Murder scene details revealed by two state police investigators testifying in the Adam Smith murder case

CANTON. Two state police investigators testified during the third day of the Adam Smith murder trial, detailing what they found at the scene of Ronald “Huck” Durham’s murder.

Smith is accused of murdering Ronald “Huck” Durham on February 11, 2023, and William Freeman on March 2, 2023.

Investigator Turkstra was one of the first on the scene

Investigator Jennifer Turkstra opened the afternoon session on Oct. 24 by asking questions about her background and training that led to her answers at the scene of Ronald Durham’s murder.

She said she has been with the New York State Police for more than eight years, the last two as an investigator.

Turkstra said she received training in many areas, including crime scene techniques, computer crime specialist training, polygraph training, search warrant training, ghost gun training and other specialized training related to investigation of various crimes.

Turkstra said on February 11 that she was initially called in to help interview witnesses and family members. She also talked about Smith on the phone and in person, she said.

The first interview took place on February 12, 2023 at 10:26 a.m. when she called Smith from her office at SP Gouverneur.

She said she discussed “Smith’s activities on February 11th.”

“He told me he came back from Syracuse on the 11th of February early in the morning, I think he said he went to Stuart in the morning before 5 o’clock in the morning to meet a friend, Ronald Durham,” she said.

Stewart’s surveillance footage showed that Smith was not actually in the store when Durham and Eric Fisher were there.

Turkstra said Smith told her he was in Syracuse at the time and was “seeing a girl.”

After Smith dropped Durham off at Stewarts, he allegedly told Turkstra that he “went home to help my roommate with, I think, a water pipe, doing some kind of home improvement,” she said.

Turkstra later said she interviewed Smith at his home on February 27, with Dan Durham also present.

She said that the interview was conducted in the kitchen or dining area of ​​the house.

Turkstra described Durham as “an elderly gentleman in poor health”.

“Every time I interviewed him, he just sat in the same position. He had a walker and was on oxygen,” she said.

In Turkstra’s testimony about her interview with Smith, Smith described Ronald Durham as “good friends,” saying they would “talk every day.”

“Most mornings we had coffee together at Stewart’s in Gouverneur, New York. Most mornings he would call me to see if I was awake to meet for coffee. On February 10, 2023, I was visiting my girlfriend in Syracuse, New York,” the statement read.

Smith claimed his girlfriend did not have a work phone at the time and was looking for a new place to live on February 10.

He said he left her home around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 11, arriving in Gouverneur a couple of hours later.

He claims he went to Stewart’s to “see Huck and have a coffee”, but he said he was told he already missed Durham

When he got home, he helped his roommate around the house before leaving at 5:23 a.m. to go to work in South Colton.

“I was working under the table building for Brandon Chase. There was no work at the site, so I took the truck to Cortland for Brandon,” the statement reads.

In his deposition, Smith claimed Durham would help him “here and there with cigarettes and gas” and he would help Durham fix his house.

“He paid for the materials and I did the work. He would not pay me as an employee. I knew he carried cash in his pocket. That’s how he paid for my cigarettes and stuff. I didn’t know how much he was carrying,” the statement reads.

“That’s the end of the testimony,” Turkstra said.

Turkstra confirmed that Smith signed the affidavit without reading it, saying he “didn’t want to, so he just believed we wrote it.”

Investigator Tyler testifies for two days

While Turkstra was on the witness stand for about 30 minutes, Detective Mark Tyler of the New York State Police was on the scene for about two and a half hours on October 24th and 25th.

An 11-year veteran of the state police, Tyler spent nearly two years as an investigator.

On cross-examination, Tyler confirmed that the Ronald Durham murder was in fact the first murder he investigated as a detective.

After receiving a call at 8:24 a.m. from then-Trooper Leah Malbeuf, now a sergeant, Tyler said he drove to East Riverside Cemetery shortly afterward in “business casual clothes” in a black state-issued Chevy Impala.

When he arrived at the scene, Tyler said he saw two marked state police vehicles parked in the cemetery next to Ronald Durham’s pickup truck.

He said he arrived at the scene and found “several bloody boot prints next to the body”, while he also noticed a significant wound to the neck and a large pool of blood around Durham’s body.

Tyler said he then began documenting the scene wearing rubber gloves “so as not to contaminate the scene or any evidence.”

He commented that he entered Durham’s truck only to begin taking pictures of the interior, during which he did find some blood in the cab of the truck, including on the glove box.

When Barrett asked if there had been “splats” of blood, Tyler said no.

Barrett also asked why Tyler got into the car the way he did. Tyler replied that he wanted to start documenting the scene, knowing that the forensics team was probably two hours away. That unit is based in Ray Brook, Tyler said.

Tyler said that during his initial investigation, he spoke with Leroy and Jeffrey Terratta, both of whom worked across the street at a family member’s home.

Both Tarretts allowed Tyler to photograph the soles of their shoes so investigators could determine whose footprints were at the scene.

After investigating, Tyler said he visited a store in Gouverneur that sold the shoes on Feb. 16, eventually matching a bloody shoe print found on Durham’s body to a specific model of Georgia shoe sold at the store.

“Have you contacted the Georgia Boot Company to find out how many pairs they sold to this store?” Barrett asked.

“No, I didn’t know,” Tyler replied.

Tyler also spoke of a “bloody fist print” in the snow near Durham.

He said the print was between Durham and a bench near several graves and stood out from the time he was at the scene.

Asked by Pascua if the print could have come from someone “cleaning a knife or other weapon,” Tyler said it was possible.

The tire tracks at the scene were also questioned by Barrett, who asked Tyler if he had ever checked the tread pattern of vehicles driven by the Tarretts.

“No, I never did,” Tyler said.

The Tarrettas previously testified that they had gone to the cemetery from a family member’s home when they were asked to check on Durham, which led to the discovery of his body.

Tire tracks were also found under Durham’s feet, but no visible injuries were found on his legs.

After recrossing with Pasqua, Tyler explained that it was very clear that the tire tracks existed before Durham’s murder.

It had snowed lightly the night before, so it was easier to see which tracks were fresh and which were old, Tyler said.

Barrett also took time to question text conversations between Tyler and investigator Michael Manor, with whom Tyler said he was close.

Barrett questioned what they meant by “we always work this shit out” in one text.

“He just said we always get to the bottom of it,” Tyler said.

Barrett continued to question Tyler about his relationship with his co-workers and what he meant in one text when he referred to the “clan.”

Tyler said that was the term he used in the text to describe FIU at Ray Brook, though he said it’s not a common term used throughout the department.

He also commented that the term “thin gray line” referred to the dead officers who were in front of them when Barrett prompted him.

“So you have a pretty tight-knit group in the barracks, don’t you?” Barrett asked.

“Yeah, I’d say so,” Tyler replied.

“You also referred to Investigator Menor as your brother, didn’t you?” Barrett said.

Tyler said it was common for them to address each other that way because police officers are “brothers and sisters in law enforcement.”

Barrett took the time to ask what role Tyler played in the investigation from its inception to Smith’s arrest.

Tyler said he began photographing the scene, conducting interviews and helping collect evidence, including Durham’s phone, which was found on the bridge days later.

Barrett asked Tyler if he participated in Smith’s questioning, to which he said yes.

“Were you asked to leave the interrogation?” Barrett asked.

“I wasn’t asked to leave, but at one point I did,” Tyler said.

“Do investigators usually leave in the middle of an interrogation?” Barrett asked.

“No, it’s not uncommon,” Tyler replied.

“You got angry questioning him, didn’t you?” Barrett said.

Tyler replied that he was not angry during the questioning.

“Did you hit the table with your hand?” Barrett asked.

Tyler said he may have hit the table, but demonstrated that it probably wasn’t a hard hit on the table as described.

Regarding his disciplinary record, Barrett questioned a board letter issued in 2015 when Tyler was a trooper.

In just his first year on the job, Tyler said he worked on a manhunt that took place after two inmates escaped from Dannemore State Prison.

Tyler said he essentially issued a traffic ticket to the young woman, but didn’t file it in time.

The young woman then appeared in court as directed, but the ticket was not properly filed with the court.

Tyler said he was issued a board letter regarding the situation, but has not received any disciplinary action since then.

After nearly two and a half hours in the dock over two days, Tyler finished his testimony around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 25.

Judge Storey then set the trial for the next day after Pascua told Storey that he would not be able to finish cross-examining the next witness in the 30 minutes left in the day.

The trial will continue on Monday, Oct. 28 at 9:30 a.m. in St. Lawrence County Court.