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Testimony begins in Brownsville woman’s murder retrial

By Susy Kelly skelly@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
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Testimony opened in Fayette County Court on Monday in the retrial of a Brownsville woman accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend five years ago.

According to District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. in his opening statement, 37-year-old Dayna McMaster acted with malice when she allegedly stabbed Clarence Blair III at a remote location near a gas well in Redstone Township on June 26, 2009.

McMaster was convicted of third-degree murder in 2010, but the conviction was vacated last year when the state Supreme Court found the defense should have called witnesses to testify about abuse McMaster allegedly suffered at the hands of Blair to support her argument that the stabbing was in self-defense.

“They had a tumultuous relationship,” Heneks told the jury, “but there’s no question that on that evening, while Mr. Blair was outside the truck, that Dayna McMaster raised her hand with the knife she had gotten from the hidden position under her body, and landed the fatal blow.”

McMaster and Blair had an argument while riding in his truck, Heneks said, and the two stopped in Cardale before driving out to the gas well.

Heneks argued that McMaster had an opportunity to avoid engaging in violence that night, but instead chose to hide a knife and later stab Blair in the heart.

Dianne Zerega, the court-appointed attorney representing McMaster, told jurors in her opening statement, “It’s not as simple and straightforward as Mr. Heneks would like you to believe.”

“There’s no doubt there was an altercation,” said Zerega. “It’s up to you to decide whether her actions were justified.”

Zerega said she intends to call an expert witness to discuss “battered woman syndrome” and the role domestic violence played in the events leading to the stabbing. Members of Blair’s family seated in the gallery shook their heads “no” as Zerega talked to the jury about the possibility that McMaster’s beliefs and actions were justified.

Thomas McGee of Cardale testified that he was in the vehicle with McMaster and Blair on the evening of the stabbing and witnessed an intense argument between them.

McGee told the jury he was in the back seat of the pickup’s club cab, seated behind McMaster with his infant daughter in a car seat next to him. McMaster and Blair began to argue, and Heneks asked if Blair struck her at any point. McGee said he did not.

Heneks next asked if McMaster struck Blair, to which McGee replied, “She smacked him in the head with a tea jug,” referring to a full half-gallon of iced tea.

Blair told her if she hit him again, he was going to put her out of the vehicle, McGee told the jury, and shortly after, she hit him again.

Blair stopped and McMaster got out, then back in.

McGee said, “I kept asking them to stop, I have a baby in the car.” The two returned McGee and his baby to Cardale, he testified.

Angel Bass, 28, of Cardale testified that Blair was her honorary uncle, that he grew up with her father and would sometimes stay in her family’s home. She said she was present when McGee, her boyfriend, arrived in Cardale with Blair and McMaster.

According to Bass, both Blair and McMaster were screaming and swearing when they pulled in, and she overheard McMaster, who remained in the truck while Blair came inside and made a phone call, yelling things like, “I hate him. I’m gonna get him,” and “I’m tired of this.”

Bass said she tried to ask Blair what was wrong, but he was upset and on his way back to the truck.

“I asked him, ‘Why do you even deal with it?'” Bass testified, and Heneks asked her to explain why.

“Because every time they’re together and they run out of drugs, it causes a fight,” Bass replied.

It was around 9 p.m. when she said she last saw Blair as he two “zoomed” away from Cardale with McMaster.

Fayette EMS paramedic Amy Keller testified that on June 26, 2009, she was leaving the Uniontown Hospital when a truck pulled up at around 10:30 or 11 p.m. and a woman she identified as McMaster yelled that someone was stabbed.

“I heard her say she had stabbed the individual and that she was in fear, she didn’t mean to do it,” Keller testified.

The trial will resume at 9:30 a.m. before Senior Judge Gerald R. Solomon.

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