Medical examiner Dr. Jennifer Hammers said the cause of death for David Glasser, Edward Frampton and Robert Chadwell was "homicidal violence" including gunshot wounds.
SPRINGFIELD - Hampden Superior Court Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder had told jurors in the Berkshire triple murder trial of David Chalue they would be seeing graphic autopsy photos depicting dismemberment.
Tuesday was that day.
Dr. Jennifer Hammers, formerly of the state Medical Examiners Office here and now a New York medical examiner, took the stand first thing in the morning.
She said the cause of death for David Glasser, Edward Frampton and Robert Chadwell was "homicidal violence" including gunshot wounds. Then she went on to detail each wound. Pictures of the wounds were circulated to the jury to be passed around as they listened to testimony.
In August 2011, weeks before he was to testify against Adam Lee Hall, Glasser and his roommate, Frampton, and their friend Chadwell, all of Pittsfield, disappeared. Their dismembered bodies were found in Becket 10 days later.
Hall, 36, of Peru; Chalue, 46, of North Adams, and Caius Veiovis, 32, of Pittsfield, kidnapped the three victims from Frampton's Pittsfield home sometime in the early hours of Aug. 28, 2011, and fatally shot them, according to prosecutors.
A Hampden Superior Court jury in February found Hall guilty of multiple charges, including the first-degree murders of the three victims. He is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The cases, which are being heard separately, were moved to Hampden Superior Court by Kinder after defense lawyers said extensive publicity in Berkshire County would prevent a fair jury from being selected.
Hammers detailed injuries to each man.
Chadwell had gunshot wounds to his shoulder, torso and face.
He had two stab wounds on his neck; a blunt force injury to the chin causing the lower jaw to have many fractures; and rib fractures.
Chadwell had a cutting injury from the pubic region up to the bottom of the rib cage going into the abdominal cavity. Alongside that were a number of superficial wounds. He was also cut on his arm, wrist and torso.
Frampton had five gunshot wounds: one in the left cheek; one in the back of the left shoulder; and three in the arms.
There were three stab wounds on Frampton’s jaw line and one on his neck; a wound to the chin; other wounds on the shoulder; and wounds on the torso.
There was a deep horizontal wound in the upper back which went through the skin and muscles of the back which cut the spinal cord; there was a wound in the lower back; and a wound in the left thigh.
There was a wound from the pelvic area to the base of the ribs that went through the abdominal cavity.
Glasser had three gunshot wounds: one through the ear into the head; one in the left jaw; and one on the thigh.
There were three stab wounds in Glasser’s back; and a laceration over his eyebrow. On the top of the head were three soft hemorrhages with bleeding underneath the scalp consistent with a blunt injury
Dr. James Pokines, a forensic anthropologist at the state medical examiners office, was given bones from the victims to examine.
He said the bones showed chopping, or hacking, trauma. That means a sharp implement was used in a forceful motion.
Pokines said alll of the damage he saw was in the perimortem period, at or near the time of death. That would extend into the postmortem period as long as the bones are fresh, he said..
He never made a determination of the exact instrument used, just the class of instrument. Most of the damage was made by a heavy bladed instrument like a butcher knife of meat cleaver.
Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless said he anticipates he will call Christopher Letalien tomorrow, probably in the afternoon.
Letalien will allege Chalue admitted the murders to him while they were incarcerated together.
When Kinder comes on the stand Wednesday morning he said he will talk with the lawyers - without the jury present - about the extent of testimony expected about Chalue being affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood.
That affiliation is expected to be part of the testimony of the four men who were incarcerated at differents times with Chalue.
Kinder told the jury there is a good possibility they will have the case for deliberations early next week if not sooner.
State Trooper Edward Culver testified Tuesday a total of 1,228 items of evidence were collected in this case, including trace evidence, plastice trash bags and gloves, and evidence such as cell phones.
State Trooper Steven Jones talked jurors through a search of Veiovis' Pittsfield apartment, identifying objects shown in photos on the screen.
There are knives on the floor, one a standard knife and the other some kind of dagger. There is a baseball bat-like items with many nails driven into it.
On a table is a machete and a phone with the battery taken out.
There is a meat cleaver on a cutting board in the kitchen.
There is a skull and crossbones and two hatchets on a high shelf.
Posted on a wall, and in a book on the floor, were illustrations from an anatomy book the prosecution has said showed amputation or dismemberment.
When defense lawyer Donald W. Frank asks Jones if anything associated with Chalue was found in the search of Veiovis' apartments, Jones said there wasn't.
Frank had objected to the evidence being presented from the search, saying it was not relevant to Chalue's case.
