Dawson updates |
John Dawson is accused of murdering his wife, Kathleen Dawson, nearly 30 years ago. He was arrested for the murder in 2009, and is on trial for her death. The following is a reporter’s first-hand account of the trial.
Dawson, Day Ten, 8:45 p.m.
After six hours of deliberation, the jury of seven women and five men found John Dawson GUILTY of first-degree murder. The only sentence for first-degree murder is life. His sentencing is on June 21.
After fighting for justice for nearly 30 years, Kathleen Dawson's father, Roy Smith, said he is "oh man, happy."
Dawson: Day Ten, Lunchtime
At 1:30 p.m., President Judge John M. Cascio will give instructions on the law that pertains to the charges of first-degree murder and third-degree murder. The jury will immediately leave the courtroom and go into a jury room to begin deliberations.
Dawson: Day Nine, Afternoon
The defense rests.
On Friday morning District Attorney Jerry Spangler and defense attorney Joseph Policicchio will make their closing statements, Judge John M. Cascio will instruct the jury on the charges and the jury will be sent to deliberate.
On Thursday afternoon Spangler hammered away at John Dawson during cross examination. Spangler focused on the defendant’s testimony that he had never seen a blackjack before it was introduced in the court proceedings as the apparent murder weapon. He also questioned him about when he received burn marks on his face.
Spangler asked Dawson why when he called the Richland 911 dispatcher, he did not tell them about possible alternate routes Kathleen Dawson might have driven that night.
Dawson testified that he was not hurting financially in November 1981, but he knew it was going to get tight. Money from restoring and selling vehicles helped, but his other sources of income, including unemployment benefits, were expiring, he testified.
Retired Trooper David Marker was called by the prosecution as the last witness in the case. Marker testified about an interview he conducted with John Dawson on Nov. 18, 1981.
“He said he had extreme money problems,” Marker testified. Dawson told him that the financial woes arose from child support for his ex-wife, taxes from previous years and general bills that he had trouble paying.
For a full story of John Dawson’s ninth day in Somerset County court, pick up a copy of Friday’s Daily American. Check back Friday morning to be among the first to know when the jury begins its deliberation. Check back later in the day to find out what the verdict is — guilty or not guilty.
Dawson: Day Nine, Lunchtime
At 9:10 a.m., John Dawson took the stand.
He told his attorney Joseph Policicchio that he has been incarcerated 717 days since he was arrested and charged for his wife’s murder.
He said he was nervous because of the charge and the idea of his health problems. In 2002, he had congested heart failure and a defibrillator was placed in his body seven days prior to his arrest, he said.
He occasionally touched his thick, curly head of hair and pulled on the end of his mustache. He spoke with a deep rich voice. Many of the jurors sat forward in their seats, riveted by his rendition of his and Kathleen’s life together and his relationship with family, friends and his lover, Rose Sayler.
When Dawson spoke about the early morning hours of Nov. 10, 1981 when he was calling Richland 911 Dispatch, family and friends. He testified that he was trying to find out what happened to his wife. He teared up several times and he had to stop several times to gain composure.
Policicchio walked across the room at one point to pull a few tissues from a box on the corner of the judge’s bench and walked in front of District Attorney Jerry Spangler’s table to hand them to Dawson.
Dawson did not use them. He placed them in his pocket and continued.
He said that the car she was driving, a 1980 Plymouth Horizon, was having mechanical problems and he was “very concerned” that she might have broken down somewhere along the road. He testified he did not have a car, or use of a car that morning.
He said that Kathleen Dawson got along with everyone in the family.
“We got along good. We laughed a lot. We had good times,” he said about married life with Kathleen.
“I was a long way from being perfect,” he testified.
“I did a lot of things I shouldn’t have. I did a lot of things I’m not proud of — a lot of things it is hard to live with,” Dawson said.
He discussed his drinking and his time with Rose Sayler. He said he started a relationship with her about six weeks before Kathleen’s death.
He said he did not love Rose Sayler. He said he loved Kathleen. When asked by his attorney why he started a relationship with Rose Sayler, he replied: “I can’t answer that.”
Policicchio will continue with his questioning of Dawson at 1:30 p.m. when the trial resumes.
Check back this afternoon for the Daily American’s end of the day update.
Dawson: Day Eight, Afternoon
A husband and wife testified for the defense. Both described their relationship with John and Kathleen Dawson as “best friends.”
Michael and Karen Matieszyn met the Dawsons in 1979, the year they were married. The couples attended the same church along Route 31 in Somerset Township.
They started going out together and visiting each other’s home, the Matieszyns testified.
They characterized the Dawsons’ relationship as a good one. They called their outings “fun.”
Karen Matieszyn testified that she did not know that John Dawson was having an affair when his wife died.
The Matieszyns both called what happened to Kathleen Dawson on Nov. 10, 1981, an “accident.”
They were at John Dawson’s parents’ home the morning Kathleen Dawson’s body was discovered. John Dawson had called them at 5:30 a.m. asking to borrow their car and telling them of his wife’s death.
The couple both testified that when they went there at around 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 10 they noticed a small red burn mark on their friend’s face. They said he cried and rubbed his face. The Matieszyns left to go to work about an hour later and returned that evening. At that time, both husband and wife testified, they noticed that John Dawson’s small burn mark had increased considerably in size.
“The whole side of his face was enflamed,” Karen Matieszyn said. She said he used an ointment on the burn, irritating it.
John Dawson’s son, John A. Dawson, testified at the end of the day. He was 15 when his stepmother died.
“Kathy was a warm and caring person,” he said. “She’d do just about anything for you.”
He testified that his father and stepmother got along.
“They argue, but arguing was never a shouting match,” he said.
For a full story of Dawson’s eighth day in Somerset County court, pick up a copy of Wednesday’s Daily American. Check back around lunchtime Thursday for the latest from the courtroom. The trial is suspended on Wednesday because of other court business, but will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Dawson: Day Eight, Lunchtime
Before the jury was seated to hear the defense’s case, President Judge John M. Cascio granted the defense’s motion to dismiss several but not all of the charges against John Dawson.
Dawson will not face the charges of arson, criminal conspiracy and portions of the general charge of criminal homicide that are murder of the second degree, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.
The jury will still decide if or whether Dawson is guilty or not guilty of murder of the first degree and murder of the third degree.
After the prosecution has presented its case, the defense can request dismissal of any of the charges that the defense believes the prosecution has not met its burden of presenting enough evidence to support those charges.
Defense attorney Joseph Policicchio called the two state police criminal investigators who took over the Dawson case from the Conemaugh Township Police Department in 1982.
Both former troopers were called to rebut the testimony of Joyce Blough, Dawson’s sister.
She testified earlier in the trial that the state police never questioned her after Kathleen Dawson’s death. She also testified that she smelled a foul odor emanating from her brother, John Dawson, and from Kathleen’s dentures that were brought from the scene for identification by the police.
Both troopers testified that according to the records the kept in 1982, that Blough was interviewed by both together and separately at least three times. She never mentioned the foul odor, they both testified.
The defense is beginning to call John Dawson’s friends from the time the incident occurred.
Check back this afternoon for the Daily American’s end of the day update.
Dawson: Day Seven, Afternoon
Trooper William “Ted” Goins has been the criminal investigator in the death of Kathleen Dawson since 2008. He testified this afternoon about his involvement in the case.
He issued an arrest warrant for John Dawson on murder, arson and criminal conspiracy charges April 19, 2009, based on the information he obtained, he told the jury.
The jury was shown three blackjacks Goins had shown witness Pastor Donald Eller for identification in 2009. Eller testified for the prosecution Friday. He said then he did not recognize the blackjack found at the crime scene.
In Goins’ testimony today, he rebutted Eller’s remarks. Goins said the pastor had identified the blackjack in 2009.
Goins showed the jury the three blackjacks he showed Eller in 2009. Two he obtained from mounted state police who use the leather and lead hand-held devices to control the horses, he testified. The third was the blackjack found at the crime scene by Conemaugh Township police. The third blackjack has been secured by law enforcement for nearly 30 years — first at the Conemaugh Township police station and then in the state police barracks in Somerset. Police believe the blackjack was used to beat Kathleen Dawson causing her death, according to testimony throughout the trial.
“I showed him (Eller) the first blackjack. He dismissed it. I showed him the second blackjack. He dismissed it. I showed him the third blackjack. His exact words were ‘That’s the baby,’” Goins testified.
Goins said he asked Eller how he could be sure that was the blackjack he saw at John and Kathleen’s apartment in Windber two to three years before Kathleen’s death. He said that Eller responded: “Because I held it; I played with it.”
For a full story of Dawson’s seventh day in Somerset County court pick up a copy of Tuesday’s Daily American. Check back around lunchtime Tuesday for the latest from the courtroom.
Dawson: Day Seven, Lunchtime
The jury listened to more testimony of a car insurance company’s deposition of John Dawson that took place in Somerset on Oct. 25, 1982.
Two county court law clerks took the role of the two attorneys who questioned Dawson in 1982 during the deposition. They read the questions from a transcript of the deposition while standing at the podium in front of President Judge John M. Cascio. Somerset County detective Jason Hunter read Dawson’s answers from where he sat in the witness chair.
According to the transcript of the deposition:
Dawson told the attorneys that he never called the police before to report his wife was missing, because “Kathy never got lost like that before.”
He said she was late once before, but that was when she was working daylight, so he was not as concerned. That time she had dropped by the mall and forgot where she parked the car, he said.
When asked what was the last thing he said to his wife and she said to him, he replied: “I don’t remember.”
He said he received the burn marks on his face at 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 9, 1981. He said that the burns came from a flashback when he poured kerosene in his coal furnace to start the fire.
The burns were not bad, but worsened during the day because he rubbed them, he said.
He said he left the area to move to Florida in February, 1982, because he needed to work. He said his married lover, Rose Sayler, and a close friend left with him.
He said he was not with Sayler the night his wife died. He said he was at home alone, sleeping in front of the television.
He said that for his wife’s death he collected $15,000 from Metropolitan Life Insurance; $6,800 and $3,000 from life insurance related to her employment and $1,168 she had in a tax shelter annuity.
An insurance agent testified just prior to the lunch break that Dawson had changed his policy three days prior to his wife’s death. The change increased the amount received from $1,500 to $5,000 for medical expenses in case of an injury because of an accident. The amount for death was $5,000.
The trial will reconvene at 1:15 p.m.
Check back this afternoon for the Daily American’s end of the day update.
Dawson: Day Six, Afternoon
Robert Grake testified about three incidents discussed in conversations with John Dawson from May 2009 to March 2010 while both men were incarcerated at the Somerset County Jail.
The three incidents are as follows:
* Dawson’s preliminary hearing where charges of murder, criminal conspiracy and arson were bound over to county court. The hearing was held June 4, 2009. Drake testified Friday afternoon that after the hearing and later in the same month Dawson appeared agitated and upset after a phone conversation with his attorney, Joseph Policicchio. Drake testified he asked Dawson what was wrong and Dawson replied: “I’m going to kill Joe Policicchio, too.”
* Dawson, his son, girlfriend and nephew Duane Schmidt went on a boat trip in Florida several years ago. Dawson told Grake that if he would have known his nephew was going to go to the police in 2009 with information that led to his arrest, he would have pushed his nephew off the boat.
* Dawson asked Drake if DNA could be extracted from sweat on a blackjack. A blackjack was found at the crime scene where his wife’s body was found burned beyond recognition in a car on Nov. 10, 1981. Drake testified that he asked Dawson it that was his sweat, and he answered, “Yeah.”
Drake is awaiting sentencing in six cases for theft in Somerset County. There has been a plea agreement on the table since July 2009.
When he was asked by Policicchio what he hoped to get out of testifying Friday, he answered: “When you do do good, good things do happen.”
For a full story of Dawson’s sixth day in court pick up a copy of Saturday’s Daily American. Check back around lunchtime Monday for the latest from the courtroom.
Dawson: Day Six, Lunchtime
The jury listened to a taped conversation between John Dawson and a woman he worked with at a bar he managed in the Jacksonville, Fla., area in 2009.
Dawson's conversation was taped in the Duval County Jail in Jacksonville while he was awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania on the murder charges. Taping and monitoring inmate’s telephone conversations is a routine procedure at the jail, according to Sheriff Deputy Charles Fisette in a live video connection. Inmates are told about the procedure when they come into the facility, he said.
In the taped conversation, Dawson told the woman that the police are talking to suspects and indicting that he was going to roll on them. He said that was not going to happen.
In a surprising turn, prosecution witness Pastor Donald Eller testified that he did not recognize the blackjack that was entered into evidence as the one found at the crime scene. The blackjack has been the alleged murder weapon throughout the case.
Eller testified that he saw a blackjack at the Dawson’s apartment when they lived in Windber, but he did not recognize the one shown to him by District Attorney Jerry Spangler while he sat at the witness stand Friday. He said that he never pointed out the blackjack to anyone at Dawson’s home the day he picked it up and played with it. He said that the hand-held weapon could have placed where he found it by anyone. He saw the hand weapon about two or three years before Kathleen Dawson’s death, he testified.
Dawson told police that he never owned a blackjack and did not know what they looked like, according to court documents.
Check back this afternoon for the Daily American’s end of the day update.
Dawson: Day Five, Afternoon
After lunch the jury listened intently when John Dawson’s nephacew Donald Schmidt testified that he visited the crime scene with his brother, Duane Schmidt, and Pastor Donald Eller in the early hours of Nov. 10, 1981.
Schmidt used a red beam on black and white crime scene photos to point out the trio standing near the burnt-out car where his aunt Kathleen Dawson’s body was found. The photos were entered as evidence and viewed by the jury earlier in the trial. They were displayed on a large screen in the courtroom Thursday.
He described what he saw at the scene.
“It was gruesome,” he said.
He said that the trio walked behind the vehicle and saw tire tracks that could have been made by another vehicle. They also saw a red gas cap among the leaves across the road from the Plymouth Horizon. The men told police and firefighters at the scene about what they saw, Schmidt testified.
Schmidt said that his brother, Duane, who testified at the preliminary hearing and whose testimony was read into the record yesterday for the jury to consider, was not afraid of anyone. However, Duane Schmidt testified at the June 4, 2009, hearing that he was afraid of someone: his uncle John Dawson. Duane Schmidt died last year.
For a full story of Dawson’s fifth day in court pick up a copy of Friday’s Daily American. Check back around lunchtime Friday for the latest from the courtroom.
Dawson: Day Five, Lunchtime
The jury began their day in court listening to the testimony of John Dawson’s sister, Joyce Blough.
Blough testified at 10:15 until 11:35 a.m. about when the family gathered at her mother’s home in the early morning hours on Nov. 10, 1981, after learning about John’s wife’s death.
She said everyone in the family was concerned about how her mother would handle the news and rushed over to her trailer just to be there to support her. Blough testified that she, her husband and their family lived on the family dairy farm near Boswell. John and Kathleen Dawson had bought a piece of the farm and were building their home there. The Dawson’s were living in their basement while the upper floor was being finished. Blough’s mother and father lived in a trailer also on the family farm.
After some of the family had gathered at the parents home, around 4 a.m., Blough said she smelled a foul odor while in her mother’s home.
“It smelled like hot metal. It didn’t smell good,” she said.
Blough testified that she commented on the smell and others at the trailer, that included Dawson, that the smell was from everyone using their flu fires. “But it was not a flue fire (smell),” she said.
Blough testified it was the same smell when Kathleen Dawson’s dentures was brought to the house by law enforcement officers for identification.
Next, her son, Gerald Blough, testified for about an hour about the morning of Nov. 10, 1981, when he went over to his uncle’s house to fix the sliding glass door.
Dawson’s nephew said he heard his uncle say that the reason why his wife was on what is now known as Soap Hollow Road that night was she was dropping by his friend, Doug Bowser’s home near Riverside, to pick up glue to fix the sliding glass doors in their home.
Blough said he went over to John and Kathleen’s home to fix the door. He said he thought the way the door needed fix, using glue was not a good idea, so he used a power tool and “I just screwed it back together.”
When he went inside the house to plug in the cord of the tool he testified he saw a life insurance policy on the table, there.
The afternoon session will begin at 1:45 p.m.
Check back this afternoon for the Daily American’s end of the day update.
The jury began their day in court listening to the testimony of Doug Bowser, an old friend of John Dawson in 1981, who then and now lives in the Riverside area. The two men had a falling out after Kathleen Dawson’s death, according to his testimony.
