Defense opens case in Modery homicide trial
WASHINGTON – The first defense witnesses were called to the stand Wednesday afternoon in the Gregory Modery homicide trial. The witnesses included four men who have been incarcerated with either Modery or one of his codefendants, Alexander Martos or John Shaker.
David Hoberek testified that he was in the Hancock County, W.Va., jail from October 2000 through May 2001 and was Shaker’s cellmate that entire time. Hoberek said Shaker told him he was jailed in connection with the Ira Swearingen murder case. Hoberek said that after television reports about Swearingen’s body being found in late November 2000, Shaker woke him up in the middle of the night.
“He said he can’t live without hearing that guy asking for help,” Hoberek said. “He said he was the one at the scene. He said he was at the crime scene where everything happened.”
Defense attorney Fred Rabner has contended throughout the trial that the case against his client is one of mistaken identity and that it was Shaker who went to the Greene County murder scene with Martos, not Modery. Martos has confessed to being the gunman and says that Modery selected the site for the murder and did the driving. Swearingen was kidnapped from an area near the adult bookstore at Kammerer along Interstate 70 on Dec. 12, 1999, while on his way to assist with surgery at Uniontown Hospital.
Hoberek said Shaker cried in their cell.
“He said he couldn’t live with the voice in his dreams,” Hoberek said.
Hoberek also testified that he saw Shaker leave the jail with Washington County District Attorney John Pettit and a plain-clothes officer, with Shaker holding his uncuffed hands over his head once he was outside.
“I guess he was showing off,” Hoberek said.
Hoberek said Shaker would return from the trips with $30 in quarters and cans of snuff and that Shaker would wear a gold chain on the outings that he told Hoberek had been bought with Swearingen’s credit card.
Hoberek also stated that Shaker was taken from the jail a few days after the body was found and taken to the scene by Pettit. Hoberek said Shaker told him it was the first time he had been at the scene, yet he also said it was Shaker who was with Martos the night of the murder.
“He said he was the one who did it and he was going to frame someone else for it. He said him and Martos were the ones that did it and they had it all planned out,” Hoberek said.
Hoberek said he also met Modery while he was at the Washington County Correctional Facility and that they were friends, but Modery never talked about the murder case.
Other defense witnesses testified that they were jailed with Martos in Washington County and were approached by him about giving testimony about Modery that he would give to them. Richard Prentice and Shawn Rogers both said they turned Martos down. Prentice has been convicted of giving false testimony to authorities and is currently jailed for statutory sexual assault. Rogers has a criminal history involving robbery, burglary, receiving stolen property, and arson.
Raymond Erfort, who has also been convicted of making false statements, said he was in the Allegheny County Jail with Modery and they struck up a friendship. He said that another Allegheny County inmate at that time, David Brazell, was not one of their friends. Brazell testified earlier in the trial.
Erfort said he would help Modery if he could.
“But I wouldn’t lie,” Erfort testified.
The last of more than 70 prosecution witnesses testified Wednesday morning. Sean Wolowski, a codefendant charged with tampering with evidence and receiving stolen property, testified about past assaults at the adult bookstore involving himself, Modery and Martos.
Thomas Eckinrode of Vestaburg also testified, describing his ordeal near the bookstore just three days after Swearingen was abducted and murdered. Eckinrode said he initially told police he was robbed near the bank machine in Fredericktown because he was embarrassed about being at the adult bookstore, but he gave them the full story a short while later.
Eckinrode said a car followed him as he left the bookstore and kept flashing its lights at him. Thinking there was something wrong with his vehicle, he pulled over. When he approached the other driver to see what the problem was, he was punched and knocked to the ground.
“The other man said to stay down or they’d shoot me,” Eckinrode said.
He said the men took his wallet, then put him into the trunk of their car. They then asked for his personal identification number for his bankcard, and drove off. He said they drove for about 10 minutes, then he was asked for his number again, and again threatened with being shot if it was wrong.
A bank receipt that was found in Modery’s car the day he and Martos were arrested indicates that Eckinrode’s card was used at 10:52 p.m. on Dec. 15. On cross-examination, Eckinrode said he doesn’t know what time the incident ended, though he got home that night after midnight.
Eckinrode said he only saw two men when he was assaulted. Martos and Shaker both testified that they robbed Eckinrode, though both said Modery was with them. Phone records indicate that Modery was on the telephone between 11:30 and 12:30 that night with a waitress he had met earlier in the week. The waitress testified she didn’t hear any noise in the background during their conversation.