Marijuana Murder Trial: Closing Arguments

SANTA ROSA - The testimony by three witnesses raises reasonable doubt that Mark Cappello killed three men during a marijuana deal in Sonoma County three years ago, attorney Joseph Stogner said during his closing statement today.

Defense witness Kim Crumb, owner of Almost Home Doggy Day Care in Sebastopol, testified he saw a Ford Ranger truck similar to Francis Dwyer's truck around noon less than a half-mile from the Forestville cabin where the slaying took place on Feb. 5, 2013, Stogner said.

The 1990s 4-wheel drive, "goldish"-colored truck with an out-of-state rear license plate, brush plate, larger than normal tires and a camper shell contained two people, Stogner said.

"What are the odds that a vehicle this specific to Francis Dwyer's Ford Ranger truck isn't it," Stogner asked. "The odds are astronomical," Stogner said.

Cappello, 49, of Central City, Colorado, hired Francis Dwyer, 68, of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, and his son Odin Dwyer, 41, of Denver, Colorado, to transport the marijuana, according to trial testimony.

Francis was in a Santa Rosa motel and Odin was in the cabin with Cappello at the time of the murders, according to the prosecution.

Another defense witness, Erin Ellis, testified she heard five gunshots coming from the direction of the cabin around noon on Feb. 5, Stogner said. Ellis reported the gunfire the next day to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, but "she dropped off law enforcement's radar because she didn't fit the narrative," Stogner said.

The murders happened around 10:50 a.m., according to the prosecution, and cell phone records show Cappello was at the Santa Rosa motel around 11:43 a.m., Stogner said.

Testimony by Crumb and Ellis that indicates the murders happened closer to noon and the presence of a truck like Francis Dwyer's near the Forestville cabin "are like a tear in the prosecution's case," Stogner told the jury.

Odin Dwyer testified Cappello killed Raleigh Butler, 26, of Truckee, Richard Lewin, 46, of Huntington, New York and Todd Klarkowski, 42, of Boulder, Colorado.

Odin said Cappello told him the slayings "had to be done" and he and Cappello loaded Cappello's Ford Bronco with 69 pounds of marijuana that the victims were processing for transportation to Colorado when each victim was shot once in the head.

The Dwyers, initially charged with murder, pleaded no contest to lesser charges in return for lighter sentences and a promise to testify truthfully at Cappello's trial.

Defense witness Charles Martin Wyatt testified Odin Dwyer told him in the Sonoma County Jail that he killed the three men and Cappello didn't know about the robbery and murder until after they occurred.

Stogner said the prosecution didn't recall Odin as a witness to rebut Wyatt's testimony, and Crumb and Ellis figuratively "disappeared like soap bubbles" because they destroyed the puzzle and narrative of the prosecution's case.

"There is a very, very huge and reasonable doubt that Mark Cappello was not at the scene or knew there was a plan to rob and murder the victims," Stogner said.

The jury will begin deliberations Thursday morning after Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Brady presents a closing argument in rebuttal to Stogner's closing argument.

-Bay City News, image via Patch archives