Nicholas Kassotis Trial (Pt 34) — Closing Arguments

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: all right everyone please be seated ladies and gentlemen of the jury you might recall when we began this trial before the opening statements i told you that the opening statements and the closing arguments cannot be considered by you as evidence they're not evidence they're arguments the only evidence that you can lawfully consider in arriving at your verdict will be the sworn testimony that you've heard over the last week and a half all of the exhibits documents that have been lawfully introduced for your consideration that's the evidence the closing arguments again are not evidence they're intended to help you see the case in a light most favorable to the respective party but they are a very important part of this case and i ask you to pay close attention to the arguments at this time i'll recognize mr weinstein you may proceed for the defense [00:00:59] Nicholas Kasutis: thank you ladies and gentlemen of the jury i want to begin by thanking you for all of your attention that you have and time that you've spent over the last two weeks listening to the evidence in the case paying attention to the witnesses taking time away from your work your friends and your family so i want you to know that we certainly appreciate that i think all of us appreciate that so thank you nicolas kasutis has lied to many many people he has left awake of emotional distress amongst a number of his friends and family his parents linda and wayne you've seen throughout this trial behind him were shut off by him shut off by him because he believes that for some reason his following was after him he told people all kinds of lies about his parents that they weren't his real parents that he was abused growing up that his real parents were somewhere in england that he was kidnapped taken to the u.s caused tremendous pain to them he caused pain to all of the friends that he lied to for those years and you heard from them cameron when talking to the pain for cameron he took two hundred thousand dollars of her money so you can find beyond a reasonable doubt that nick kasutis lied to people that nick kasutis took advantage of people like cameron you see and you heard what nick kasutis did with samantha kogesnik his third wife told her lies married her under false priest pretenses to such an extent that the state of pennsylvania granted her or the commonwealth of pennsylvania granted her an annulment which as she told you was very difficult to get he treated her terribly you can find beyond a reasonable doubt that he did that to samantha just no doubt you've heard a lot about jim mcintyre i'm sure the state will talk a lot about jim mcintyre but this trial is not about whether there is or is not a jim mcintyre this trial is not about whether whether you believe that there's a jim mcintyre running around or you believe that nicholas kasutis committed these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt this isn't a trial about jim mcintyre this is a trial unfortunately about mindy kasutis and who killed mindy kasutis so i'm going to ask you to look at those facts look at the facts that the state has presented and make your decision based on those facts the gbi did an incredible job in investigating the death of mindy kasutis agent sands is a fantastic agent his partner i'll call him the partner did a fantastic job at the crime scene but they very quickly zeroed in on nicholas kasutis and as far as their investigation of nicholas kasutis it really could not have been more thorough could it they pulled all of this bank information they looked at credit cards airbnb documents a host of exhibits that you will all have access to showing all of his movements his gps movements of his vehicle everything about nicholas kasutis but what else did you hear nobody's perfect and as great as agent sands and his team are they didn't follow everything right jim mcintyre they had a number of leads on jim mcintyres all over the place what is the jim mcintyre lead they they followed up on the one that was convenient the one that was over here in savannah near the law office where miss mevin worked that's the one they followed up on the crime scene they picked up a cigarette box that was in the road pathway between the location of mindy kasutis's torso and one of these totes over here they picked that up what did they do with them as far as the evidence that's been admitted nothing no follow-up why no follow-up why no analysis why not look for dna on the box maybe find leaves because they had already decided as soon as they saw video from that can of the husband's car near the seam of the body the investigation for suspects was effectively over that was it they had their guy nick kasutis was their guy they didn't need to follow up on that cigarette pack how many other cars were captured on that motion camera at the pumping station that day or over those three days that i asked about numerous cars were any of those cars followed up on these are cars [00:07:47] Speaker 3: going by a scene where mindy kasutis's body is found what investigation took place on all of those [00:07:58] Nicholas Kasutis: other people that went by where that body was nothing nothing why not because they had their man he's sitting right over there he's the guy that did it we don't need to look into anyone else all that we need to do is pour all the resources of the dbi fbi resources from agent bernie with his cast let's direct everything into nick kasutis because we have our guy he did it when they arrest nick kasutis what does he do does he take advantage of his constitutional rights he's a lawyer any lawyer worth a damn is not going to talk to law enforcement if they are a suspect any lawyer worth a damn tells their clients do not speak to law enforcement you have a constitutional right let me tell you all the reasons it's a bad idea he didn't just have a jd as you heard the state point out he's a former [00:09:16] Speaker 3: prosecutor he's a former defense attorney he's speaking to law enforcement why is he doing that [00:09:25] Nicholas Kasutis: because as totally insane as the jim mcintyre story is he has nothing to hide he lived that jim mcintyre story he lived it this isn't a fiction that the writer nick kasutis makes up upon arrest he's good he sold the story to sony but he's not that good he's not that good that he could make up a story and then retroactively have lived it he lived the jim mcintyre story for years before the arrest for years before mindy kasutis's murder they actually lived like that mindy lived like that both mindy and nick told people the same story about security details i don't know whether mindy necessarily said jim mcintyre but they discussed it they lived it he didn't make it up later so when he's arrested and when agent sands and now investigator frost go up to pennsylvania go up to lancaster county and they want to speak to nick kasutis he speaks to them doesn't have anything to hide as a matter of fact seems to me he's trying to figure some things out what's going on here i thought my wife had died i'm being arrested for her murder this is nuts this is this crazy kafka-esque world that he is living in or he is tormented played with by someone calling himself jim mcintyre moving 50 plus times who voluntarily does that unless they believe there's a real threat on their lives so he talks to them he talks to them now the state's going to claim that he's inconsistent in what he says and what nick kasutis says go in the back i'm not concerned about any of this evidence i want you to go back there and spend as much time as you need look at everything they have against nick kasutis look at it all study it in detail don't rush take your time take your time because his story what he tells people is pretty much the same from the first interview in pennsylvania to the second interview down here or he's clearly exhausted from having flown down tells pretty much the same story he gets on the stand [00:12:34] Speaker 3: here he tells pretty much the same story why [00:12:41] Nicholas Kasutis: i believe it was agent sands or it could have been investigator frost that said you know the story about tom sawyer it's easier to keep up you know the truth straight lies are hard to keep straight that's true that's true and there's a few inconsistencies but there's been a lot of time but he tells the same story he is open with them because he has nothing to hide because he did not kill his wife mindy kasutis so he talks to the investigators now i used to be for 25 years purely a civil litigator and if you are a civil lawyer you're doing commercial disputes between parties one of the things you dream of you dream of you love it when you get it is to be able to depose the same person twice a deposition is kind of like an interrogation like you saw you know hopefully you all have been fortunate enough to never have been deposed i pray that's the case it's an unpleasant experience but you know what you really want to do you want to be able to depose someone twice why is that because you depose him the first time you get all that information you sit back you think well what didn't i learn what didn't i ask about maybe i can catch some things that are inconsistent and if a judge gives you the chance to depose them a second time i mean you lived a charmed life that's a wonderful thing now mrs otis was not really a civil litigator as you heard he did criminal but he sat down for a second interview what a golden opportunity for law enforcement they've been able to think about all the questions all the other things that they may not have asked about they've got more research now it's been a while it's been a week or so they asked him again they put huge pressure on nick pisodos during those interviews you saw the second one you heard the first one i know it's harder to follow the audio it's not as riveting but i saw it all watching the second one you saw the pressure they put on nick pisodos and i won't use the word lie law enforcement is allowed to mislead suspects in an interrogation there's law enforcement value in doing that you heard agent sands testify about the value in doing that and they told him all kinds of things that weren't true that he had dna evidence at the scene there's dna there you need to just confess because we got you get it off your chest dna go ahead the logging trunk identified you someone saw you confess why all the pressure why all the pressure because the actual hard evidence they have that nick pisodos killed mindy pisodos is incredibly weak i think you're looking at pretty much all of it right here stacked in this corner of the courtroom right they've got these tubs well we know from nick that when they were moving around they used tubs okay they got some tubs but what do they have that they talked about since opening oh my they got a knife there's a knife found near her body we heard so much talk about that knife you know there's a rule in screenwriting and in playwriting i may get the name wrong something to the effect of checkoff's rule if you introduce a gun in the first act of a play it better go off by the third act the state introduces this knife this milwaukee knife right off the bat i don't know what y'all were expecting but i know what i would have been expecting if i were y'all i'd have been expecting to see some hard evidence tying that knife that milwaukee knife to mendy pisodos's sorry to be so graphic but what did you hear the exact opposite that knife was not used in her dismemberment and again to be graphic her legs were not removed using that knife that's not what happened the state's own toolmark not my expert the state's own toolmark expert from the gbi that knife wasn't used to remove those body parts of memory well wait wait a minute he bought a deer processing kit at bass pro shops where's the deer processing kit they don't have one don't be confused they haven't tried to mislead you i'm not going to ever accuse them of that they're too good and too professional but they wouldn't want another kit same model that nick cosotus brought they brought it in here all right toolmark expert what about what about that kit inconclusive all right got a deer processing kit it's not even found at the scene [00:18:26] Speaker 3: not found on nick cosotus not found at the airbnb in savannah not found in lancaster [00:18:36] Nicholas Kasutis: not found so they're going to bring in another one they're going to show it here inconclusive as to whether that was used all right well they must have more than that oh they do they have more than that they have his car his car is his car is seen near where her body is found goes by the pumping station in one direction that later comes back in the other direction other cars as i said no we're going to ignore those other cars we don't care about those other cars we got the husband we don't have to worry about those cars the airbnb incident okay there must be something there right you don't arrest a man unless you've got more than that you don't do that to somebody all right airbnb what do they have there there's a futon that has some of mindy's blood there's a little bit of blood that appears to have maybe been cleaned up off the floor and a barely visible amount of blood that you can see with their special chemical substance you can see that on the wall a little bit not enough to photograph it it's so light you can't even photograph it but you were testimony found a little bit there but you know what else you heard how was mindy cassotis probably murdered she had nine macerations on her skull nine and i asked the medical examiner there are a lot of veins that run through the skull a lot of blood that comes up here in your skin oh yeah there are how much blood are you going to get when you strike somebody with a hard object hard enough to do that kind of laceration a lot of blood a lot of blood what about two lacerations even more blood that was a testimony you heard it what about nine that's a lot of blood a lot of blood was not found at the airbnb oh well wait he cleaned it up he did some amazing job of cleaning up all that blood did he buy any tarps i didn't hear anything about that so he cleaned all that blood up i mean that's not reasonable we asked the owner of the airbnb when you came there did you smell cleaning products anything bleach no she didn't smell anything all right let's keep working for the state what else do they have well he's a big old liar right let's see and a deadbeat right he owes his first wife a million and a half dollars doesn't give her that okay okay so therefore let me think this theory he owes his first wife a million and a half dollars so he kills his second wife how does that work how does that resolve anything okay forget that theory let's try another theory theory let's try another theory he kills mindy so that he can run off to pennsylvania and go woo and marry his third wife you kill mindy over that he knows how to get divorced he did it once before he divorced his first wife heather so he knows how to get divorced he also could just leave but they're going to have you believe that i don't know what the guy can believe but i imagine they're going to have to say well he did it so he could run off with samantha does that make any sense now they don't have to prove motive i don't want to i don't want to i don't want to put that in your head you're going to hear the judge tell you they don't have to prove motives but they still have to prove that nick pisodes committed these crimes the 12 counts that he is facing beyond a reasonable doubt that is an incredibly high standard beyond a reasonable doubt you may be sitting here right now thinking i think he probably did it i think he probably did it that's not high enough in our country probably did it doesn't work i think it's more likely than not that he did it i really really think he probably did it that's my gut feeling that doesn't cut it either we have protections in this country the state has an incredibly high burden to meet they have to work so hard because they have got to show guilt beyond a reasonable doubt you'll hear the judge explain all of this to you now i'm not going to stand here and tell you all they have is circumstantial evidence like if you watch movies and tv you'll hear people say oh it's just circumstantial evidence you can absolutely as you'll hear from the judge convict people in circumstantial evidence but that circumstantial evidence still has to show guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and they haven't done that they just they just haven't done that so he's charged with murder i'm sorry malice murder they haven't shown you that he murdered mendy cassonas they showed you he was near where the body was at some point but they don't have a weapon they don't have to have a weapon but they don't have a weapon where's the weapon they don't know where she was killed they don't know where she was dismembered all they really have are questions but they're going to want you to think they got all the answers or most of them now what are they going to say i anticipate about the answers they don't have and the questions that were made oh we don't have those answers to those questions because my client did such an amazing job of hiding things confusing things obfuscating trying to keep that evidence around well that argument works no matter who is sitting at the defense table it doesn't point to mr cassonas that's an argument that can be made to convict any innocent man you need to only follow the judge's instructions look at the evidence you've heard in here look at what you can take in the back and decide based on that whether he committed malice murder or felony murder i think you're going to have difficulty doing that and the reason why is frankly he didn't do these things let's look at the other charges aggravated assault you're not going to see evidence that he assaulted mindy and the state may say well just look at the lacerations on her head that's evidence that he assaulted her but keep in mind when the state makes their arguments to you no one is denying that mindy cassonas was horribly murdered and grotesquely dismembered and tossed away but that is not the only thing they have to show they have to show beyond a reasonable doubt that nick cassonas is the one that did that concealing the death of another someone trying to conceal her death no denying that you don't do the terrible things that were done to many many cassonas unless you're trying to conceal someone's death that's why you do that possession of a knife during permission of a felony well i don't think they've shown any kind of a felony for nick nick cassonas a knife yeah he had a knife we all have knives he had a knife he bought that milwaukee knife who knows where it is now mr cassonas says it burned up in his car he bought a knife was that knife that he bought used in the commission of a felony not that the state has shown not beyond a reasonable doubt the deer processing knives again did he possess those at one point he bought in the fast road shop during commission of a felony not that the state has shown tools for the commission of the crime no no removal of body parts from scene of death you heard from agent sands they don't even know where the scene of death is because how horrible this murder was tampering with evidence obviously evidence was tampered with but there's not sufficient evidence to show that nick cassonas was involved in that beyond a reasonable doubt now you may think i'm clinging to beyond a reasonable doubt but i point to that because that is the standard that we have that is the standard that this judge is going to instruct you that is the high burden that the state that is the standard that the state of state of state of state of state of state of state of state of state of state murdered and frankly butchered. Everyone should be upset and beyond distraught over that exit. I don't have the right words for how terrible that was. And then to be cast off, tossed in the woods for animals to rot. Your emotions likely are and should be running high. But I'm going to ask you to do what to me could feel like the impossible. I'm going to urge you to do this. Set the emotions aside. The state has only presented you with one person that you can make pay for Mindy Kasotis' death. My client, Nick Kasotis. So I understand the instinct for justice. I understand the instinct to want to have someone to blame, to want to have someone to hold accountable. But what I urge you to do, urge you to do, is to really serve justice. Listen to the judge and decide. Has the evidence that has been presented to you by this amazing team of prosecutors and investigators, has that risen to the level of proof beyond reasonable doubt in any of these charges? I think that if you can set aside that emotional gut reaction that we all have, especially when seeing these horrible photos, and candidly, logically, rationally assessing the evidence, you will not be able to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Thank you for your attention. Thank you for your attention. And again, for all the time that you've committed to this case. [00:31:47] Speaker 1: We're all here because of Mindy. Every single one of us is here because of Mindy. [00:32:13] Speaker 4: Some time the weekend over Thanksgiving, Saturday into Sunday 2022, everything changed for every single person that testified. Everything changed. [00:32:48] Speaker 5: Mindy, if you've ever been to a pond and you drop a rock in the center, or if you were a kid you used to skip it, you'd see the ripples, right? You'd see those ripples go out from where you dropped the rock. All those witnesses were ripples. And he dropped the rock. He killed her. He took her from everyone. A bright light. A bright light. Kind. [00:33:26] Speaker ?: Good-natured. [00:33:27] Speaker 5: You're going to see a lot of things that we talked about in opening statement. [00:33:29] Speaker 4: My mom always told me. [00:33:30] Speaker ?: Under promise, under deliver. Under promise, over deliver. [00:33:30] Speaker 4: Under promise, over deliver. [00:33:31] Speaker ?: Under promise, over deliver. That's what we've done. That's what we've done. December 2nd, 2016. December 2nd, 2016. That's what we've done. That's what we've done. You're going to see a lot of things that we talked about in opening statement. You're going to see a lot of things that we talked about in opening statement. My mom always told me. Under promise, over deliver. Under promise, over deliver. That's what we've done. December 2nd, 2022. December 2nd, 2022. [00:33:40] Speaker 5: At about 4:50 in the afternoon. That's what we've done. December 2nd, 2022. At about 4:50 in the afternoon. Several hunters found the horrific discovery. [00:33:45] Speaker ?: That's what we've done. December 2nd, 2022. At about 4:50 in the afternoon. [00:33:46] Speaker 4: Several hunters found the horrific discovery. [00:33:48] Speaker 5: That's what we've done. [00:33:49] Speaker ?: December 2nd, 2022. [00:33:50] Speaker 5: At about 4:50 in the afternoon. Several hunters found the horrific discovery. [00:33:53] Speaker ?: That's what we've done. [00:33:54] Speaker 5: That's what we've done. December 2nd, 2022. At about 4:50 in the afternoon. Several hunters found the horrific discovery. The rock. Those hunters are ripples. [00:34:01] Speaker ?: Never the same. That's what we've done. That's what we've done. [00:34:04] Speaker 5: That's what we've done. That's what we've done. That's what we've done. That's what we've done. That's what we've done. That's what we've done. December 2nd, 2022. At about 4:50 in the afternoon. Several hunters found the horrific discovery. [00:34:13] Speaker ?: That's what we've done. [00:34:14] Speaker 5: December 2nd, 2022. At about 4:50 in the afternoon. [00:34:16] Speaker ?: Several hunters found the horrific discovery. [00:34:17] Speaker 5: The rock. Those hunters were ripples. Never the same. They were out there hunting. Thanksgiving weekend. In hunting season in Georgia. Deer. Right? And they come across. I'm sorry. A headless, legless body. Of a woman. Law enforcement had no idea who she was. For months. Because of him. Because he made it possible. Only to figure out who she was. Through a buckle swab. From her mom. In May. Almost six months later. He did that. Right here in Liberty County. And he dumped her in the woods. And he dumped her in the woods. And I submit to you. He dumped her in the woods. Because that was a great place to hide a body. The problem is when you're not from Liberty County. And you don't know Barrington Ferry Road. And you don't know Jones Road. And you don't know where they meet in McIntosh. You don't know there's a camera on the water tower. You don't know there are logging trucks. [00:35:33] Speaker ?: You saw the logging trucks going down the road. [00:35:33] Speaker 5: The council would have you believe that Agent Sands and his team should have identified any possible human that went down that road. How is that relevant in any way shape or form to who would have had access to Mindy? Now all of you promised me during jury selection. You would not check your common sense at the door. You'd bring it with you. You'd evaluate the evidence. And you would use your common sense. They found a torso, a knife, tubs, and wax. All things he had access to. All things he purchased close in time to when this happened. He bought a shovel at an Airbnb. That he paid $4,500 a month for. And he's doing that handyman work. He's fixing mosquitoes for a solid five months. Toads that he said in the interview, black and gray. Common sense. He didn't know what was recovered at the crime scene. Black and gray. The real killer knew what color totes to put out there before he gave a statement. Common sense. You heard all about how the GBI looked for her remains. Where they were recovered. Where they were found in proximity to each other. Over three miles. And he buried her head. [00:37:44] Speaker ?: And he said, "Why?" I submit to you. Because that's the last thing you saw. You just didn't want to see it anymore. [00:37:48] Speaker 4: Some random person decides only to bury that. [00:37:51] Speaker ?: That. That doesn't make any sense. The person that buries the head is somebody that loved her. [00:37:52] Speaker 4: So sad. Right? Loved her so much that he was literally cheating on her. [00:37:59] Speaker 5: He admitted that on the sand. [00:38:00] Speaker ?: He told you, "Joy. [00:38:00] Speaker 5: That's all. [00:38:01] Speaker ?: That's all." He told you, "Joy. That's all." He told you, "Joy. [00:38:04] Speaker 5: Some random person decides only to bury that. That doesn't make any sense. The person that buries the head is somebody that loved her. So sad, right? Loved her so much that he was clearly cheating on her. He admitted that on the stand. He told you, Joy, that was another woman. Very inconvenient to start a new relationship when you've got a pregnant wife. He told you he thought she was pregnant, right? But I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, Nicholas Pissotis, he didn't believe she was pregnant. He wanted kids so badly. He wanted kids with Heather, right? He wanted kids with Mindy. He even went with Samantha Ployesson. Within days of their marriage, they went to a what? Conception appointment. He wanted kids. And he found out Mindy wasn't pregnant. Because if Mindy was pregnant, you know what he doesn't do? He doesn't kill her. Because he wanted kids. He found out he wasn't. That's the problem. Now, the judge is going to instruct you, I don't have to prove motive. The law does not require it. But it's human nature to wonder why, right? Like, we want to know why. And I submit to you, that's what the evidence showed. You wanted children. It wasn't getting there. You needed another option. First divorce didn't work out so good, did it? 1.6 million dollars that he didn't have. And the moment he came into money, what did he do? Me. I'm taking care of me. Didn't pay, Cameron. Who he got on the stand and said how much he respects, admires, emulates. He gave her zero. The knife. State doesn't work on suppositions. We don't guess. We don't present you with, we think could be maybe. Facts. Evidence only. Two more gasper. State requested it. Defense requested, hey, look at this. How come? She told you. Lauren Satcher told you. You cannot test that knife on flesh. And she said that that was power tools to cut the legs. Unfortunate. But ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you, murderers don't generally say, hey, let me leave my murder weapon at my crime scene. But what you might leave, as a prosecutor, is a wiped off, cleaned up, latex hand-wearing gloves and cleansing wipes. Because that's not evidence. You can't catch me if I cleaned it off. And there he is. [00:41:25] Speaker ?: And there he is. [00:41:25] Speaker 5: See, he had to admit things, because we had them. The problem is, he didn't expect us to have her so soon. Now, if you're not from South Georgia, just off the road, not far enough. You need to be out in the water. But her body was heavy, that portion. I submit to you, if you look at the photographs, you'll see the wings. And I'm being respectful. Because she deserves that. But look at them. Her torso and arms was very heavy. You couldn't get that far enough out. You didn't plan on finding her that fast is the problem. And in case you didn't believe that he was there, there are the records. That legitimately triangulates directly over Home Depot. His credit card, his car, and his phone. And if you recall during opening statement, I said to you, pay attention when he says, I did not know my car had fun. In fact, I would say his eyebrows went almost up to his hairline. Because at that moment, Mr. Kisotas realized, Oh, they got more stuff. I submit to you, there are no mosquitoes on the way down to Riceboro. He bought the knife and then drove down to Riceboro. But he got him here, but he told you that he bought the knife because he needed to go and take care of the mosquitoes right then and down. You need to pay attention to the details here. And I submit to you, when you hear those details, common sense. That's all you need for this. And then you watch his car travel all the way down to Riceboro. And then he tells you, if you look carefully, I turned off my phone. But it was pinging until he got to Jones Road. Look at the map. It shows exactly where it intersects, where the ping last happens. He didn't turn it off and use a Garmin to get himself down there. He had the phone on until he got to where her body parts were. Because he didn't know that the car was still connecting to the towel. And if you look at that top box on the right side, it shows all the times that car kept pinging while he was in that area. And I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, the reason there's no blood in the house, or not a lot of it, is because he cut her up in the woods. He had two hours. Two hours. With a power saw. No one else had access to her. He told you that she went to the hospital. Common sense, right? You recall Dr. Lehman testified and he went like this. She had defensive wounds. Did she have defensive wounds in the hospital? So the doctor killed her. With defensive wounds in the hospital. Common sense. And in case it wasn't just me saying it, Agent Burney showed you, specifically, the drive test to show that his phone, his car, his person, he admitted he was there. I'm not asking you to guess. He told you he was there. The defendant got on the stand and said, I was in the car. I had my phone. I had my credit card. I'm at the aerothon gas station. He swiped his car. He swiped his car. Black tub, gray tub. How is that possible in any other way? And the judge is going to explain reasonable doubt. And I submit to you, that's his job, not mine. I'll talk some about the law, but if there's any discrepancy, you always listen to the court. Unless he put those tubs out there, there's no way he would know that a black and a gray tub were what would be a recover. The third, the fifth, and the seventh, they found the rest of her remains, and they found the second tub. And you see them here. And all the efforts they made to figure out if there's any evidence behind. They brought up DNA, and did we or didn't we test this out of the other thing? You heard the DNA analysts say the only sample that they found that had more than one DNA profile was the futon. The futon, in a house that's an Airbnb, lived in and sat on by Mr. Pesotis, Mr. Frank, Mrs. Batsy, and Mindy. So if I found DNA belonging to the defendant, the argument would be, well, he lives there. He doesn't mean he killed her, right? But now, it means, well, he wasn't the one that did it. We showed you where the remains were tossed. I submit to you that's evidence of concealing a body. I submit to you that's evidence of dismemberment. I submit to you it's tampering. You saw those wipes that were used to wipe down the knife itself. They wiped, there were at least a dozen of them in the crime scene photographs. They had to search 30,000 acres. Helicopters, drones, dogs, people. Mr. Glover went out and looked for her. Because you bring people home. All of her. You drop that rock in the pond. Every one of them is a ripple. [00:48:26] Speaker 4: You don't dig up that space without a shovel. [00:48:30] Speaker 5: Submit to you. Look at the picture. You can physically look at the picture. You can see where the root had shovel marks. From where it got dug into and where it hit. He was just trying to get the dirt. But there was a root there. For people that are from this area. I fancy myself able to say that now. You hit roots. There's a lot of low roots. And there he is. Buying a shovel. When you're staying in an Airbnb. Living on the run. Gone in an hour. He's buying tools. To fix a house that he pays $4,500 a month for. Common sense. And then we do the autopsy. And why is that important? Well, because we don't know where Mindy took her last breath. I submit to you, that's because of Mr. Caseros. Nine traumatic wounds to the head. We don't know that every wound occurred inside of the dwelling in Savannah. We don't know that. We don't know if she was strangled. If she was first subdued simply. We don't know if he rolled her up in the rug. If he took her. But we know there's blood under that rug. Rusty threw up on it. Really? There's blood under the rug. Defensive wounds on the arms. And I submit to you, you're not getting beat up in the hospital. Inconsistent and it doesn't make sense. But then there's the abdominal wounds. This goes back to Mindy not being pregnant. And you are mad! She told you she was pregnant. You're mad. That's why you bury a head. That's why you stab her in the belly. That's murder, Mr. Caseros. Premeditated, intentional homicide. And then he cut her up. And he tossed her out like garbage. That is premeditation. And we're not required to prove that. But we have it here. Intent to kill. And even if you don't believe that at the moment he intended, you think that maybe he just wanted to hurt her, that's ag assault, aggravated assault, felony murder. You assault somebody and then ultimately cause their death. So whether you think he started it with the intent to kill her, or he just killed her in the process of the assault, one's aggravated assault, felony murder. One is malice murder. And you're going to hear the judge talk about venue. Venue means where you died, where the crime itself was committed. And normally, you're going to hear that venue is the place where the crime was committed. And I submit to you, when you drop the rock in the pond, and you don't know where it happens, the legislature in the state of Georgia does not allow for you not to be guilty on a loophole. If you believe that we couldn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt where she took her last breath, then where her body is recovered is the law. And that's why we're all here, Liberty County, with that ripple. Because her torso was found in the backyard. It took us almost six months to figure out who she was. Counsel would have you believe that everybody was like, Oh, Nicholas Kisotis, that's who it is. That's not what happened. That's not what happened at all. You all heard that. Forensic sketches, fingerprints at the crime scene, DNA, no identity. We found it's the same person. And then, Miss Betsy, she gave us a buckle swap. Heck, she didn't even believe he was a GBI agent because of Nicholas Kisotis. They believed him. And I submit to you, in hindsight, my other half said, don't use any sports references. They're not really good at it. But where I come from is called Monday morning quarterbacking. In this case, we didn't know who she was. We find out who she is. And then they go backwards from there. They knew who Nicholas Kisotis was, as early Detective Frost said that he had gotten Home Depot records. He knew as early as December 7th. They didn't arrest Mr. Kisotis. They ran down hundreds of leads through VICAP, NamUs, the missing and exploded children, through the FBI. They ran down hundreds of leads. Agent Sands told you they had some that were close. They didn't know who it was until they got her DNA. And once they figured out that it was Mindy, Megan, Kisotis, now he makes sense. They had been running down all the leads up until that point, but they didn't know it was him until they knew it was her. The only one with access. And why is that important? Because Mr. Kisotis says his wife went to the hospital on Saturday. And he tells Joe West she died Sunday. But doesn't tell her parents that she died until Thursday. Well, that's a problem. You told Mr. West that she died in one day. That's not a little different. That's Mindy. And I think that's important. That's Mindy. A friend. A friend. A sister. A daughter. A wife. And I submit to you, Mindy loved Mr. Kisotis. And she didn't want to lose him. I submit to you, she wasn't pregnant. Mr. Kisotis told you that he and Heather divorced because she told him she wanted kids, but didn't really. That's what he told you on the stand. Mindy knew I submit to you. But if he found out that she wasn't pregnant, she'd lose him. The doctor testified, told us the range. That's when the GBI could finally start to narrow her down. And the last person to see her alive was Mr. Kisotis. Mr. Frank said that he saw her right before they left to go to Hilton Hill. And when he came back, he never saw her. They thought she was at the hospital. Mr. Kisotis didn't have a name of a doctor, a location of the place that he went to. He never visited her. His wife was eight months pregnant. due in January. And he didn't go see her? I know you did not check your common sense at the door. He didn't go see her because she wasn't in a hospital. He didn't go see her because he knew she was dead. And he didn't ask about a baby because he knew there wasn't one. You heard those statements. He talked about a ring. I think ladies and gentlemen of the jury will know that wedding engagement rings are different for every lady. Bands are different. He claimed she was mistakenly cremated. And then they gave her back. He gave them back her bands. That's not possible. Because he conveniently tossed those in the harbor to grace with no one present. All these people that needed to know that Mindy was gone, he didn't invite a soul to share her scattered her branches. How does that make sense? And then every day in the days following telling her parents that she was gone, he is on the move. Quick, quick, quick. We'd go from Georgia, Georgia, Georgia all the way down to every state across the northeast and all over not here in a quick rush effort to now not be Nicholas James Pissotos. And I submit to you, he knew Heather was still looking for the money. He's an attorney. You think he didn't get the proof of $1.6 million paid? He didn't get a single pay stub, a single document, a single anything. Now, to be clear, it is the state's burden to prove our case. But when a defendant chooses to testify, you evaluate their credibility the same way you would any other witness and the court's going to instruct you how that works. And I submit to you, not a word he said, not a word of that makes any sense. Jim McIntyre with the FBI, two years, he never, he didn't think they were going to pay attention to his case at all, but he thinks a two-year commitment from a FBI agent to become his personal security team, not a penny. Common sense in this courtroom. Please. We followed the knife. We talked about it. Then he burned up the car. I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, that Mr. Kisotis is an individual that capitalizes on opportunity. He had a check that he couldn't cash to buy a house with Samantha. He didn't have access to any money, he told you that. But he was getting an $860,000 check that poof went up in flames. I submit to you because he didn't have that money. He was telling Samantha, we're getting a house. But when he had to actually buy it, he didn't have the money. Cargo's up in flames. He testified, asked questions about a recall, a recall on a police interceptor vehicle. Not on his board of tour. A recall that doesn't apply to the vehicle he purchased. And at first the knife was in the car, then it was, well, I think it might be somewhere else. I mean, you didn't find it there, there's another place. Well, I saw it in Pennsylvania, too. And we saw the house. And I said, I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, she was definitely struck. There was a bloodletting event, meaning she bled at the house in Savannah. We know that. We saw her blood. But I submit to you, her body was put to rest here in Liberty County. And we know that because we saw the evidence. Blood on the wall, blood on the futon, blood on the floor. And then we followed the car, and it was Nicholas Kisotas that happens to be the one driving right past the camera. Man, I'm lucky. Submit to you, he didn't bank on that camera. It looks like loads and loads of words. If you're not from here, that's what it looks like. That tiny little piping station. That piping station, I submit to you, solved the murder. There's the car. If you look at those photographs, you would think he was only there for an hour, right? It looks like he came and he left. But those roads, they look around. I submit to you, look at the photographs. Look at the satellite. Look at the maps. Agent Bernie told you that car was pinging there, total. Didn't turn back on until he's leaving the area going back up 95. He had two hours in the woods. I submit to you, he dismembered around there. And then he tried to get rid of the body. And you're going to hear testimony, or you'd rather get her testimony, about all of the items for the indictment references. They referenced the totes. They referenced the knife, meaning the Milwaukee knife. They referenced the dear processing kit. Oh, and now, now, now that dear processing kit was for, for Matthew. He's not a hummer. But it was a gift that was so important that when your wife passes, you didn't make sure that he got it? Does that make any common sense? We followed the phones, and in case you weren't sure, he went right back on. We followed his door back to the house. Y'all listen to the statements from the debate. I submit to you, it's called consciousness of guilt. When you try to cover something up, you start telling lies. The problem is, and Agent Sands said it, when you tell a lie, it's hard to keep up with them, because then there's another hole that you've got to plug up, and you've got to keep telling more lies to cover up the first lies. And Agent Sands said to him, it's like a puzzle. You burned some of the pieces, you threw some of them away, I'll submit to you, y'all can still see the picture. He told them she was alive, and he knew she was already dead. He told Samantha she was dead before she was dead. He told people she died in different ways. He told Joe West she went in on Saturday, she became septic, she got sepsis, and she died from an infection the next day. That would have been Sunday. He told her parents Thursday. He made a list of some of the things that were inconsistent. Your recollection is what governs. Was it credible? Was it believable? You told me you would know how to evaluate somebody being truthful. Use your common sense. Talked about what Mr. West said. And on December 1st of 2022, he tells her parents that's when she passed. And then he tells some people she was cremated. Actually, he tells law enforcement that, but he doesn't tell the family. He knew and didn't tell them. He told them there was going to be a service. He didn't have any reason to think that date range was not right when Mindy's body was out there. Conveniently, exactly when he was there. That is the most unlucky man on the face of the planet for a murderer. Why was the divorce important? The divorce was important because he had to have a reason to be telling this whole Jim story to begin with. Nicholas Kessotas did not want to pay Heather Thomas one penny. He did not want to pay her the $1.6 million. And he didn't. And he abstounded and told some story to the court about how he had $32 million. $32 billion. [01:06:12] Speaker 4: Dang. [01:06:14] Speaker 5: That's a lot of money. But now it's Mindy's fault. Oh, it's Mindy's fault that he doesn't have the money. Look at the records, the transcript. He blames Mindy. When there's a problem, well, either Jim did it or now Mindy did it. Mindy met Jim. He never looked at credentials. Apparently, Mr. Kessotas hasn't done anything. Nothing paid, ever. Camera, nothing paid, ever. Mrs. Kouyesson. Driver's license photoshopped. There was no Georgia Nicholas Stark driver's license. That, I submit to you, is manipulation. He needed another option. Okay. It's not even the same thought. They got engaged. But even worse, I submit to you, if you heard and you listened carefully to Samantha's testimony, she said, at the end of November, he had her tires fixed and then he sent her flyers the next week, maybe the first week of December. When he found out his wife was dead? Really? They were remarried. And whenever there's something that he has to be held accountable, Jim told me to do it. I can't find a person that doesn't exist. I submit to you. He texted back and forth with Samantha repeatedly. Did Jim tell him what to say in every text? I submit to you, there was no Jim. Jim started as a convenient reason to get away from Heather to not pay the money. And he convinced Mindy. I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, Mindy Malikin. So did Cameron Nelson. So did Chris Chappellick. So did Mindy's parents. He was a decorated lieutenant. I forgot what rank he said in the Navy. Ten years almost with the Jag. Two tours. Of course they believed him. That's that Monday morning quarterback thing. It's easy to look at it now when you see all of this in front of you and say, who would believe that? People that didn't know all that. People that thought Nick and Mindy were telling the truth. Mindy believed him. I submit that to you. She didn't want to lose him. There's no ring. There's no Jim. And there was no baby. And he didn't ask about it [01:09:50] Speaker 4: because he knew that. I submit to you, that's why he stabbed her in the belly. [01:10:02] Speaker 5: He never once in two hours and approximately ten minutes in Pennsylvania ever can't survive if you just found out that your wife died by some other means. Is he ready now? He never once asked about the condition of her body. [01:10:38] Speaker 4: I submit to you [01:10:38] Speaker 5: because he knew. The court's going to instruct you on the charges. I've talked about some of them. Malice murder, felony murder. There are additional charges that you're going to hear as well. And those charges include Ben Yu. The court's going to instruct you. I talked to you about this early on. Ben Yu is where the body is found in a homicide if we don't know where she took her last breath, if we don't know where the crime was committed. And I submit to you when he dropped that rock in the pond he made it impossible to know that. Concealing the death of another. I submit to you you saw all the ways we did that. And in case there was any question her blood in the totes makes it clear that it was him. He got the car washed the next day. What do you need to do? Possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. I submit to you ladies and gentlemen Conce is not wrong about one thing. He didn't use the knife on the bones. Or at least he can't say for sure. Because we don't guess as the state. We ask experts to analyze evidence and then we submit that evidence to you. Good, bad, or indifferent. You got the whole case. The parts that can prove things the parts that limit and Lauren Satcher testified she couldn't at the outset she could not have said that the deer processing kit was used on the bones. She knew that. The only thing she could have proven at that point was exclusion. State doesn't make assumptions. We get evidence. And that investigation kept going long after Mr. Kisotis was wrongfully arrested is what he would submit to you. But they just focused on him. I submit to you that's not true. And the evidence shows that. Then there are the possession of the tools for the commission of the crime. I submit to you that the Ford Explorer was used to drive her body there. Otherwise it wouldn't have needed a car wash. I submit to you that the insulation knife unfortunately was used on her physical body not on her bones. You have to gain access to it. I submit to you that the deer processing kit was purchased the day before he drives down to dump her. And he's not a hunter. And for the very first time we're hearing that he bought a deer processing kit for Mackey. It couldn't be excluded. That's what Lauren Satcher said. The tubs and the shovel. We know the tubs were used. Her blood was in them. The shovel I submit to you and look at the photograph. And obviously removal of body parts from the scene of the death. I submit to you ladies and gentlemen her body was clearly moved about. She died at some point and her remains were dispersed. And the tampering if you read the indictment it's very clear it's specific as to what the allegation is. It's the effort to clean up or get rid of biological evidence. Nicholas Casernas dropped a stone in the pond. And I submit to you every person in this courtroom is a ripple. I submit to you Mindy she deserves your attention. This case is about her. I ask you to go in the back look at the evidence and come back with what is the only appropriate outcome. Guilty of all charges. Thank you. [01:14:53] Speaker ?: Thank you.