Michael Benson - Mommy Deadliest

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the following persons and organizations, without whose assistance the writing of this book would have been impossible: Michael Birchmeyer; Frank Brackin, forensic computer expert; Lara Bricker; the Cayuga County Community College Library; Mary Ann Cerretani; Taylor Clark, Voices editor at the Post-Standard; Kelly Cullen, librarian, Port Byron High School; Margaret Devereaux, photographer; my agent, Jake Elwell; William F. Fitzpatrick, district attorney; Linda M. Foglia, assistant public information officer, New York State Department of Correctional Services; Dr. Francis Gengo, Dent Neurologic Institute in Amherst, New York; my editor extraordinaire, Gary Goldstein; Charles Kurtz, tax specialist; Rachel Lewis, Skaneateles High School librarian; Tim McCarthy, D.A.s investigator; Patricia A. Milite and Lauren B. Levi at the Inmate Record Office, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility; Janice Mary Poissant; Maureen Southorn, K12 school library media specialist, Weedsport Central School District; Dr. Christine Stork at the Upstate New York Poison Center; Nancy Stoneburg; Renee Tawczynski; Sergeant Robert Willoughby.

Epilogue

In 2007, DA William Fitzpatrick was appointed New York State representative to the National District Attorneys Association. He is extremely active in his community and has been involved with Vera House (the same local shelter for abused women where Janice Poissant once stayed), the Ronald McDonald House, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Rape Crisis Center, and several other community groups.

Fitzpatrick has lectured extensively on various aspects of the criminal justice system at numerous colleges and public forums across the nation, including New York State governor Mario Cuomos and governor George Patakis Law Enforcement Forums. He was a member of the New York State Forensic Science Commission and served on Judge Judith Kayes Drugs and the Courts Commission. He also played an instrumental role in establishing the Onondaga County Center for Forensic Sciences, which is used statewide and has DNA testing capabilities.

In March 2009, Dr. Robert Stoppacher, the doctor who performed the autopsies on David Castor and Michael Wallace, was promoted from deputy chief medical examiner, a position he had held since 2004, to the chief medical examiner position. Dr. Stoppacher replaced Dr. Mary Jumbelic, who retired earlier that year.

Dani Colman, who was willing to talk to reporters before and during Stacey Castors trial, clammed up afterward. During the fall of 2009, she wrote, I really have nothing to say. She was my best friend and so many people have been hurt by this.

Mike Wallaces stepdaughter Renee says life is good now. She is no longer the rebellious wild child she was when she came to live for a couple of months with Mike and Stacey and the girls when she was fourteen. She is now Renee Tawczynski. Just got married, bought a house, she said.

Renees mom, Nancy, Mike Wallaces first wife, is also thriving. When the author last spoke with her by phone, she was multitasking, simultaneously answering questions and fixing dinner for her other half, Maurice.

In January 2009, Onondaga County Surrogates Court judge Peter Wells, the man who had issued the order barring Stacey Castor from disposing of any of David Castors property until the matter of the forged will was solved, retired from his post. In a ceremony, Judge Wells himself swore in his successor, Ava Shapero Raphael, whose father once presided over the Onondaga County Legislature.

Stacey Castors boyfriend at the time of her arrest, Michael Overstreet, was contacted about participating in this book. He called the authors office repeatedly between two and three in the morning, and left ten e-mails during that same hour. His message was that the interview had to occur then, or forget it. Other messages: Last chance to talk about the love of my life, and If u dont answer ur phone then dont contact me again.

Dr. Christine Stork, of the Upstate New York Poison Center, who testified at the trial, said her center saw between sixty and eighty cases of ethylene glycol poisoning per year, most of which were treatable. Although a small amount of antifreeze could cause death if a patient went untreated for long enough, a large amount of antifreeze could be consumed and the patient still be treatable if the patient got emergency care within the first couple of hours. She had known of patients who drank upward of half a gallon of antifreeze and lived. After the Castor case received so much publicity in the Syracuse area, there were more rather than fewer cases of ethylene glycol poisoning. The publicity popularized the poison, talk of its pleasant taste apparently outweighing repeated warnings that death by antifreeze was a slow and painful way to go.

On November 2, 2009, Detectives Valerie Brogan and Dominick Spinelli, as well as Sergeants Michael Norton and Robert Willoughby, were given certificates of merit for their part in the investigation that led to Stacey Castors conviction. The annual sheriffs office awards ceremony was held at the Gillette Road Middle School on South Bay Road in Cicero.

Christine Garvey has spent hours pondering this case, and somehow it still doesnt register. What was the word David Castor Jr. had used? Surreal, that was it.

This case seems more like a TV movie. How could something like this happen in real life? Garvey wonders.

Would the day ever come when Stacey Castor would admit to the things shed done? Sheriff Walsh, for one, doesnt think so. I dont think shell ever take responsibility for what she did, Walsh said. There was a stubbornness to her. Perhaps she had trained herself to believe she was innocent.

As of January 2010, Cayuga County is still building its case against Stacey Castor for Michael Wallaces murder.

David Castors first wife, Janice Poissant, is a night manager at an East Syracuse hotel. She remains the loving mother of David Jr. and grandmother of her three absolutely great grandkids. She is suing the Colmans, Michael Overstreet, the Pulaskis, and, of course, Stacey Castor for their alleged respective roles in denying her son his rightful inheritance.

She worries that because of her marital difficulties with David Castor, readers of this book will fail to understand how close and loving their relationship actually was.

I never thought anything like [his murder] would happen, Janice said. He was all I knew, all I had, all I ever loved. I loved him more than anyone could ever imagine loving anyone.

Janice didnt like to admit it, but she felt guilty. She tried to talk herself out of it, but the best she could do was create a mental maelstrom. She felt that if she hadnt left David, then David would not have gotten married again and he would be alive today. She started the ball rolling that led to his demise. David Jr. would still have a father. Mom Castor would still have her son. If only, if only, if only a woman couldnt live her life like that. Look at it another way, and, as Janice put it, if I had stayed with him, I probably wouldnt be here today. Thats because when I left him, I was dead. But then shed think again. I am the reason he is dead. The guilt would return. Why did she have to flourish inside as well as out? Why did she develop these needs for freedom and independence? Why had she demanded something more, and lost a husband?