Stepdaughter, sons testify against Almond
1 p.m. UPDATE: Closing arguments have concluded in the murder trial of Charlie Almond Sr. Defense attorney Michel Hallahan hammered away at some of the conflicting stories witnesses gave: Some saw Almond at the disputed pull off while others didn't; Almond had a hat on or he didn't have a hat on while at the pull over; Almond was in a pickup, while another witness said he was in a car, Hallahan said.
"There's no consistency in this story at all," he said.
As for Almond's stepdaughter, Penny Wilson, who said she was "sexually bothered" by her stepfather, Hallahan said, "I submit she's not being honest about many things."
There was speculation by the prosecution that Almond was initially in his pickup at the pull off, and when he allegedly killed Richard "Petey" Wilson by shooting him in the head, he drove back home in Miller's truck and got his car, where he placed the body in the trunk. Hallahan said the theory is not "very likely."
Phil Figura said it's clear from witness testimony that Almond was with Miller at the pull off in 1983, and noted that one of the witnesses testified they heard Almond talking about an alibi before Miller was reported missing. "He knows what he did," Figura said.
Figura reminded the jury about testimony where Almond reportedly bragged about putting Miller's body in the trunk, had Miller's ID and often spoke about how to dispose of a body. Figura also noted that one of Almond's sons testified that his father told him a good way to kill a person is with a .22 shot to the head, crowning the hole and placing a bag over the head. After one of his sons theorized how Miller's truck got to Richmond, Almond told him he used Miller's truck to tow his own car to Richmond, where he allegedly left the truck in the parking lot of an insurance company. Figura sarcastically labelled the talk "one of those magical father-son moments."
The jury was given the case — where there is no physical evidence and is purely circumstantial — at 1:00 p.m. Almond is charged with first-degree murder, but the jury has the option of convicting him for second-degree murder or finding him not guilty.
11 a.m. UPDATE: The defense has rested its case — without calling a witness — in the murder trial of Charles Almond Sr., an 85-year-old Staunton man charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of 20-year-old Richard “Petey” Miller, a Swoope man who disappeared on Nov. 17, 1983, and was never seen again.
Phil Figura, an assistant attorney general, rested his case earlier Wednesday morning.
10 a.m. UPDATE: The prosecution has rested in the murder trial of Charles Almond Sr. after calling a quick succession of four witnesses Wednesday morning in Augusta County Circuit Court.
One of the witnesses claimed he overheard Almond telling his father that no body would be found "because it's all over my property." The witness said he told a sheriff's deputy in 1984, but testified he was informed his information was "immaterial."
Another witness said he was in an argument with Almond more than two decades ago when the defendant reportedly said, "He'll have me (gutted) and buried beside Petey Miller within a half-an-hour."
A former convenience store worker in Staunton testified Almond told her "he had a way of making people disappear." A fourth witness said she was told by Almond that he cut up Miller's body and put the body parts in a grinder before burying the remains underneath his shop. The woman, like a previous witness, said Almond was also in possession of Miller's identification. "He showed me his driver's license," she said.
STAUNTON - Sitting in a wheelchair at the defense table while the jury listened intently, 85-year-old Charles L. Almond Sr. watched as his stepdaughter and two sons testified against him Tuesday in Augusta County Circuit Court during his murder trial.
There was no physical evidence presented by the state in the nearly 33-year-old homicide of Richard "Petey" Miller Jr., 20, Almond's son-in-law to be. But there was talk of chainsaws, wood chippers, muriatic acid and a bullet to the head.
Miller went missing the morning of Nov. 17, 1983, two days before he was to marry Almond's daughter. Miller's abandoned pickup was found in Richmond weeks later. Police said it had been in the same parking spot for nearly a month and was wiped clean.
Miller's body was never found.
After the jury was selected late in the morning, the first witness called to the stand Tuesday was Richard Miller Sr., the son of Petey Miller. The elder Miller testified that on the day his son went missing the two were driving their pickups on Va. 254 and headed toward Staunton. The younger Miller was going to The News Leader, where he worked as an inserter, when he decided to pull over. Richard Miller Sr. doubled back and said he spotted his son speaking with Almond, who some witnesses said knew the younger Miller's work schedule and feigned car trouble hoping to get him to pull over.
When his son didn't show up for dinner that night, Miller said, "I really didn't think a lot about it."
Almond filed the missing person's report, he said.
Defense attorney Michael Hallahan cross examined Miller and noted that a deputy's report from more than three decades ago only stated the elder Miller saw "a man" at the pull off on Va. 254 just outside of Staunton, and said the report made no mention of Almond. Miller insisted he told the deputy Almond was the man he saw.
"I did," Miller testified. "That day."
A second witness, 86-year-old John Maddox Jr., also testified that he saw Almond — but not the younger Miller — on that day in 1983 at the pull off. Maddox, who raced cars with Almond decades ago for about two years, also retold a story where he, Almond and some others were about to butcher a hog that was splayed atop a table some years after Miller went missing. He testified that Almond joked, "That looks like Petey Miller laying there."
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Penny Wilson, Almond's stepdaughter and Petey Miller's fiancée, testified Almond was not happy she was getting married and said there was tension between Petey Miller and Almond. "He said there was not going to be a wedding," Wilson said.
The tension centered around her allegedly being "sexually bothered," by Almond in the past, Wilson said. She did not go into specifics.
Wilson also testified that Almond showed her Miller's ID following his disappearance, as well as a lock of his hair. He also showed her a photograph of a bloody hand, claiming it was bitten by a dog.
"But I didn't see any marks or anything like that," Wilson said.
One of his sons said that when Almond threatened him as a child he'd tell him "I would end up just like Petey."
The stepdaughter recalled on the day Miller went missing that Almond gave her and her mother $100 to go shopping, which she said had never happened before. Almond, she said, told her not to purchase anything for Miller.
"I felt like he was trying to get rid of us for a reason," she said.
When asked by the defense why she left if she was suspicious, Wilson testified, "I was terrified of Mr. Almond."
Almond's son, Chuck Almond Jr., testified he overheard an argument between Miller and his father, where Miller held out a handful of cartridges and said he had a "bullet" for Almond. He also testified that after Petey Miller went missing, his mother was cleaning the trunk of his father's car, which reportedly had a "really bad smell to it." He testified his father said he spilled muriatic acid in the trunk.
Chuck Almond said his father spoke about Miller's death, and said he claimed to have temporarily left his body next to a truck in a field near the family's residence.
"He said the truck and Petey were there the whole day," he testified.
He also mentioned the photo of the bloody hand, which Almond reportedly kept in his shop. "He always said that was Petey's hand," Chuck Almond said.
When Assistant Attorney General Phil Figura showed him an old Polaroid photograph of a patch of woods, the younger Almond cried on the stand and said his father told him "that's where Petey is."
Figura also showed him a picture of a chainsaw. "He always insinuated that's what he cut him up with," the son said.
Chuck Almond also said his father told him how to kill a person with a .22 shot to the temple by capping the hole with a crayon and putting a plastic bag over the victim's head before disposing of the body.
Another son, Anthony Almond, born in 1983, testified his father told him several times during his childhood that he killed Miller by shooting him in the head and stuffing his body in the trunk of a vehicle. Anthony Almond, who said he no longer speaks with his father, said when Almond threatened him as a child he'd tell him "I would end up just like Petey."
Lt. Aaron LeVeck, an Augusta County investigator, testified that Almond denied he had any tensions with Petey Miller, and said that Miller never threatened him. He also denied killing Miller.
"If I had done something to him I wouldn't have reported him missing," LeVeck said Almond told him.
LeVeck noted on the stand that Almond told him how to dispose of a body, either with a chainsaw or a wood chipper, and said Almond once had a homemade wood chipper which he later destroyed.
The Miller family received a letter months after Petey Miller went missing, and according to the family it informed them their son was OK and working, but he had decided to sever all ties with his family. DNA testing on the stamp did not link the letter to Almond, LeVeck said.
The two-day trial is expected to conclude Wednesday. Charlie Almond is charged with first-degree murder.