BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

CANTON — The Adam Smith double-murder trial took more twists and turns on Tuesday, with a former Dollar General store manager testifying that she received “bloody $100 bills” from Smith on the day of Ronald “Huck” Durham’s murder. 

Smith stands accused of murdering Durham on Feb. 11, 2023 and William Freeman on March 2, 2023. 

Former Dollar General store manager details “bloody bills”

Former Sandy Creek Dollar General store manager Patricia Lee took the stand Oct. 29 to detail her encounter with Smith on Feb. 11. 

According to Lee, Smith came to the store around 1 p.m. and purchased two Apple Pay cards with $500 cash, all $100 bills. 

She said when he handed her the cash, there appeared to be blood on each bill “about an inch wide or so.” 

Lee said Smith purchased the cards at 1:02 p.m., as was shown on security footage from the store, along with a receipt of the transaction that was presented in court. 

Just five minutes later, Smith was seen on the footage again. This time he purchased a USB charger and Steam card for $100. 

Lee said the Steam card is used for the online service to purchase games and movies. 

Upon entering a second time, Lee said Smith apologized for his previous behavior when “he appeared agitated” because she was not immediately available to cash him out. 

“He said he was having a bad day because his uncle was just murdered,” she commented. 

She said Smith again paid with a $100 bill with the same distinct red stain that she believed to be blood. 

Lee said she pulled the bills from the cash register moments later and used hand sanitizer to clean them, noting that Smith made a comment “that he had been painting earlier that day” but it was her belief that it was blood. 

She could be seen on camera cleaning the bills with a jug of hand sanitizer next to the cash register. 

Lee said she was informed by another customer, who she did not know personally, that her husband was a police officer who could run Smith’s plates. Lee said she was unsure if the customer ever reported Smith’s information to police. 

She also said she did not call the police because she did not think much of the exchange afterward given that Smith had apologized for his earlier behavior. 

When cross examined by defense attorney Brian Barrett, Lee said she was unaware of where Smith obtained the money used to purchase the cards. 

She also confirmed that she was terminated from her position at Dollar General in June of 2023 due to “a conflict of interest with another employee at the store.” 

As for the investigation into Smith, Lee said she was interviewed by a State Police investigator on March 9th. She said the officer was in uniform and had a body camera but did not turn it on during the course of the interview. 

In her sworn deposition, Lee said she confirmed to the police officer that Smith “sounded like he was on the phone with a woman” but was unsure to whom he was speaking or about what. 

She also said she didn’t think much of the potential blood on the dollar bills because Smith “could have cut himself or something.” 

Cellular specialists say phone was on the move

Also testifying on Oct. 29 were Philip Fanara, an independent contractor for AT&T, along with Timothy Gray, a custodian of records for Verizon. 

Both Fanara and Gray testified as to the validity of records obtained through subpoena related to the phone number registered to Smith. 

Both witnesses reviewed a number of reports and detailed the findings, including how geo-location information was gathered and how it was displayed on the reports. 

In both cases, Smith’s phone with the known SIM card was tracked on Feb. 11 and March 2 as having been on the move. 

Fanara said in one instance the phone was tracked “pretty much every second” for an extended period of time, while on another report it was tracked “about every minute or so.” 

He said in both cases the phone was connecting to various AT&T towers as it traveled in their proximity. 

In most cases, he said the tracking was accurate “within a few hundred meters, give or take,” based on the reports admitted as evidence. 

In the case of Gray, he testified that the reports obtained from Verizon detailed much the same. He also detailed outgoing calls from Smith to another number that was part of the Verizon network. 

In a number of instances the phone call went to voicemail, as was detailed extensively in one report and corroborated by Gray. 

Gray said that as the custodian of records for Verizon, like Fanara is for AT&T, it is his duty to appear in court and testify in such cases as to the validity of the report and the information there within. 

He said based on the records presented in court it was fair to assume that the phone that Smith is alleged to have had was also moving on March 2 as it connected to a number of towers over an extended period of time. 

Gray could not confirm technical details regarding how the phone would connect to such towers as that falls outside his prevue as a custodian of records, he said. 

He did say, however, that the phone was likely moving based on the information contained with the reports. 

State Police cyber specialist details search for footage

New York State Police Investigator Mark Tatro also took the stand Oct. 29, detailing his work as a computer crime team member. 

A Trooper since 2006, Tatro has been a member of the computer crime unit since 2016 while working in the Ray Brook office. 

During his testimony, Tatro commented that he was sent to the scene of Durham’s Feb. 11 murder in Gouverneur. He commented that he started at the scene of the murder after meeting Investigator White at Casablanca restaurant in downtown Gouverneur. 

He said after assisting on scene, he and other investigators worked to obtain surveillance footage at neighboring homes and businesses to search for clues as to who may have committed the crime. 

According to Tatro, he then spent the remainder of the day at SP Gouverneur but noted he was not there “extraordinarily late” before returning home that night. 

Tatro said he first met Leroy Tharrett Jr. at the cemetery, at which time he began taking his statement and conducting further surveillance of the area. 

He then returned to Gouverneur on Feb. 12 to continue his work, including more work reviewing surveillance footage from nearby homes and businesses. 

Tatro was then asked about his involvement in reviewing surveillance footage from a camera behind NY Pizzeria, on which an individual on a bike was seen shortly after the murder. 

He said he was aware of the footage and individual but did not review the footage himself, nor was he sure if the footage was that of the perpetrator. 

Tatro said he was under the impression that the individual on the footage “was a person of interest but not someone I interviewed.” 

Phone discovered by passerby 

The reappearance of Durham’s phone has been a recurring theme throughout the trial thus far, an element of the story that became clearer with the testimony of Mellisa Ryder. 

During her cross examination Ryder said she found the phone on the bridge on West Main Street in Gouverneur on Feb. 15 when she was walking to a friend’s home to purchase a gram of marijuana. 

She said she debated leaving the phone but instead took the phone “to do a good deed and try to return it to its rightful owner.”

Ryder said she attempted to start the phone at the time, however it was not charged. She then tried to charge the phone in her sister’s car but was unsuccessful. 

After returning home to Oswegatchie, Ryder said she was able to get the phone charged “to about 12 to 14 percent.” 

Upon opening the phone, she saw a photo of “an elderly woman” on the background screen. 

“I went to the photo gallery and recognized one photo from an obituary I saw on 7 News. All I could remember was ‘Huck’ though,” she said.

Ryder said she then attempted to call contacts in the phone to learn who may have owned it, eventually reaching a contact listed as “RJ.” 

She said RJ Durham returned her call and informed her the phone belonged to Ronald Durham, his uncle who was recently murdered in Gouverneur. 

Ryder said she immediately placed the phone in a freezer bag and waited for police to come to her home to take possession of the phone. 

She said two female State Troopers then came to her home late that night to take possession of the phone and interview her regarding the discovery of the phone. 

Ryder said she also interviewed at SP Gouverneur and gave a sworn deposition regarding the discovery of the device. 

She said she knew only a few minor details she “heard from my mother who was talking about the story on 7 News,” but commented she didn’t really pay attention to what had happened to Durham. 

“I just kind of wanted to do a good deed and try to find the owner,” she said. 

Surveillance footage from Small Town Supply showed Ryder finding the phone on Feb. 15 around 5:13 p.m., just after she visited a friend to purchase marijuana. 

“I contemplated leaving it there on the bridge,” she said. 

When cross examined by defense attorney Brian Barrett, Ryder detailed her checkered past which included a conviction for methamphetamine production in 2017. 

Ryder also commented that at the time she found Durham’s phone she had struggled with substance abuse but was now clean after years of struggling. 

“Keep up the great work,” Barrett said. 

The murder trial of Adam Smith continues tomorrow, Oct. 30, at 1 p.m. in St. Lawrence County Court.