KANE — Charges against a Bristol man accused in the morphine death of a Wetmore Township woman have been bound to McKean County Court.
Edward Valeri, 41, appeared Monday for a preliminary hearing in Kane before District Judge David Engman, who bound all six charges over. This included a third-degree felony charge of criminal use of a communication facility that was added after Valeri was first charged.
The charges stem from the Feb. 29, 2016, death of 43-year-old Suzie Witherell. Valeri is facing allegations that he sold Witherell the morphine that killed her.
Valeri is also charged with drug delivery resulting in death and aggravated assault, both first-degree felonies; possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance, a felony; involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree misdemeanor; and recklessly endangering another person, a second-degree misdemeanor.
Cpl. Mary Gausman of the Kane-based state police was the only person to testify at the hearing.
Witherell was found dead at her 47 Pond Road residence. She died of morphine toxicity, according to the death certificate that District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer submitted as evidence at Monday’s hearing. An autopsy was performed by forensic pathologist Dr. Eric Vey, too, she said.
In its report, NMS Labs stated that Witherell had a blood concentration of 1,700 nanograms of free morphine per milliliter; the recording limit from the lab is 50 nanograms per milliliter, said Gausman.
In talking with Witherell’s husband, Gausman learned that Witherell was acting strangely on Feb. 27, 2016, two days before she died, she testified, reporting that Witherell was “much more lethargic” and “couldn’t stay awake.” Also, Witherell was having breathing issues at night and snored so much that the husband moved to the couch to sleep.
According to Gausman, investigators found text messages between Witherell and Valeri on Witherell’s cell phone and Facebook account that showed the pair planning the sale.
Gausman read some of the Facebook exchange, starting on Feb. 20, 2016, when Witherell sent a message saying, “Do you have anything I can buy?”
“Only morphine,” was Valeri’s reply. He stated he could sent it through FedEx. “Over the next few days, Suzie would text him to see if the package had been sent out,” Gausman explained. On Feb. 27 — the same day Witherell’s husband began to notice a change in her behavior — Witherell had sent a message to Valeri stating, “Got it.”
Gausman said she believes Valeri had a prescription for the morphine he allegedly sold to Valeri.
Shaffer also had a receipt for a Western Union transfer of $300 from Witherell to Valeri.
Gausman explained that during an interview with a state trooper, “He said that he sold morphine to Suzie Witherell through the mail,” and he agreed that they arranged the sale by cell phone and through Facebook.
He also admitted that “he knew he had done something wrong and he wanted to face up to it,” Gausman related.
During cross-examination, Public Defender Philip Clabaugh, who is representing Valeri, asked about messages police may have found between Witherell and anyone other than Valeri.
Shaffer objected, explaining that Valeri was the only one charged with a crime.
“I was going to ask if there was evidence she was trying to buy from another person,” Clabaugh replied.
A short time later Shaffer stated Witherell had asked one other person on Facebook for controlled substances, but the person did not have anything for her.
Clabaugh also asked if any packaging was found from morphine from Valeri, and Gausman said no packaging was found.
In his closing argument, Clabaugh asserted that a case had not been made linking the alleged drug delivery to Witherell’s death and asked Engman to dismiss three of the charges: drug delivery resulting in death, aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter.
Clabaugh said the prosecutors “have to prove the morphine he delivered her was the morphine that caused the overdose.” He explained there were other substances in her system and said she could have received the morphine that killed her from someone else. “There seems to be a lot of missing pieces.”
Shaffer disagreed that there wasn’t enough evidence, explaining a jury is not looking for “mathematical certainty” to find guilt or innocence, just “reasonable doubt.”
“He did deliver a controlled substance to the victim; she died as a result of using the drug,” said Shaffer.
She noted that the same day the morphine from Valeri arrived, Witherell’s husband noticed she had trouble breathing.
“We know morphine caused her death and the defendant is the one that delivered the morphine,” said Shaffer.
After Engman confirmed with the attorneys the total number of charges — six — he said, “All counts are bound over to the Court of Common Pleas. This hearing is completed.”
Valeri is incarcerated in McKean County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.
Photo courtesy Kane Republican
