Defense Presents Its Witnesses At Joseph Thomas Trial

The defense attorneys for Joseph Thomas presented their witnesses Wednesday morning in Lake County Common Pleas.

Thomas, 28, is accused of murdering Mentor woman Annie McSween.

McSween, 49, was tending bar at Mario's Lakeway Lounge in Mentor-on-the-Lake on Nov. 26, 2010 and closed the bar by herself.

But she did not make it home that night. Instead, her body was found in a wooded area behind a house that is next door to the bar. She had been beaten and stabbed repeatedly, the medical examiner said.

Two of the defense's witnesses were patrons at the bar, along with Thomas, that night. A third witness was a man who lives near the bar who thought he heard screams that night.

Mark McCool told the jury that he first heard a scream coming from Mario's some time around 2 a.m. the morning McSween was murdered. McCool explained that it was common for it to be noisy around the bar near closing time.

"I heard a scream and I thought, 'It was probably the goofballs at the bar,'" McCool testified.

McCool said he heard a second scream later. He did not know the exact time it happened but he knew it occurred before his wife had to leave for work at 4:10 a.m. at a department store on Black Friday.

"I heard the second scream and I thought, 'This is late even for the bar,'" McCool said.

So McCool, who walks with a cane, went outside to see if he could find the source of the noise. He peeked into the bar's parking lot but saw nothing, he testified.

Two bar patrons, Allen Heise Jr. and Kevin Bonnay, also testified Wednesday morning.

Another bar patron, Matt Miller, had previously said that he, Bonnay and Thomas were the last three customers to leave Mario's that night.

Bonnay added that he thought he was the last patron to leave the bar. He testified that he went to the bathroom and, when he came back, only McSween was still in the bar.

"I just noticed that she was packing up, putting beer in the cooler," Bonnay said.

He then testified that he left without further incident. When asked if the evening at the bar to that point had been unusual, Bonnay replied, "There was absolutely nothing extraordinary about it."

Meanwhile, when Heise testified, he clarified a comment he had made that night about "going to jail that night" that another witness had alluded to.

Heise told jurors that he made the comment while at the home next door to the bar, which is also owned by bar owner Mario Cacaic.

Some people were smoking marijuana at the home that evening, he said. When someone offered him marijuana, he testified that he replied, "cracking jokes, I said, 'I don't feel like going to jail tonight.'"

Heise also acknowledged that he had argued with Margaret March at the bar that night. March lived at the house Cacaic owned. She had offered to let Heise sleep on the couch there that night.

Heise, who had a physical relationship with March, testified that he replied, "If I'm staying at the house, I'm not sleeping on the couch."

Heise later left the bar with his friend Jimmy Webb.

The defense rested their case. Both the prosecutors and defense attorneys will offer their closing statements this afternoon.

More trial coverage:

Jury Begins Hearing Evidence in Joseph Thomas Murder Trial

Prosecutor: Clothes of Murder Victim Annie McSween Found in Suspect's Backyard

Patrons of Mario's Lakeway Lounge Testify About the Night Annie McSween was Murdered

Suspect's Neighbor Recalls Burn Barrel Incident Hours After Annie McSween Was Murdered

Jury Sees Police Interviews Of Murder Suspect Joseph Thomas

Ex-Girlfriends Of Suspect Testify At Trial