Marijuana Murder Trial: Final Arguments Scheduled

SANTA ROSA - Attorneys are scheduled to give their closing arguments Wednesday to a jury that will decide if a Colorado man killed three men during a marijuana deal in Sonoma County three years ago.

During testimony that began Feb. 1 in Sonoma County Superior Court, the prosecution presented evidence that Mark Cappello, now 49, of Central City, Colorado, killed Raleigh Butler, 24, of Truckee; Richard Lewin, 46, of Huntington, New York; and 42-year-old Todd Klarkowski, of Boulder, Colorado.

The three victims were shot in the head as they packaged marijuana in the bedroom of Butler's mother's cabin in Forestville on Feb. 5, 2013.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Brady told the jury in his opening statement that Cappello acted out of greed and betrayed the victims, his business partners who were buying the marijuana.

Cappello recruited Odin Dwyer, now 41, and his father Francis Dwyer, 68, to transfer the marijuana from California back to Colorado and eventually to New York, according to trial testimony.

Odin Dwyer, of Denver, testified he was in the cabin, heard the three gunshots and saw Cappello by the bedroom door with a gun in the hand of his extended arm. "He said that it was something that had to be done," Dwyer testified.

Francis Dwyer, of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, was waiting in Cappello's Santa Rosa motel for his son and Cappello to return with the money and the marijuana.

The Dwyers testified they had no idea the marijuana deal would end in execution-style murders.

In addition to the Dwyers' testimony, Brady and Deputy District Attorney Robert Maddock presented cellphone record evidence showing where Cappello and the Dwyers were at various times on Feb. 5.

Cappello's defense attorney Joseph Stogner has argued it was Cappello who waited in a motel for the Dwyers to return from the cabin, and Odin Dwyer killed the three men.

Stogner said a vehicle resembling Francis Dwyer's Ford Ranger was seen in the nearby Sebastopol area before the slayings, and a woman who lived near the cabin heard five gunshots.

Charles Wyatt, a state prison inmate who testified for the defense, said Odin Dwyer told him in Sonoma County Jail that he, not Cappello, killed the three men. "He told me he was the guy that, in his words, whacked the three victims," Wyatt testified.

The Dwyers testified Cappello had them dispose of the .45-caliber semi-automatic gun he took apart and cleaned with alcohol, as well as the latex gloves the victims were wearing while packaging the marijuana.

The Dwyers also testified Cappello disposed of his clothing and parts of his Ford Bronco as they returned in separate vehicles to Colorado with 69 pounds of marijuana in Francis Dwyer's truck.

Cappello and the Dwyers were arrested and in custody by March 1, 2013.

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

Cappello is charged with three murders while lying in wait, for financial gain and during a residential burglary, and with burglary, robbery and conspiracy.

He faces life in prison.

-Bay City News, image via ShutterStock