While there's no test that can compare the white powder found in George's apartment to insecticide and make sure that it's the same, logic would seem to indicate that this is the case.  One thing is for sure, it wasn't drugs.

This is yet another lie from John Katehis, who was desperate in his rambling confession to justify a cold blooded murder. 

Satan's Lawyer

I have the utmost respect for the work that defense attorneys do. In order for our legal system to work, I think it's important for even the most heinous criminals to have an effective and vigorous defense. That being said, Katehis's attorney in this case, Jeffrey Schwartz seems completely unethical, all too willing to bend or ignore the rules or the law and someone who will do anything at all in the pursuit of publicity or a headline.

When the trial began, I asked two of Schwartz's colleagues about him to see what his reputation was. One prominent defense attorney who has represented both murderers and child molestors described Schwartz in this manner, “He’s a notorious bottom feeder. Totally dishonest, classless.”

Another attorney, who is quite famous in his own rite for representing what many would describe as the dregs of society said that Schwartz was a "vile pig".

This has been my experience for the last week or two in observing Schwartz as well. He seems to either not know or not care about the law on everything from "Dunaway" issues about evidence to "Sandoval" information about prior bad acts. He openly defies the Judge's instruction on a regular basis and repeatedly fights with him. As one court observer remarked to me yesterday, "he doesn't seem very bright".

Forget about the fact that he began this trial by telling the jurors that one of my closest friends was "a drunk predator", ror me, what really took the cake was during his cross examination of a medical examiner yesterday in which he referred to George's apartment and the place he was murdered as "the so called" crime scene.

The Judge frequently sustains objections to his questioning of witnesses and seems to realize exactly what kind of a lawyer he is. Perhaps that's why last week, on October 14th, Schwartz asked Judge Neil Firetog to recuse himself in this case.

Not surprisingly, Judge Firetog denied his request. In arguing with Firetog, who has a remarkably good reputation and was formerly the Chief Administrative Judge in this court, Schwartz (who formerly represented Darryl Littlejohn in his murder of Immette St. Guillen), said that he couldn't function "with a blade held over my throat". Why Schwartz would choose to use that metaphor on a legal motion, in a trial where his client is accused of stabbing a man repeatedly in the throat is beyond me. It seemed like he was trying to be cute in using phrasing like that. It struck me as utterly tasteless and completely insensitive.

Schwartz took this case pro bono (most likely for the publicity), recently though he told the Judge that this case was taking up more time than he'd anticipated and asked the Judge to assign him so that he could get paid. The Judge told him no. From what I've heard, the Judge indicated that he'd be happy to assign an attorney to this case, but that it wouldn't be Mr. Schwartz.

A wink, a laugh, a donut and a murder

The full 45 minute video of the "confession" that John Katehis gave to police is unavailable but this video represents a small portion of it.










While his demeanor is somewhat clear here, it doesn't come close to showing how cold, amused and unapologetic he is for the act he's committed. Katehis begins this video by winking at the camera, jokes around about all aspects of the incident, seems more concerned with gulping down bites of his donut then being accurate, curses like a sailor and doesn't indicate he's sorry once.

I've now watched the full length video twice and on both occasions, I've gotten goose bumps at how callous this monster is. So much of what Katehis says in this video is entirely false as I will indicate later. Some of his many lies though include the fact that George gave him Cocaine (which has been refuted by a trained chemist) and that Katehis responded to an ad from George (which someone from Craigslist testified wasn't the case).

This is merely a snapshot into Katehis's evil soul. Everytime he looks at me in court, those same uncaring, selfish, unfeeling, dead eyes provide a window into his soul, which I hope is clear to all the members of the jury.

Greek Satan

John Katehis, who brutally stabbed George Weber dozens of times on March 20th, 2009 is the closest thing to pure evil that I've ever seen in person.  Unfortunately, unless he testifies in his ongoing trial (which appears unlikely) jurors will never get to know the full picture of this monster, who his defense attorney is trying to portray as an innocent victim.  Here is a little bit of the history and lowlights of John Katehis, who appropriately used the email address GreekSatan92 to identify himself to the world.

All of this will only come into evidence if he testifies.

- Far from being the model student with good grades that his attorney would like to portray, Katehis was a horrible student with MANY unexcused absences, used profanity frequently and had a history of racially insensitive language and conduct.

- He was OBSESSED with Satanic behavior.

- HE ONCE HANDED IN A PIECE OF SCHOOL WORK WITH THE WORDS, "WHEN I GROW UP, I WANNA BE A KILLER" WRITTEN ON IT.

- Numerous school suspensions for a wide variety of infractions.

- Threatened school staff members several times.

- He taunted a classmate just for taking medication and shoved her.

- He was suspended six times in 2007 alone, including one incident in which he made a classmate touch his genitals.

- A history of robbery and theft (something he did the night he murdered George).

- Urinated on a classmate's book bag.

- He assaulted a male peer and planned an attack on him.

- Always having a flare for distraction inducing pranks, he released a stink bomb on a bus.

- In one of his many suspensions in the 2005-6 school year, he was suspended for indecent exposure on a bus.

- In stark contrast to the angelic, teetotaller his attorney portrays in court, one of his primary interests includes drinking and there's even a photo of him drinking absinthe.

- He's totally preoccupied with all things Satanic and has a remarkable collection of Satanic books and writings.  As the prosecutor, Anna Sigga Nicolazzi itemized his history of Satanism, Katehis's defense attorney, Jeffrey Schwartz objected saying that worshipping Satan was not a bad act and was simply a religious choice.  Judge Firetog questioned Schwartz in disbelief that he wouldn't consider obsession with Satan to be a bad act.  Schwartz's response, "Some people might think being Jewish is a bad act!".  Yes that's right, Katehis is being represented by a lawyer who made a comparison between Satanism and Judaism.  Schwartz indicated at that point that if Katehis did testify he should have the option to "swear to satan" if he so chose. 

- He has a history of enjoying the pain and discomfort of others.

- He was in a special school for the emotionally disturbed and even in that school, there were numerous letters home and warnings about failing.

- He's obsessed with knives, swords and all things that cause pain.  There were many photos of him on his myspace profile posing with some of his favorite knives and swords.

- Some of the other information on his myspace page included a fondness for sado-masochism and the quote "If you disrespect me, I'll break your F**KING neck!

While I think John Katehis is a born liar, addicted to violence and distubed in virtually every way, the one area where I do believe he was accurate was his selection of an email moniker, "Greek Satan"!

Why?

This blog makes no pretense of objectivity.  It's created by a close friend of George Weber , who was brutally murdered by John Katehis, a Satan worshiping, knife toting, evil killer, in March of 2009.  It's purpose is both to inform those who are unable to watch the trial as it unfolds in state supreme court in Brooklyn and to clear up many of the erroneous facts that have been both reported in the media and disseminated on the internet.  George Weber, was a gifted broadcaster, great person and an even better friend.  We sincerely hope that this vicious murderer gets convicted and never sees the light of day again.