Elizabeth Larson – Record-Bee staff
LAKEPORT ? On Wednesday, a Nevada man”s murder trial continued as a line of witnesses took the stand to give testimony in the case.
It was day two of the trial for Paul Smiraglia, 46, accused of slaying his 43-year-old girlfriend, Diedre Coleman, in July 2002 and dumping her body along Highway 20 near Cache Creek.
Prosecutor Richard Hinchcliff told Judge Arthur Mann at the day”s beginning that he had seven witnesses lined up for the day. But, as it turned out, two witnesses scheduled to testify during the afternoon didn”t appear, and so proceedings ended early. The trial will continue Thursday at 9 a.m.
As the trial progressed during the morning, Hinchcliff presented five witnesses whose testimony served to give a foundation to Smiraglia”s ? and Coleman”s ? activities and whereabouts during the summer of 2002, at the time Coleman disappeared.
Joseph Slover Sr., David Simmons, Jaime Brown, Jubal Massie and Scott McMahon had all come into contact ? in some cases, limited ? with Coleman and Smiraglia.
Slover, who had lived with his brother David Simmons and sister-in-law during the summer of 2002, said the drug activity in Simmons” 12th Street home in Clearlake caused him to take his wife, new baby and other family members and leave. He saw Coleman and Smiraglia at the house a few times, but didn”t know them well, although he testified to seeing them argue.
Brown and her ex-boyfriend, Massie, both stated they had rented a room in Simmons” home that summer. At the time, she said, they were active drug users, and she had Massie buy drugs from Coleman. Brown said she saw Smiraglia cooking methamphetamine on one occasion at the home.
For the most part, however, she said she didn”t socialize with either Coleman or Smiraglia. In the latter case, she noted, “He was creepy, so I never talked to him.”
Brown said she thought Smiraglia and Coleman were a couple, although, “They weren”t really too affectionate toward each other.”
It wasn”t until Coleman disappeared that Brown saw anyone else driving her white Volvo, which may prove a pivotal piece of evidence in proving when she died. Brown also testified to seeing the car being hot wired.
The most important part of Massie”s testimony concerned his statement that he saw Smiraglia with a blue tarp and yellow rope. Coleman”s body was found tied with yellow rope and wrapped in a blue tarp. Massie said that a picture Hinchcliff showed him of the rope used on Coleman”s body looked like the one he said Smiraglia had.
Under cross-examination from defense attorney Doug Rhoades, Massie confirmed that he and Brown finally left the Simmons house because of the constant partying and drug use.
Scott McMahon testified to meeting Diedre Coleman only once, when she and Sharmon Hawley ? who later became Smiraglia”s girlfriend ? visited McMahon at Redbud Hospital after he had knee surgery.
Later, after he left the hospital, McMahon said he visited Hawley at her home. Smiraglia was there, and McMahon said Hawley appeared nervous and seemed to be afraid of Smiraglia.
McMahon saw the while Volvo sedan at Hawley”s just once. Sitting next to it in the driveway,he said, was a blue tarp covering toys and other items. This could prove pertinent, as Hinchcliff stated in his Tuesday opening arguments that he plans to prove that after allegedly killing Coleman Smiraglia put her body in a toy box and covered her with toys.
Hawley, McMahon testified, later asked him if she could park Coleman”s Volvo at his home, though she didn”t say why.
It was the lengthy testimony of Simmons, however, that may have been the day”s most crucial.
Simmons, more than the other day”s witnesses, had more specific knowledge of Smiraglia and Coleman. He and Smiraglia worked together manufacturing drugs, with Simmons acting as the operation”s lookout.
He said Coleman and Smiraglia had more of a partnership than a romantic relationship, with no appearance of intimacy.
“From my take, Diedre was the transporter of all the chemicals for Paul,” he said.
Simmons stated he last saw Coleman in about the second week of July 2002. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested in Yuba County, and Smiraglia, Simmons” wife and Hawley showed up in Coleman”s Volvo to drive him back to Clearlake. Simmons said that was his first time meeting Hawley, who told him Coleman was out of town with friends.
Simmons said he asked why they had Coleman”s car. “She loved that car,” he said, recalling how she wouldn”t let anyone smoke or eat in it.
After asking about Coleman repeatedly, Simmons said that, when they arrived at his home that night, he confronted Smiraglia.
“I looked at him and said, ?You killed her, didn”t you?” And he just looked at me and grinned,” Simmons said.
Rhoades went after Simmons” credibility, pinpointing areas in previous statements to investigators that didn”t line up. He asked Simmons about telling police about other possible locations for Coleman”s body and pointing to other possible suspects.
Rhoades also pressed Simmons on his recollection of threatening not to talk to detectives unless they got him out of jail at the time.
Perhaps the most glaring inconsistency was Simmons” testimony that he didn”t know what happened to Smiraglia”s drug lab; later in the day, Brown testified that Simmons and Smiraglia put it in the trunk of her car.
The white Volvo ? which has itself almost become a witness in the case ? eventually was in Simmons” possession, although only for a short time, he said. Hawley gave him the car, he said, but he gave it back after his mother had a frightening dream that involved him being pulled over by police and shot while driving the car.
Despite an early recess on Wednesday afternoon, Mann told the jury that the trial is “moving along at a pretty good rate” and that, despite the delays, he expects the trial to be done well in advance of his July 27 prediction.
Contact Elizabeth Larson at elarson@record-bee.com.
