GUILTY

JOHN KATEHIS HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER.

VERDICT......

There is a verdict for second degree murder.  The jury should be reading it soon.

Crime Scene explained

The first witness today was a Crime Scene Detective named Timothy O'Brien.  Det. O'Brien spent most of his testimony taking the jury through the photos that he took at George's apartment in the aftermath of his killing.  I don't have access to the photos to share with you but they included:
- every room in George's apartment (almost all of which had blood all over the place)
- The bathtub, which was left running and had the defendant's clothes inside of it.
-The kitchen sink, which was left running.
- A disheveled mess all over the place, clear evidence of Katehis searching and rummaging through the place.
- Duct tape, rope
- George's hand, which had duct tape on it.
- Foot impressions (probably Katehis's) on the kitchen counter
- The trunk that George had in the center of his apartment and the white powder that was inside of it.  This is the powder that Katehis claimed was cocaine, but which was actually bug powder.

He also described the items that he took into evidence from George's apartment, which included:
- A mobile phone
- lunch boxes (George collected them)
- Several DNA swabs from different objects

He said that there was no cash, no wallet and no credit card found anywhere at the scene. 

The scene painted by the Detective seems to support the prosecution's contention that he was bound at the hands, along with several other aspects of their case.  In both cross examination by Mr. Cohen and re-cross by Ms. Nicolazzi, he said there was no sign of forced entry. 

Along with me, George's brother-in-law, Jason was also in court and seemed visibly moved by having to sit through these photos again.  Ron Kuby's wife, the beloved Marilyn, was also in attendance. 

Det. Jimmy Nomille, the lead homicide Detective will testify this afternoon.  His testimony should take the remainder of the day and continue Monday.

First Witness

The first and only witness heard from yesterday was Officer Watson.  I believe he was the first witness last time as well, although I can't seem to locate my original notes from his testimony.  He was the first officer to respond to the scene.  He described how he was called because of some running water and because George hadn't shown up to work on Saturday.  After there was no answer at the front door, George's landlady let him in through the back, where he found George's body in a bloody mess and saw duct tape around his legs and one of his hands.  His testimony was brief, but the reason it's important is because Katehis maintained afterward that George's hands were free as they jostled over a knife.  Officer Watson's testimony would suggest that his hands were bound as well, thus making Katehis's self defense claims dubious at best.

The trial will resume in Brooklyn State Supreme Court this morning at 10AM.

Defense gives opening statement

Matthew Cohen has what I would think is an impossible task.  He has to defend the monster you see above.  In his opening statement to the jury a little while ago, he used some of the same tactics that Katehis's previous attorney did and emphasized a couple of new ones.  He first explained that George went out of his way to look for a "kid" and that whatever they had agreed to, because Katehis was under the age of 17, he couldn't legally give consent to have sex.  He said that Katehis had agreed to smother George and that when George wanted him to perform oral sex on him, he refused and the two of them argued.  He maintained that it was George who first took out a knife (even though Katehis carried one ever day) and the two fought over the knife.  He said Katehis believed he snorted cocaine and that George told him it was cocaine. He explained that if George hadn't "jumped right on that ad" all of this could've been avoided.  He then attacked the police for moving too quickly.  He said that because George had "some celebrity status" and "had his own radio show" (which he didn't at the time BTW), the police moved far more quickly to help their case then they would have if this was just a regular person.  He reiterated that "George Weber wanted a kid" and Katehis was simply trying to resist the advances of a pedophile.  The jury seemed attentive during his opening statement as well.  Thus far, this attorney doesn't seem to have developed the same poor relationship with Judge Firetog that his predecessor did.  Because the defendant is indigent, I believe Cohen was appointed by the court. 

By the way, Katehis is now wearing glasses at the defense table.  This is something totally new that we didn't see at all in last year's trial.  It's certainly possible that his vision has deteriorated, but my hunch is that they're trying to make this sadistic beast look more sympathetic to the jury and reinforce that this cherubic looking schoolboy couldn't have committed such a monstrous crime, in stabbing a man 50 times.  His father is now sporting a bizarre looking goatee that makes him look more unbalanced than ever.  Unlike the previous case, the father now eyeballs me every chance he gets and there's more than an occasional smirk.  Evidently, he is either a devoted reader to this narrative or took note of the fact that I was revolted every time his son's heinous crimes and behaviour were described. 

Aside from me, none of George's friends or family members were able to attend today, something that I hope will change tomorrow and going forward.

Prosecution gives opening statement in Katehis trial

Brookyln ADA Anna Nicolazzi, has just given her opening statement to the jury, laying out what she intends to prove regarding George Weber's murder.  The opening was almost the exact same one she gave last year and described in heart wrenching detail the events that led an animal named John Katehis to cross paths with George Weber.  She described the details of their meeting and Katehis's behavior afterwards.  She gave a preview to the jury of what they would see in Katehis's videotaped pseudo confession in which he lies throughout but gives his version of what occurred.  The jury will likely see that video tomorrow or Monday.  If you don't recall this chilling account of what happened, you can view a portion of it here http://publish.vx.roo.com/nypost/viral/2010?vxSiteId=b0debab1-419e-413a-bc36-ecb11d2ff4f8&vxChannel=PostUsFeed&vxClipId=1458_1075827&vxBitrate=300
She explained:
- That when the police arrived at George Weber's apartment, they found him bound with duct tape at his feet and one of his hands (as he was apparently able to free one of his hands before dying).  They found that his apartment had been ransacked and that there was blood everywhere.
- After looking in George's cell phone, they saw that the last number he dialed was someone listed in his phone book as "John from Queens".
- After examing who this phone belonged to, they found that it was registered to the defendant's father.  They also found that the email address GreekSatan92, belonged to the defendant and was used to communicate with George.
- She described how George had a fetish in which he liked to be smothered almost to the point of passing out. 
-The two made contact after Katehis put an ad out on craigslist entitled "M4M will blow for cash".  George emailed him and sent photos of how he wanted to be smothered.  The two arranged to meet and Katehis would smother George for $60. 
- After brutally stabbing George a mind boggling 50 times, Katehis fled the scene, was apprehended by police with the assistance of the defendant's father (who also looks like a real freak BTW).  After lying about everything including his name, he videotaped a confession after winking at the camera and laughing as he described what happened. 
- She explained how Katehis told police (and said on video) that George had given him cocaine from a chest that was in the center of his apartment.  She further explained that the substance was tested and that it wasn't cocaine, but insecticide to fight bed bugs and that Katehis was given a full toxicology report, in which he was found not to have any cocaine in his system (or any controlled substance for that matter) and that was one of many lies that he told.

She indicated that she would prove all that she explained and ask the jury in accordance with the law to deliver a guilty verdict after hearing the evidence.  She also reiterated that although he was 16 at the time of the murder, that makes you an adult in the eyes of the law in the state of NY and that whatever you may think about the maturity of a 16 year old, in the law's eyes, he's an adult. 

I found it very effective and it gave me chills thinking that this is how my friend spent his final hours, mumbling and stuggling to break free, as life was drained out of him, while this lunatic was stealing his clothes and running out of his apartment after stabbing him 50 times.

Jury Selection concludes for retrial

Jury selection has concluded in the retrial of John Katehis, the sadistic monster who murdered George Weber.  Not long after the jury was selected, Juror #10, a Russian speaking man, indicated that he was unable to understand the instructions and the Judge dismissed him.  This left three alternate jurors.  As it stands now, amongst the 15 men and women who will decide Katehis's fate (12 jurors, 3 alternates), there are five men and ten women.  Five appear to be African-American and ten appear to be White or Hispanic.  They all seemed to be paying pretty close attention to Judge Firetog's instructions.  Firetog is the same Judge as the last trial and the prosecutor, Brooklyn ADA Anna Siga-Nicolazzi is the same as last time.  Katehis, who was represented by a truly reprehensible snake last time is now represented by a gentleman named Matthew Cohen.  I've heard little of Cohen's reputation prior to this case and know very little about him.  Katehis is charged with murdering George Weber in March of 2009 after the two arranged to meet on the internet.  The jury is incredibly important.  It was only one juror, who in violation of her oath, caused the last trial to be a deadlock and a mistrial.