Detective reviews slaying details
As Uniontown police Detective Jason A. Cox demonstrated how a Uniontown man allegedly killed his longtime girlfriend, several people in Fayette County Judge Ralph C. Warman’s courtroom could not suppress tears. Cox, along with city police Officer David Rutter, testified Wednesday at a suppression hearing for Walter Fordyce, 59, of Uniontown. Fordyce is charged with criminal homicide in the April 12 beating death of his girlfriend, Mary McCann, 54, at their home.
According to Fordyce’s attorney, Thomas W. Shaffer, investigators failed to establish that Fordyce had the intent to commit homicide and that because of his intoxicated state did not knowingly incriminate himself with statements to police, necessitating the suppression hearing held Wednesday.
Shaffer contends that the consumption of an undetermined amount of alcohol throughout the day, along with the possible consumption of Xanax, an anti-depressant, should render Fordyce’s statements to police invalid.
But police said Fordyce, who was described as someone Uniontown police officers were “very familiar with” prior to the April 12 incident, was not highly intoxicated and understood what he was doing when he told police he killed McCann.
McCann was found dead in the upstairs bedroom of their 70 Carlisle St. home. Police allege Fordyce hit her with a microwave oven, and then stomped on her body following the argument that started over a roast beef sandwich and escalated into accusations of infidelity.
Fordyce told officers that the two fought when McCann asked him to heat a roast beef sandwich, and as the argument heated up, he threw her to the living room floor and slammed a microwave oven into her chest. Police testified Fordyce admitted to then standing over her and stomping on her chest.
Cox testified Wednesday that Fordyce told them that that while he was beating her, McCann asked him why he was doing it and told Fordyce he was “hurting her.” Cox testified Fordyce allegedly responded by grabbing McCann by the hair and beating her head off the floor to the point of unconsciousness.
“He straddled her body,” Cox testified. “He grabbed her by her hair and smashed the back of her head off the ground. At that point, he said she went limp, stopped speaking and never spoke again.”
According to Rutter, when he arrived at 70 Carlisle St. around 12:30 a.m., he observed Fordyce sitting at the dining room table with Patrolman Ray Miller.
“He was mumbling he wanted to die and said ‘I loved that woman,'” Rutter testified.
Rutter said he inspected the home and found blood on the floor, a microwave, a chair, a towel, on the walls, on the stairs, in an upstairs bedroom and on Fordyce.
Additionally, Rutter said beer cans, some full and some empty, were strewn around the living room.
Rutter testified he also observed McCann’s body in the bedroom where she was laid on a bed.
“She was mutilated, purple and bloody… it was horrifying,” Rutter testified.
According to Rutter, he and Miller took Fordyce to the Uniontown police station, where after a few minutes, Fordyce said, “Get me a pack of cigarettes and a tape recorder and I will tell you what happened just once.”
In an audiotaped confession, Fordyce told police he and McCann purchased more than 40 beers throughout the day prior to McCann’s death and told officers he took four Xanax pills sometime after 10 a.m., Rutter testified. The beating death occurred between 4 and 5 p.m. after the couple finished watching “Judge Judy” on television, according to Fordyce’s statements to police, Rutter testifed. Fordyce then told police he left the home for a short time, then came back and drank some beer before asking a neighbor to call police, according to Rutter.
Under cross-examination, Shaffer grilled Rutter and Cox as to Fordyce’s demeanor following the incident as well as what Shaffer claimed was a lack of questions regarding Fordyce’s alcohol consumption by investigators.
While Rutter testified that it was evident that Fordyce had been drinking prior to giving police statements regarding the incident, both Rutter and Cox dismissed the assertion that Fordyce was not aware of what he was doing.
“He understood what I was taking about,” Rutter testified. “He answered questions. He answered complex questions. In my opinion, he was not highly intoxicated.”
A blood-alcohol test taken around 5 a.m. revealed Fordyce had a blood-alcohol level of .12, which is over the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle. Rutter, however, said that did not affect the police investigation.
“I was concerned with a valid confession and he met the criteria,” Rutter testified.
Warman said he will consider the request for suppression.