Defense lawyers Thomas Lesser and David P. Hoose contend that police stopped Baye without probable cause.
Anthony P. BayeNORTHAMPTON - After a lunch of steak and mashed potatoes at the Bluebonnet Diner, Anthony P. Baye agreed to take a driving tour of the neighborhoods he allegedly terrorized in a deadly arson spree in the early hours of Dec. 27 2009.
His tour guides: state police trooper Michael Mazza, a fire investigator, and state police Sgt. Paul Zipper, who'd been interrogating him about the fires for several hours. During the drive, Baye admitted to setting some of the fires, but said he had no memory of others.
Audio of the lunch and driving tour, as well as video of the interrogation, were played in Hampshire Superior Court Wednesday as Judge Constance Sweeney sought to determine the admissibility of the evidence at Baye's trial. Baye, 26, faces two counts of first degree murder and some 40 other crimes in connection with 15 separate fires set that night. One of those fires destroyed the house at 17 Fair St. and took the lives of Paul Yeskie, 81, and his son, Paul Yeskie, Jr., 39.
Several hours into the interrogation, Mazza and Zipper take Baye to the Bluebonnet Diner on King Street for lunch. There the conversation turns casual, with Baye chiming in only when spoken to by the officers. He volunteers bits of information about his job, career aspirations and frustrations as a Denver Broncos fan. Baye has water while the others drink Coca Cola and coffee. Baye orders a steak, medium rare, for lunch.
The trio returns to the police station for a short time. Then, at Mazza's suggestion, they go for a drive around the area where the fires occurred. During the trip, Baye admits setting car fires on Fruit St., Crescent St. and Northern Ave. and starting a house first at 20 Union St. by putting a lighter to the mailbox. Baye tells the trooper and detective that he has no memory of fires on Williams St. and Pomeroy Terrace. On response to an inquiry by Zipper, Baye says he used only a lighter to start the fires. [View a map and timeline of the fires.]
The last site they pass is 17 Fair St. Baye tells the officers it was the first thing on his mind the when he woke up the morning after the fires, but says he has no memory of setting the fire there.
Mazza and Zipper then grill him, reminding Baye that he called the fire an "accident" and that no one but he could know that.
Earlier in the video, about four hours into the interrogation, Baye had acknowledged setting the fatal fire at 17 Fair St. and said that he never intended to hurt anyone.