Judge rules enough evidence to send woman to trial
A Fayette County judge ruled Wednesday enough evidence existed to let jurors determine if a Grindstone woman killed her husband, as state police allege. Debra Susan Payne is charged with a single count of criminal homicide in the June 5, 2003, death of her husband, Harold. He was found shot in the bedroom of the couple’s 110 Orchid Drive home.
Police initially thought his death might be suicide, but charged Debra Payne in his death several months later. Trooper Thomas Maher alleged, among other things, that Debra Payne had gunpowder residue on her sweatshirt and hands, despite claims that she was not in the room when her husband was shot.
Payne’s attorney, Samuel Davis, was trying to have the charges against her dismissed, claming that not enough evidence was presented to justify the homicide charge.
Leskinen cited the gunshot powder residue, and other pieces of evidence in determining that a jury should decide Payne’s fate.
The jurist also noted that circumstantial evidence – like the gunshot residue on Debra Payne’s sweatshirt and on her hands – could point to a homicide instead of a suicide.
“Although the evidence is wholly circumstantial, the evidence that the defendant was very near when the gun was fired is strong,” Leskinen wrote.
Police found latex gloves in Payne’s purse, which could explain the lack of fingerprints on the weapon, Leskinen said, and noted that she “freely discussed” how her husband’s addiction to crack cocaine adversely effected the family financially.
“This court is satisfied that the circumstantial evidence in this case is strong enough to justify the submission of the case to a jury of the defendant’s peers.”
Davis also claimed that the ruling by pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht was flawed. Wecht testified it was unlikely that Payne killed himself because of the pattern of gunpowder burns on his head. The gun, Wecht testified, was likely six to 12 inches away. He also testified that in the numerous autopsies he’s performed on gunshot victims, Wecht has never seen a suicide victim who held the gun that far away.
Leskinen ruled Wecht’s “qualification as an expert pathologist cannot reasonably be challenged.”
“In addition to the testimony of Dr. Wecht, the position of the decedent in the bed is arguably consistent with a self-inflicted wound, as the deceased would have had to release the gun and then place his arm under his body after fatally shooting himself in the head,” Leskinen wrote.
He also ruled that any statements Payne gave to police were voluntary, but noted Davis could argue that point to a jury at her trial.
His opinion also indicated that Davis could again move to have the charges dismissed after prosecutors present their case at trial.