THE MONSON CASE: A CRITICAL OVERVIEW

CONTENTS :
ABSTRACT
METHODS
CASE OVERVIEW
The Eye Witness Accounts
The Forensic Evidence
The McGohan Statement
The Star Witness
The Mystery Caller
The Altered Police Report
David Weinstein et al.
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

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James B. Vargason
Cayuga County District Attorney
Cayuga County Court House Annex
Auburn, New York 13021

Re: The Monson Case

Dear Mr. Vargason,

On March 4th of 1993, the murder conviction in the Monson case was overturned for a second time by a state supreme court judge who threw out the indictment as well. The reason? Thirty lines of a police report were intentionally deleted by the former district attorney. Three days after this on March 7th you told the media and the public that the investigation of this homicide was active and on-going and that the prime suspect was now an individual named John Grossman, a convicted rapist.

In an article that appeared on the front page of the Auburn Citizen, three days later on March 10th the assistant chief of police who oversaw this investigation when John Grossman's name first came up said that he had and I quote an "airtight" alibi. Are we to assume that there is new information or evidence that Carmen Bertonica was unaware of in March of 1993 when he made this statement and if this is true why has John Grossman not been indicted?

If John Grossman is the "killer" and I assume that this is not some clever diversion to catch the real perpetrator(s) off guard, then simple logic tells you that part or all of the testimony presented at the defendant's trial could not possibly have been truthful, yet no one has been charged with perjury and you have not convened a grand jury to investigate any matter related to this case. Why? Personally, I would have had a very long conversation with Mr. Calescibetta and Mr. Weinstein under oath.

Do you recall Thomas Calescibetta, the prosecution's star witness? He testified that the defendant, a close friend admitted to him that he struck his ex-girlfriend with his car and then repeatedly stabbed her in the chest after she fought off his sexual advances. Presumably these were details that only the killer would have know. On March 27th of 1992 this witness told a state police investigator in Canandaigua that his testimony had been coerced by the former district attorney and his court-appointed lawyer, David Weinstein who is now serving time on federal weapons and drug charges.

You have repeatedly said for the last six years that there was no "cover-up" or "conspiracy" in this case. Given this can you explain to me how and why the former defendant was convicted of murder? The eyewitness accounts, the forensic evidence, the damning admission of guilt, was it all just a misunderstanding? Similarly, can you explain to me why thirty lines were missing from a police report? Do you think that someone was trying to protect John Grossman by deleting all of the references to him in this report including a tentative identification? What would you have us believe?

On February 6th of 1992, just a little over a month before Thomas Calescibetta recanted his testimony, you told the Cayuga County Judiciary Committee that it might be "better for the community" to let a special prosecutor from outside the county take this case. Your reason? A potential conflict of interest with your former law firm; Wineberg, Weinstein, Scollan and Cannuciari. Given the unusual circumstances surrounding this case and what we now know about Mr. Weinstein, I am inclined to agree with you.

Inasmuch as I believe that the public has the right to know what their elected officials have done in office and the right to hold them accountable for their actions, I have placed this letter on the internet and I will do the same with your response.

Sincerely,


Robert L. Schillagi, B.A., M.S.
Research Specialist

From Robert L. Schillagi , Research Specialist, IBEX Databases, Auburn, Syracuse and Rochester, New York.

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