Death by Antifreeze Trial — MA v. Judy Church — Full Closings

[00:00:00] Mr. Narconis: Mr. Narconis, the floor is yours. Thank you, Judge. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm here now as we have come to that conclusion of the case. As Judge said to you, each side gets to argue the evidence and tell them why their position is the correct position for you to present when you return a verdict in this particular case. You've heard from Attorney Scully, you've seen Ms. Morrissey in this particular case. We represent Judy Church in these proceedings. Two issues, two words that we began the case with and I think are important throughout. We talked about color and we talked about taste. We had some presentations relative to that and I'll get to those in a moment with you. He, Leroy, did what he wanted and you don't tell him what to do. You just don't. This was Judy Church in a statement to the police when she was talking to Trooper Williams and she was talking to Detective Bernie on November 14, 2020. Judy Church did not kill Leroy Fowler. Judy Church did not murder Leroy Fowler. Now the court has set out for you a law that it gets applied in this particular case. I would just like to highlight as I'm beginning, again, what some of that is. The very foundation of our system of justice in which we operate. It's the bedrock of which our entire system is built. It's reasonable doubt. This isn't just a technicality and it's not just a slogan. It's a constitutional shield that protects the innocent and presents the government from punishing without proof. The Commonwealth has the high burden to prove each and every element of the charged crime in this particular case, murder. Beyond a reasonable doubt, that is to a moral certainty. Those are powerful words. They're not just legal jargon. They are your mandate. They are your obligation. They're your community's protection against injustice in our system. Now, what that means is that at the end of the case, where we are, at the end of this trial, when you have the charge by the court and you are deliberating, if you think, you know what, maybe that's true, it might be true, then you have to vote not guilty. If you think it's possibly true, or probably true, your vote must be not guilty. If someone among you thinks it's likely true, even if very likely true, your vote still must be not guilty, because none of those standards, none of them, might be, could be, possibly, very likely, none of those meets the extraordinary burden of what, beyond a reasonable doubt, to a moral certainty, needs within our criminal justice system. Now, this case revolves around the relationship with Judy Church and the Leroy Fowler. And the Leroy Fowler, Judy Church, a mother, a sister, a homemaker, an educator. She laid those all out for the police when she gave her second statement on November 14th. She told Trooper Williams about her long career as a fourth-grade teacher in Middleton, Massachusetts. She was married when she first encountered Leroy Fowler. He came, and he rented a room or unit from her at their home in Salisbury. Soon, they became a couple. They were in love. Husband left. Husband, I believe the name you've heard was Rusty. He left. And at that point in time, then, I might show you these. They were, these have been introduced as exhibits in this particular case. Next one, please. 2012, then, Judy and Leroy set up a home, and they started to create a life together. Judy had financial security. She had the house. She had the full-time job. She was healthy, vibrant, and smart. Then, they cruise along in that same mode. And then, in 2016, 2017, someplace in that time frame, Leroy began a second relationship with a woman named Barbara Randall. Also, about that time, and you have the medical records of Leroy here, he started having a number of medical issues. You have his medical records from 2016 to 2022. The health continued to spiral downwards up and through November 14, 2022. And again, you'll have those available to you. You can see what they set out for you. Physically, at times, he had chronic pain syndrome. He had a pacemaker. He had Achilles problems. He had stomach issues. Mentally, he had depression. The records show he had bipolar disorder and anxiety. And at that point in time, the evidence is being presented to you. He was not working. He was on, perhaps, Social Security disability. But he had no financial independence. And what also is indicated in there, he had polysubstance abuse issues. He was using cocaine. And an emerging issue, perhaps, with alcohol from some of the evidence that you've heard. At one point in time, Leroy had a temper. And at one point in time, he got into a physical altercation with Barbara Randall. And that was in the summer of 2022. Pulled her hair, threw her to the ground. Things were not going, things were not getting better for Leroy at that time. He had some blackouts that had been reported. And his position seemed to be getting physically worse. Over the years, as the couple progressed, Judy had bought two motorcycles for Leroy and a pickup truck. He did become dependent upon her as his principal source of income. But the actions of Leroy Fowler were somewhat consistent. You had heard from Michael Hawkins. Michael Hawkins told you that his mother was named Julie Hawkins. And Leroy had been living with them. Then at some point in time, when he had met Judy, Leroy moved out on Julie Hawkins and moved in with Judy Church. And then he would be, according to Michael Hawkins, come back for visits was the term that he had used. I would submit to you there would seem to be a particular pattern of the way Leroy Fowler was leading his life in terms of associations with women. And then he takes on a life of his own. His agenda was the agenda that he made. Once he became, in 2017, I believe the evidence was, from Barbara Randall, that he began an association with her. And it was an association where an overhouse stayed there. You can believe he was, and they were living as a couple. And it's reasonable to infer from what you have heard. At the same time, he's still living with Judy Church. And at that point in time, and I think there was some indications from some of the evidence, obviously Judy Church was hurt. I'm assuming at some point in time, Barbara Randall was hurt. He's splitting his time between both. He's abusive, therefore, emotionally, to both women at the same time. There is no particular, they show flashes of anger as a, but they blame each other. Neither one of them is blaming, text messages you have available to you is blaming the Leroy. They had even came out with nicknames for each other. And you heard those from the testimony here. I won't repeat those here today. But that was, it denigrated to that situation. Again, the person that was causing all of this, they didn't share their anger at, they did it towards each other at that point in time. Judy would channel her anger at times, and you have a couple of the journals, they're undated. But she would journal her anger about what Leroy was doing. A way to get rid of your hostility without taking out any action against the person. She would put down what she saw and what was there. But Judy constantly expressed her love for Leroy, despite what was happening to her. And it does get angry at times. Timmy Carbone, Leroy's sister, testified she became friends with both women during this period of time. She testified Leroy did not have the means to pay for his own life, and he had his health problems. As previously mentioned, Leroy III, the son, was out trying to give some work to his father. I think he said he gave one construction job to them. The important aspect of that is he still could go out and do work. You heard about, through the statements of Judy Church, which we'll get to in a moment to the police, that Leroy was doing work around their homes, that he was building, trying to build a floor underneath. He was still active physically. Michael Hawkins took him to work on a grow facility for three days up in Vermont. He was active physically there as well. Get up there. He indicated that at some point in time, Leroy III, that he even had a restraining order against his father in 20 and 21, due to physical issues that he had encountered with his dad. Leroy III, the son, also had a relationship with both Judy and Barbara Randall. He is crossing roads at all times. The years move on for the triangle that is composed of Judy Church and Leroy Fowler and Barbara Randall. Nothing of any hostility between the women themselves, physical hostility. There are down times. There are messages expressing feelings. There are partial breakups. But Judy continues to express her love for Leroy. She gets very hurt, she indicates, when he's, at one point in time, when she sees Barbara sitting on the back of a motorcycle that she bought for Leroy. And at that point in time, she went out and bought him another motorcycle instead. Now, when you look, you move into January of 2022, the couple, Leroy and Judy Church, go down to Florida. They buy a home. There's a deed here showing that they actually bought the home in Florida. And it's under both of them. It's under both their names, tenancy by the entirety, which is normal when there's a couple together within it. And they're going to, Judy is pushing Leroy to join her and come, and they're going to move to Florida. It gets delayed. And finally, in November, November, mid-November, they're packing up, they're going. You saw the house, pictures of the house. Everything seemed to be in disarray as they were packing up and getting ready to leave in the house. They had bought a van. Mr. Eaton, William Eaton, talked to you about a second van they were looking at to get so they could move to Florida. In that mid-November time frame is when all of the dreams of Judy Church are coming true. Barbara's going to be behind. Leroy Fowler is coming with her. They've got a residence, a home, and both of their names in Florida, and they're moving there. There's a text message of evidence showing that Leroy and Barbara had ended it. The hostility between them. The words that were done. I believe they were from November 5th or 6th, but you'll have those with you in the jury room to look at within this. That Judy, when she's talking to the police, says that she believes when they're down there, Leroy can be drug-free because she believes, she has no basis for it necessarily, but she believes that Barbara Randall was the source of Percocets for Leroy. And now in Florida, the drug issue would be left behind and they will be all set. Now, Leroy had particular drinks. Everybody said he had a sweet taste in what he liked to drink. They liked to drink Fanta orange soda and they liked to drink Fruit Punch red Powerade and coffee fraps or milkshakes made for him by Judy and her blender. At some point prior to 2022, it became a family joke that originally started perhaps by Leroy that in giving the milkshakes to Leroy, she was trying to poison him. Now, if you jump forward to the police search, they take the blender out of the house. They don't do any testing on that. But that was the position that the family had that he was getting poisoned through family milkshakes made in the blender of her home. They seize the blender but they don't touch it. They don't test it to see if there's anything there. Now, in the weeks leading up to November 11th, family and friends speak and see Leroy and express opinions about how he feels and what he looks like. Now, Michael Eaton said he talks with him about the van, sees him about a week prior regarding the sale of the van. He said he looked fine, sounded fine and seemed to be happy in speaking about moving to Florida. Now, the day that the government says that Judy Church stepped forward to murder Leroy Fowler Sr. She did so by putting ethylene glycol on a Powerade bottle. All of the evidence of that time shows that, again, the dreams of Judy Church have come true, that everything is working well at that point in time. The government has no evidence in this particular case, direct or even circumstantial, that things were a rise on November 10th, November 9th, November 11th, and yet they want you to believe that she purposely and deliberately set out to murder him, not harm him, but murder him at that particular date. The circumstantial evidence supporting that is so minimal, ladies and gentlemen, in this particular case. Now, Leroy is up most of that night according to what Judy says and we'll get to her statements to the police in a moment. And he has a consistent message and he is, and I'll go over this probably several times, he's doing text messaging. I'm absolutely sure going in text messaging. They are somewhat pornographic going forward, but there's a consistent message from 1 a.m. through 5.30 a.m. So the thought process is working here and then he's doing it on a cell phone. Everybody has done that and what is your keyboard on a cell phone? One inch high by two inches wide and for most men, larger hands, larger fingers, you've got to know what you're doing and the message goes through. It's possible in some of those there's some misspellings or misstatements on it, but it shows a consistency of mental alertness, physical dexterity in this particular case. Why is that important? Because you've heard a lot of evidence in this case about what ethylene glycol does. Ethylene glycol has a timeline. Even with Mr. Crouch here today and statements and questions from Mr. Tabilio, it's a timeline. There were three stages they talked about. The doctor from Mount Auburn also told you about the half-life of ethylene glycol and what happens when that is consumed. And jumping ahead into Mr. Crouch's statements to begin with, he talked about the quantity that would be necessary for a person to consume to be able to have considering those other factors of ethylene glycol. You've heard words metabolizes, become acids, anion gaps and as more, whatever. The ethylene glycol disappears and that's the toxic substance to come in, but it moves quickly through the system. He had 28 grams in his system still at the time he went to Anna Jake's hospital in Newburyport. That again, I would submit to you when you analyze the timeline, it's consistent with someone that's doing it themselves in the evening. it would have had to have consumed had to have consumed to get to that somewhere around two or maybe a little more 20 ounce Powerade bottles itself. Whatever may have been in them and however it got into them. Now, at some point in time then, Anna Jake's decides that they can't treat Mr. Fowler as he's there. When you first look at what happens, you have the videotape of the officer that responds to Larry and the EMTs and the fire department that gets there. And what did he do at the community? It's clear and obvious that they believe he's ODing. They're in no hurry. They're talking to him. They're doing something. The officer took the stand to say, to counter Mr. Lemke, one of the EMTs who had said that Leroy said to him something in the neighborhood of either I took two Perk 10s or I took 10 Perks. But he made a statement to him. The officer's presentation is, well, I didn't hear it. When you look at it, what you're going to see is, as where I am here, he's outside the door. The two EMTs are inside. Judy's on the bed talking. They're bending down to hear the man. This officer said, I didn't hear it because you didn't hear it. It didn't happen. Mr. Lemke was certain it happened. He said it. I believe he told you that he repeated it inside the ambulance itself. What's important about that is he didn't say it's what she made me drink. I was poisoned. It was the liquid that I drank. It was the milkshake. None of that came in at that point in time. A critical stage of his life at that point. And he's not saying anything other than he believed it was something that he took on his own. And I think that is absolutely critical. What happens after that is it seems to take on a life of its own, the investigation, not driven by investigators but put together as the family believes that something happened because Leroy said over the years I think Judy's poisoning me. Part of it also is you've heard about the timeline and you've heard about what happens if you get to someone within who has ethylene glycol poisoning and you get to them within a reasoned period of time maybe they're going to be pretty good. He sits in Anna Jake's 12 hours I think it was what the nurse said and then at some point in time he gets moved to Mount Auburn. Mount Auburn decides they cannot do it. They do a dialysis but they can't really help him anymore and then they send him over to Beth Israel. Now if I can sneak by here for a moment. Okay. Within the records you're going to see of Beth Israel hospital itself you'll have those with you and be able to read them there is the statement that I had the ME read to you in which the doctors treating him the team treating him said this is an unusual case there is an issue relative to whether he actually has ethylene glycol poisoning or what is causing his death he ultimately dies of a stroke in this particular case the family now gets together the family and what you have within that is you have Tammy Carbone you have Leroy III and you have Michael Hawkins all together and go to Mr. Eaton's house and they call the police to come there how unusual is that police are going to go talk to the family all collectively together at the house as a result of that the family tells them about the joke she's been poisoning me they figure that's it we know what we've got let's go off they go to they spend to speak to Judy Church herself that's the interview that takes place on the on her own property she meets with them you have the video you're able to see that she's not expecting the police she comes home with a pizza she's generally concerned and afraid when they tell her why are you here she believes they're going to tell her that Leroy has died and she's upset relative to that and they say they're there to investigate what has happened to them I believe it's Trooper Williams who tries to assuage her emotional state and say what we're trying to do is just find out how this came about what happened relative to this she cheers up several times in talking about him walks the police around takes them to where he had been working again she said that week and what he had been doing I think she said he was trying to replace a floor at that point in time in the house in the cottage that was behind the house that they had now there's a second interview done with Judy and when that second interview is being conducted they are also at that point in time conducting a search of Judy Church's home and as attorney Scully pointed out so ably to you the search seemed to be cursory how many items weren't even looked at how many items weren't even examined within the context of that house itself and the essence I think of that is that at some point in time after the interview with Judy Church the Trooper Williams goes back to the house goes into the room occupied by Mr. Fowler looks around and there are several containers of Fantasoda which was his second issue that they had and he takes one arbitrarily looks at it and says I'll take that one and even he couldn't explain why he did that he just thought he should take one out of it the room where he had been he had been the night before and he had spent considerable time and he had been doing his texting and then that goes off to the lab ultimately both matters go off to the lab at some point in time in December out at NMS you've heard the gentleman from NMS come in and testify and they found ethylene glycol in the solution sent from the Powerade bottle and again this was a fruit punch a red fruit punch bottle and yet what they find and they find it in the recycling bin is a fruit punch bottle that's orange in color and that's the reason it calls it gets their attention it's orange in color and they assume and obviously it's not fruit punch and again as we had said to you before and we have repeated throughout color and taste are two huge criterias for anybody anything you pick up you go you go you get a glass of milk and all of a sudden you take a light sip and it's sour I'm not drinking that I'm sorry I'm not doing that you look at something it's the wrong color you've ordered a root beer it comes and it's orange what are you going to say that's not my drink if you're consistently over the years drinking a red drink you're going to look for it to be red if it's a different color I would submit the average person isn't going to consume it you don't know what that is and as the in relation to did that particular item taste bitter to Leroy Fowler now again the government chooses not to test the beatrix the NMS gentleman said well we don't do that because we don't advise it to be done apparently it's a test I don't know costly or whatever we had it done on behalf of Judy Church we found a lab that would do that and they did it NMS certainly could have had the same capabilities or have done that it certainly leads an investigation into why would this happen why would someone with that a number of the witnesses the request of Mr. Camelio said well statistics show people are still doing it if people are self bent on hurting themselves yes they could still do that but it's put in there and Massachusetts has a statute on it it's put in there for particular purpose if nothing else to avert you for what you're consuming so the color and the taste are wrong in the bottles that they find with ethylene glycol is there interestingly enough the other bottles they pull out of Powerade they don't do any testing on why we don't really know the at that point in time now while all of that is happening Judy goes in and gives a statement to the police Leroy had passed away she had done that she comes to the station voluntarily she's not under arrest she's not being forced to go there she waves and you've heard that you hear her voice you hear her tone you see her body movements all of those things everybody takes into account when you're seeing if somebody is truthful or not truthful what are you doing how are you doing it where are you looking and so you can see all of that she provides her phone password to them so they can get into it as we all know Apple doesn't let you get into the phone no matter what happens unless you have a password now she provides her email address so that can be searched when she's asked whether they will find anything about antifreeze on her phones she says no and they don't or it would have been an exhibit certainly in this particular case if that had come forward among other things she says she says Lee was her world they lie and suggest her fingerprints will be on an antifreeze bottle they found at her home they try and trick her persuade her what is she going to say for an hour and a half she's there and talking they didn't find any antifreeze at the house they never found antifreeze at the house so I'll get to discuss with you in a minute they never found a source for whatever the ethylene glycol was it's in that Powerade bottle but they're trying to trick her but she she's being truthful and she confidently says her prints won't be found on it they don't have it and they don't interestingly enough of the Powerade bottle that's here in this particular case we've heard much about DNA and what's found on DNA on that which I'll get to in a moment there's no fingerprints of Judy on that it's in the recycling bin you would expect it probably would have been but nothing they don't find that on there now they ask her why the file the follower family is blaming her they put direct questions from her that you as jurors trying to determine what may happen in a case would have probably wanted to have placed before him she explains that they've all taken the old joke as I told you and they've run away with it she tells the police that they're all putting the blame on her but it isn't her she repeatedly says I did not kill that man I love that man now you can ask yourself if Judy did poison Leroy then why would she joke about it with Tammy while he was in the hospital I remember there was LOL laugh out loud I'm gonna bring him a poison milkshake and Tammy says maybe I'll bring him one two on that and remember she's a very smart lady they bluff the police bluff and they try and what if we test the ninja machine the blender she says go ahead they do take it it's in the photos you saw what was taken by the search and they never test it so they're challenging her left and right and she is 100% successful they're an hour and a half of intense grilling by two officers she has stayed with her description of what took place and why it took place now in the DNA itself as to the significance of that in this particular case you've heard about transfer secondary transfer I've touched that rail several times throughout this trial my DNA could go home with some of you who've reached over and touched that yourselves on it the issue about a cap you know I just put my cap here wasn't that going to pick up DNA the issue is why would it be on the lip now I'm going to put the cap back on the bottle as most people do if you haven't finished it in one you always put the cap back on take it off again I put it on something else I put it back on transfer whatever DNA was there whatever DNA was there is now on the lip of that bottle that's [00:34:39] Speaker ?: that's [00:34:39] Mr. Narconis: not a any type of merit it's her house her DNA is everywhere how many years have they lived there it's everywhere Leroy's there too now was Leroy's not on the lip of the bottle so the only person that was drinking that thing that I call was Judy no that was a transfer issue the other aspect you can see many times people will take a slug of the water you might do this you might touch someone after that I've done this you've got my DNA there's no way that that DNA has any evidence of any merit whatsoever in this particular case I think and I would submit to you again the issue within the context of this case it's circumstantial evidence circumstantial evidence I would submit to you is never going to show you proof beyond a reasonable doubt on the most serious charge we have in our judicial system there is nothing nothing here that would put that together well the first thing you would need is if the government is correct you'd need a motive why am I going to kill you would say Judy why is Judy Church on November 11th 2022 want to murder not harm not kick not incapacitate murder Leeroy Fowler well wait Barbara's going to be left behind that could be a reason maybe he was going with Barbara no wait there's no evidence of that it's just the opposite he's told Barbara goodbye well maybe he's going to move out with someone else no they're going to Florida they put a house in his name in Florida so he's got some financial gain to go and make and do and her life is going to be successful there's just no motivating factor here everything everything has come together finally for what should take place Judy Church was angry at Leroy move out it's my house I'll get a restraining order and you're gone how about 2019 he's been with Barbara for a year would you be angry and now want to kill her how about the statement of John Haywood to show you the reach of the government and the reach of the family two years later on this issue he comes forward so I was in a bar talked to him for four minutes and Judy said if he ever cheats on me this is 2020 if he ever cheats on me I'll poison him let's see he was cheating on her all of 2018 all of 2019 when was that in 2020 how does that statement have any make any sense and he tells it two years later and he's related to the family that's the overreach that the government has in this case for you the significant overreach so motive we don't know now how about ethylene glycol and anybody ever heard of ethylene glycol if you weren't working in the automotive industry beforehand Trooper Williams what did he have to do to learn about ethylene glycol he went on wikipedia isn't that how he thought he could charge her because he's found out ethylene glycol is this on wikipedia but I think more interest is the medical examiner he's a doctor he's coming up with causes of death he's never had one before what did he do he said he went onto the computer and looked up wikipedia what did they find on judy's phone what searches where was she finding out how how am I going to kill him was she looking for cyanide was she looking for other substances and it's finally came up with ethylene glycol no nothing nothing so if these very learned people one in the law enforcement one partially ME and then even the NMS scientists said to you he's only had one case ever 2000 he had to look up some stuff online so how's judy finding out one do you get on the cvs and they got a special going over here this week this ethylene glycol maybe it's market basket where do you get it do you get it pure or do you get it with Beatrix in it how would you get Beatrix to put it in it if you didn't do that I mean there's somewhat of an absurdity in terms of the overreach they have never ever been able to tell you a source that they say of the ethylene glycol and you wonder why do I have that up here and there are that's introduced as evidence and there's multiple pictures of another bottle of it because this is what they originally thought it was this has no merit as evidence whatsoever in this case except it was found in the kitchen of the house none it's not [00:40:06] Speaker ?: it's not [00:40:06] Mr. Narconis: this that's the type of distraction that's ongoing here you're probably looking at this since I started giving this piece what is he going to do with that why is that there because it has no value whatsoever but it's to try and convince you that someplace in that house she must have had something like this we just never found it and but it's not there so we don't have a motive we don't have any planning we don't have any ability to pick up whatever it is that's supposed to be there on the most serious charge of our judicial system as to why this lady would have done that now just a circumstantial case is not in terms of what is here is not the proof beyond a reasonable doubt to a moral certainty equationing to one of the most important decisions you would make in your life again if Judy didn't want Leroy get out leave 2019 2018 2019 2020 2021 early part of 2022 and wait till everything is perfect and now I'm going to go out and do something that most people don't know anything about and find out how to effectuate this now one thing that I think is has to be considered is the videos there's 13 of those small videos a minute apiece that was taken on the early morning hours of that the government wants you to view them as Judy somehow enjoying the suffering of Leroy she told the police this was something he had done before when he OD'd on drugs it's something that's not uncommon for people to do when there's people having some sort of problems with a family member and you want to show them what their conduct does so she takes them and she keeps asking him that 29 minutes what happened what did you take do you want me to call an ambulance finally when he says yes and when the police talked to her about was there any delay in the ambulance she said he didn't want to go to Anna Jake's he didn't want to have the hospital take an ambulance take him but so she waited until he said that and if it was in fact as everybody at that moment thought the type of tape you could use you get to Florida and you say let's not ever have this happen again let's not get involved in any type of drug issue there's no you know enjoying what your discomfort is in this particular case ultimately he doesn't have any physical issues he's not cutting himself he's not bleeding he's not getting bruising I think two doctors two different doctors told you that in this particular situation so there was a purpose there was a method because again they're going they're leaving and then when he gets to the hospital she's there she's the person that goes and again relative to the dissatisfaction of the family they're really really upset that she didn't bring them and notify them before they have their meeting at the house now again your mission is not to try and figure out what happened it's not why we're here you have only one function and that is to determine whether the prosecution has proven its case against Judy Church beyond reasonable doubt as to each and every element again it's not a maybe it's not a probability it's not a possibility it's to a moral certainty and remember this case is loaded with reasonable doubt pieces of the puzzle Mr. Scully Attorney Scully told you about that when we began it's like a puzzle and you've got to the government is trying to fit all the pieces in but they're trying to put some square pieces into round holes then they don't fit in what we have here now it's impossible to think that Leroy Fowler wouldn't have noticed the color it's bright orange on those as I've displayed those to you it's impossible to think that he was drinking was not his usual red fruit punch it's impossible to ignore the bittering agent we would submit to you that's in there when asked why the prosecution didn't test for it Sergeant Williams didn't have a good explanation really he relied on a Google search about it they did test for fingerprints none found they did test for DNA we've gone over that relative to this they generated five profiles what does that really mean the search of Judy's house was totally unorganized and centered only on one thing she did it we don't really have to look for anything else let's go and again watching what took place with Trooper Williams when he comes back and he looks at goes into the back bedroom Judy told him that Leroy was beforehand he looks around sees a couple of Santa cans and decides I'll take that one that shows you exactly the effort that was being taken in this particular case each of these helps you determine that there was reasonable doubt in there we saw photographs that were never collected or tested multiple Powerade bottles how about we test more of those multiple orange Fanta cans how about the can that went out to the NMS well there's some sort of interference because there was some other substance this is a chemical lab testing there was some other chemical in there we didn't know what it is well your chemical lab why don't you test for that tell us what it is is that ethylene glycol is that cocaine is that something what is that give us something no we decided not to finish the test and the government said that we're not going to redo that test those are the items in the back bedroom is that where more of the 28 grams were coming from what was in his bedroom at that point in time we don't know when she goes to the hospital Judy's holding his hand she brings him presents she tries to stage a birthday party from him when he's in there if Judy put antifreeze in the power raid why would you leave that in your house just she's a smart lady you can tell by the interview with the police so it's going to happen and I'm just going to throw it into the trash I'm just going to put it not only the trash I'm going to put it into recycling there's no in that context ladies and gentlemen again it shows you the reasonable doubt the circumstantial evidence it is an overreach in this case again the rain acts turned out not even to be linked in this case they found nothing incriminating in Judy's diaries and notebooks how about the puppet about Barbara how many people have done something like that over the years right what does that signify did we even have a year for that was that 2018 and that meant in 2022 four years later she would want to murder Leroy and the text message about being a Scorpio and knowing what to sting it doesn't mention Leroy and has nothing to do with him it seemed to be more directed towards Barbara they didn't find what they were looking for so they cut and paste together all these scraps of text messages photographs journal entries it says here we think we've got it all together now if she's had something incriminating on her phone why wouldn't she hide it wipe the phone put it Tom Brady took out the chip and he broke it why how much do you have to know to be able to do something to hide it on your phone and again Mr. Lemke what he told you happened with him Trooper Williams young smart but eager to solve the case very quickly very energetically and without a lot of effort right we got it right here but the investigation lacks merit in this particular case Judy and Leroy's text messages they're all positive in November of 2022 that's when this is happening 2022 this is not something in September he decides he's going to murder him but you know I think I'll wait too much the weather might be better in November to commit a murder than it might be in September the text messages that are current showing the mental state and alert Leroy's texting again I've told you that what is there again the video's somewhat difficult to watch but she has seen him like this before and she wanted to show him to Leroy a big incentive to change she doesn't delete him why wouldn't you delete him if you thought there was something wrong and you had murdered why would you not do that that would have to be really something that would be on the pale as it would go right Mr. Norconis you're at just about 50 minutes thank you judge this is a circumstantial case ladies and gentlemen when we began our clerk Ms. Draper told you that Judy Church had placed herself before a country which country you are and you represent best in our judicial system I submit to you that the only true and just verdict in this case is that of not guilty of the charge here facing Judy Church I want to thank you on behalf of Ms. Church Attorney Scully and Ms. Morrissey for your time patience and effort in this case ladies and gentlemen thank you your honor thank you Mr. Norconis I'm going to suggest you stand up for just a moment and in a moment Mr. Camelio will address you on behalf [00:50:41] Speaker ?: of the time you'll know you'll know Mr. Camelio thank you [00:51:04] Speaker 2: you'll know [00:51:09] Mr. Narconis: you'll know Mr. Camelio thank you your honor [00:51:17] Speaker 2: if you see [00:51:24] Speaker ?: if you see [00:51:24] Speaker 2: those two cunts that live in the cottage tell them I have words you'll recognize those two cunts because you're with one I guessed it all didn't I you're just here and dragged me along to buy gas because you don't want to be with me in Florida like that morning in Florida you baited me with that cunt on the phone to say out loud that you don't want to be there and when we left so abruptly it's exactly what I said that as soon as we got home you'd leave and you did just that even though you promised otherwise if you don't want to go back to Florida just say so if you and I are done just say so I'm not going to fork over another penny for you to fuck me over ever again because I know that you'll just still drag that skank bitch back with us you keep complaining about the cold and that you want to go home I am I want to be in Florida you only want to be in Florida or anywhere else with my money obviously I'm not the one you want to be with because you fucked me over today too I started the closing the same way I started the opening with the words written by Judy Church the first time in her notebooks and this time in the notes section of her phone the Commonwealth can call witnesses we can introduce evidence we can talk about the science but nobody can give you a better picture nothing can give you a better picture of the nature of the toxic and dysfunctional relationship that existed between Judy Church and Leroy Fowler than the own words that come out of the pen of Judy Church she's the one that describes that relationship using those vile words which I've used during the course of this trial because they're important in a courtroom we don't pretend that words don't mean what they mean we don't say the c word we use the words that people actually say in the defense they won't say it because they know how vile it is they know how angry it makes Miss Church they know how much she had to have hated Barbara Randall to use that word over and over and over again she used it with her friends she used it with Leroy she used it with the police the first time they show up at this house not knowing a single thing about Leroy not knowing a single thing about Judy Church she said she says oh yeah she describes his other girlfriend as the cunt this was not a healthy relationship this relationship was toxic Judy Church hated Barbara Randall she hated that Leroy left her to go see Barbara and it was a horrible thing right this is a horrible relationship Leroy Fowler was doing horrible things right he treated Judy poorly he treated Barb poorly and Judy she just hated it he left her alone over and over and over again every time he left her to go to Barbara's house what he was telling her what he was saying to her was you're not enough you're not wanted you're not loved I need more than you can give me Judy tried to make up for that with her money right she bought him a motor she bought him two motorcycles she bought him a second one because she saw Barbara Randall riding on the first one that she had purchased that's how much she hated Barbara Randall that's how much she hated their relationship she bought him a truck she bought him a house and no matter how much money she spent every single time as I just read to you in exhibit 46 no matter how much money she spent she went she knew that Leroy was going back to Barbara and she hated it she snooped on Leroy's phone she took pictures of their text messages when the text messages were happy when Barbara and Leroy were having a good time it must have been awful for her when they were fighting and breaking up it must have made her happy right when she saw the video on Leroy's phone of him proposing to Barbara Randall it must have been like a knife in the gut god she hated Barbara Randall she hated her she had the voodoo doll that despite what Mr. Narconis is not something that normal people do that people normally do it's just not Leroy removed Judy's name the tattoo tattoo that he had over his heart at Barbara Randall's urging god how painful how painful did this have to be for Judy no matter what she did no matter what she did he always went back to Barbara every single time she had to know no matter what she did he was never going to be faithful to her he was never going to stay with her it was described during the trial by Mr. Scully as an open relationship Judy herself told the police he cheats on me she knew this was what it was she knew this was cheating this was not an open relationship this was toxic this was horrible it was dysfunctional it was just it was just horrible what he was doing to her and she made the decision to poison him there is motive all over this case not only is there motive there's means and there's opportunity Judy church was the only person with Leroy Fowler the night that he died Leroy was a perfect victim of ethylene glycol poisoning his diet seems to have consisted entirely of soda Powerade cupcakes and coffee milkshakes those were his four food groups the man didn't eat anything or drink anything that wasn't pure sugar the perfect vehicle for hiding ethylene glycol in the poison you're going to give somebody now Judy and Leroy's toxic and dysfunctional relationship provided the motive that night is the means and the opportunity you heard from Dr. Shin and you heard from the medical examiner how quickly the ethylene glycol starts to poison you since it gets into your body the only person that was there that night with Leroy was Judy Church now Leroy knew enough to not drink ethylene glycol on his own right Leroy worked on cars he worked on motorcycles all his life Leroy knew how dangerous this stuff was and Leroy liked cocaine right that's what Leroy was looking to do Leroy was looking for cocaine and Leroy was doing whatever it is that Leroy wanted to do now what's the first sign on November 11th that something is amiss now I'm not talking about Leroy's illness what I'm talking about is the 911 call what does Judy say in the 911 call yes 108 central ave we need an ambulance you know what's going on there I don't know my boyfriend must have ingested something my boyfriend must have ingested something how did she know that he had ingested something people only use the word ingest when they're talking about poison no one says I just ingested some water or I just ingested my morning cup of coffee you ingest poison and Judy used that word because you know not because she was admitting that she committed the crime but because that's what was on her mind she knew full well that he had ingested something now the EMTs show up and they don't know that he's ingested something the first thing that they say to each other is oh maybe it's neurological right they take him to Anna Jakes Anna Jakes doesn't know that he ingested something right away they're still trying to figure out what happened to him doctors nurses nurse practitioners they don't say oh yeah he must have ingested something no Judy Church says he must have ingested something knowing full well that that's actually what happened before the EMTs get there there's the videos those videos are horrible they are chilling they are the best possible evidence of murder in the first degree with extreme atrocity and cruelty usually you have to rely on a medical examiner or a doctor or a witness to say the victim was suffering you don't have to rely on any witness you don't have to rely on any person who came in and testified you get to see to see [01:01:24] Speaker ?: to see to see [01:01:24] Speaker 2: for yourself how much pain how much agony how bad it was for Mr. Fowler that morning he can't stand he can't get up no matter how many times he tries he can't talk he can't breathe he is moaning and moaning in agony what does Judy Church say are you having fun you having fun if the person that someone loves is on the floor unable to stand unable to walk unable to talk you don't pull out your phone and you start videotaping you call 911 for any of those things you can't stand you call 911 they can't talk you call 911 they can't breathe you call 911 their stomach is like that you call 911 he's got all of these things and for a half an hour she sits on that bed and she videotapes them she tells the police she gave them a pillow she gave a blanket it's not on the floor nothing the only thing that's on the floor is the dog bed she never mentions to the police that she took these videos she never mentions to Anna Jake's hospital that she took these videos if you wanted someone to get better if you wanted to help somebody wouldn't that be the first thing that someone would show the police or someone would show the hospital hey take this is what he looked like this is what he looked like for a half an hour maybe this will help you diagnose him maybe this will figure out help you figure out what's wrong with him in one of the more surreal moments of the trial yesterday you heard Mr. Narcunas cross-examining the medical examiner and he had the medical examiner agree that yeah if Mr. Fowler had gotten treatment sooner maybe maybe he could have lived who was the person responsible who was the person responsible for Mr. Fowler not getting immediate medical treatment the defendant Judy Church she sat there in that house videotaping him for 30 minutes she tells the police as early as 6.30 that morning he started to fall down she told the hospital as early as 3.30 that morning he was falling down and that he couldn't stand up now at some point it had to become clear to her that explaining a dead body on the floor of her bedroom was not a good idea she calls 911 she gets the chance to have her own narrative with the EMTs with the police officers with the firefighters that came oh yeah perks this is what this is perks I saw this before in 2019 there's no perks in his system he never took any perks she tells the she tells the police oh it's perks there's no perks there's none they never find him she tells him he had them there's no evidence of that only her only her word even before November 11 it appears Leroy was ingesting ethylene glycol his symptoms as described by Michael Hawkins were the same symptoms that you heard about for stage 1 of ethylene glycol poisoning you heard Dr. Shin from Mount Auburn talk about the kidney problems the kidney failure that it looked like Leroy was experiencing and how that could have been how concerned she actually was for someone who's not even with us anymore about the fact that he couldn't urinate one of the most serious symptoms that she could tell you about kidney failure Judy talked openly to everybody about poisoning Leroy Fowler now she says it's a joke as Tammy Fowler said when she was on the stand it's not so funny after Leroy is poisoned she texted people about poisoning she texted I want to poison somebody and I have somebody picked out this was in September of 2022 weeks before Leroy Leroy died of ethylene glycol poisoning told the police how they used to watch true crime she called them the murder shows perhaps in answer to Mr. Narconis' questions that's where she learned what ethylene glycol can do in that first interview with the police when did she show the most emotion not when talking about Leroy's condition but when they mistake her for the other girlfriend for the visiting girlfriend she says I'm not the visiting girlfriend two months before his death she took a picture of his room and it was that exhibit that we talked about a couple days ago the orange liquid in the cup see it on the screen the defense said no it's red it's red it's red well sergeant Williams insisted no it's orange and you can see it's orange and it's exactly the same color as the liquid in the power bottle why would anyone take that picture why would you ever take a picture of that on your phone what somebody's drinking is it another trophy like the videos that she took of Leroy as he lay dying on her floor we don't know but what we do know is that that orange is the exact same color as the orange in the power bottle that picture taken in August of 2022 what else the murder weapon power bottle it was found in her kitchen it has her DNA on the mouth of the bottle underneath the cap that's not what that's not transfer that did not sit in that recycling bin and pick up DNA underneath that cap you heard tell you she swabbed the under cap was not picking up DNA from anywhere no matter if Mr. Lakin can tell you about transfer all he wants but DNA really it really does come from touching things and drinking from things her DNA is on the mouth of that bottle she drank from that bottle she drank did she finish the power aid did she show it to Leroy so that he would think it was safe take a little sip she tells the police actually that night when she that night when Leroy came to her bedroom she thought he was dehydrated she showed yeah I gave him something to drink now the defense rests much of their case much of their defense on the bittering agent that they say would have kept Leroy from drinking this because he would have noticed it now you heard from NMS they don't have this test state police crime lab doesn't have this test now the defense says well the state police trooper Williams should have gotten this test done can you imagine the uproar from the defendant if the commonwealth of massachusetts had called up a random marijuana testing company with no forensic abilities at all to do a test in this case can you imagine the outcry mass state police call weed company testers the test evidence in a murder case now these are the same people when you heard the testimony yesterday that provided their results to a different defense expert two months before they actually did the tests I think the less said about MCR labs the better those bittering agents exist to keep people from drinking straight antifreeze they don't exist to keep people from drinking antifreeze that has been mixed in with soda or Powerade that it's down to two and a half percent of the bottle that's not what it's there for you're down to one or two parts per million at that point regardless of the Bittrex that was in that Powerade one of the uncontrovertible facts of this case is that Leroy Fowler had ethylene glycol in his blood he had it in his body he had it in his system that's what he died from Dr. Shin agrees the medical examiner agrees and if you look at the Beth Israel records you'll see that that's what he died from as well despite the representations made in the closing by Mr. Narcumis right at the top of the Mount Auburn records it's right at the top of their differential diagnosis is ethylene glycol poisoning and that was before they even had the 52 milligrams per deciliter number of ethylene glycol in Mr. Fowler's blood Leroy drank ethylene glycol within hours of that video being taken on November 11th he had to have drunk it in the house he had to have drank it that night Judy Church had complete and utter access to his food and his drinks in her interview you heard her say you won't find Leroy's fingerprints on a pot or a pan she did his cooking she made him his drinks she made him his milkshakes he was the perfect victim he had COVID and lost his sense of taste he destroyed his taste buds through years of cocaine use and cigarettes he was the perfect victim for an ethylene glycol poisoning murder that is motive means and opportunity Leroy didn't kill himself if he had the bottle of antifreeze would have been sitting in his bedroom right someone shoots themselves the gun falls to the ground it's there underneath the body someone takes pills you take a whole bottle of pills the pill bottle is there there's no antifreeze there if he had been drinking that himself just drink it kill himself no there's absolutely no evidence of that as Judy Church told the police numerous times oh Leroy Leroy thought far too highly of himself to kill himself not a single person came in here and gave a shred of evidence that suggested that Leroy Fowler was going to kill himself Leroy Fowler liked his life he liked having Judy buy him things he liked being able to go to Barbara when he wanted to he wasn't the one with the problem in this relationship Judy was now a few minutes well it's actually been a long time now almost an hour and a half ago the judge explained to you the elements of first degree murder the two theories that the commonwealth is proceeding under premeditation and extreme atrocity and cruelty now with respect to premeditation there are few things in the world when you're going to kill somebody that require more premeditation than taking a poison and adding it to someone's drink the very definition of having to think about what you're doing unscrewing the cap pouring it in making sure that they drink it and as for the extreme atrocity and cruelty that video provides all the evidence that anyone would ever need to know that this murder was committed with extreme atrocity and cruelty Leroy Fowler was not always a good man but he did not deserve to die the slow horrible painful death that Judy Church inflicted on him all that she had to do was leave all that she had to do really was kick him out he didn't have a house he didn't have any money it all came from her but she couldn't do that right because she couldn't let go of this competition that she had with Barbara the note one of the notes that I read to yesterday said you'll lose this competition every single time you will never and I'm paraphrasing you'll never defeat me you'll never beat me that's what caused this that's what brought along what happened on November 11th that's what caused the poisoning of Leroy Fowler I ask you after your deliberations you return a verdict of guilty on both theories of first degree murder and find her guilty thank you