by Rachel Hunter
A Lake Placid man has been charged with the murder of a Town of Rossie man and is also the prime suspect in the homicide of Ronald “Huck” Durham of Gouverneur.
A news conference was called by St. Lawrence County Sheriff Brooks Bigwarfe on Tuesday, March 7 in regards to the two homicides. He was joined by SLC Undersheriff Sean O’Brien, SLC District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua, and law enforcement officers.
St. Lawrence County Sheriff Brooks Bigwarfe took to the podium and said the following: “Today, at approximately 3 p.m., the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the St. Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office and the New York State Police have charged Adam W. Smith, age 46, of Lake Placid with Murder in the Second Degree, an A-1 Felony. After investigating an incident that occurred on March 1 of this year at 258 County Route 10 in the Town of Rossie, Smith was arraigned by Rossie Justice Phillip J. Gentile, and remanded to the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility without bail. We will provide as much information as we can, however, this is still an active investigation, and to not hinder that investigation, we will not get into certain specifics of that case.
“To recap, deputies were initially called to the residence on March 2 at approximately 2:18 p.m. for a body that was located inside that residence. Upon their arrival, deputies found William Freeman, age 67, of Rossie deceased inside the residence with stab wounds to his body. Deputies also discovered that Mr. Freeman’s vehicle had been stolen. On that same day at approximately 5 p.m., Adam Smith was apprehended by law enforcement and Freeman’s 2018 Chevrolet Silverado in Jefferson County on the intersection of 81 Northbound, near the Bradley Street ramp. Smith was subsequently brought back to the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office and was charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the Fourth Degree, and was arraigned in front of Canton Town Justice Michael Morgan, and remanded to the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office on $10,000 cash bail.
“An autopsy was performed on the victim the next day by Forensic Pathology Specialist Dr. Michael Sikirica where the preliminary report ruled Mr. Freeman’s death as a homicide from injuries sustained in that knife assault.
“Several leads and interviews have been conducted along with numerous search warrants that have been executed to include residents’ vehicles and personal property. We’ve also been assisted by the New York State Forensic Investigative Unit (FIU) that has collected and processed an abundance of forensic evidence. With the ongoing investigation, the Sheriff’s Office is and has been assisted by the New York State Police, the Office of Homeland Security, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Watertown Police Department, North Country Crime Analysis Center, and the St. Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office. I want to personally thank these agencies for their assistance in this case. It was their outstanding dedication and persistence in numerous hours of investigation has led us to this arrest today. I recognize the frustration with the lack of information that has been released, however, providing any details on this criminal investigation might have tainted the upcoming prosecution or alerted the suspect of our progress.”
Sheriff Bigwarfe reported that the multi-agency investigation has followed the pursuit of justice for the victim and their family. “I want to send my condolences and prayers to family and friends of William Freeman,” he said. “We can only hope that this arrest today can bring some comfort to the family.”
St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua then took to the podium and said the following: “As you know, the last few days, there have been developments as well in the investigation into the death of Ronald Durham, which occurred on February 11, which is under investigation by the New York State Police. As you know, in the last few days, Frederick Wing, who was originally arrested for that crime and charged with murder, was released Friday at the request of my office as well as law enforcement after new information was developed during the investigation into Mr. Freeman’s death. At this time, I can say that Adam Smith is the primary suspect in Mr. Durham’s death. I do expect that within the upcoming days, there is an expectation that Mr. Smith will be charged in the homicide of Mr. Durham. That has not occurred at this time, as the New York State Police continues to investigate leads into that matter and continues to execute search warrants in that matter. Based upon the physical evidence that has been collected as well as additional interviews that have been conducted, we do believe that Mr. Smith will be charged with that crime – shortly.”
The floor was then opened for questions from local media outlets in regards to either investigation. Among the questions posed were the following:
Q: “Are there any other suspects?”
A: “There are no other suspects in either of the investigations at this time,” DA Pasqua said.
Q: “On Frederick Wing, anything on his charges?”
A: “His charges remain pending at this time,” DA Pasqua said. “While I have said that we don’t believe that Mr. Wing is ultimately the person that took Mr. Durham’s life, the investigation into what occurred on that day continues and what, if any, actions Mr. Wing took during that time and after that time certainly are under investigation, whether or not any charges ever come of that will remain to be seen, but we are thankful that at this time it appears that Mr. Wing now has been released. We do not believe that Mr. Wing took Mr. Durham’s life and it appears that he is being truthful and honest with law enforcement at this point.”
Q: “There has been some reporting that (Frederick Wing) might be a witness in the case. Is there anything you can say on that?”
A: “All I will say to that is at the time that law enforcement began investigating that crime, they were provided with information from Mr. Wing that made it clear that he had imminent knowledge of what happened,” DA Pasqua said. “Law enforcement did not make the decision to arrest Mr. Wing on some whim. They had solid information based upon what was relayed to them, based upon the physical evidence, that they had probable cause to believe that Mr. Wing committed that crime, which is why they made the arrest. Take from that what you will, but we believe that he had solid, concrete information about what happened. We believe he shared that truthfully and I am willing to share that information now, because his attorney has come out and shared that before we even did…”
Q: “As far the relationship between the victims and Adam Smith, did they know each other?
A: “They were associated,” SLC Sheriff Bigwarfe said. “I can give you that much information… When you’re in the middle of an investigation, you don’t want to get too much into specifics. But generally, we can tell you that they were associated. It wasn’t a random act by some stranger. Hence, we knew early in the investigation that the public wasn’t in danger.”
Q: “What about Frederick Wing and Adam Smith, did they know each other?”
A: “What I will say about that is all the individuals involved in the Durham case were known,” DA Pasqua said. “There certainly were no random coincidences really in either of these cases. As we’ve said, from the beginning, the general public was not in danger. We knew that from early on. We knew they weren’t random acts…”
Q: “Historically, can you remember other cases… similar to it?
A: “Not locally,” DA Pasqua said. “Not since I’ve been here in the North Country, but I think it just goes to show how thorough and how hard working our law enforcement community is. It is unfortunate that we weren’t able to link Mr. Smith right away to the Feb. 11 incident, but based upon the information that we had and all the evidence available, I don’t believe it was possible at that time. But law enforcement didn’t stop that investigation, didn’t stop working those leads. I think the collaborative effort that was put forward by all the agencies is really what led to being able to make that link, and being able to make sure that we got to the right individual.”
Q: “Does Mr. Smith live or stay in the area? I know you said he was from Lake Placid.”
A: “Yes, in St. Lawrence County, I believe it’s in Rossie. Is it Gouverneur? Yes, it’s Gouverneur, the Town I believe.”
SLC Sheriff Bigwarfe then said the following: “I’d just like to say that the individual arrested for this crime – a pretty heinous crime – through our investigation appears to be a very dangerous individual. We’ve got him on one murder, and probably a second pretty soon. To get him off the streets in St. Lawrence County and our adjoining counties, it is pretty important. Again, a lot of hours of work from all of our agencies in St. Lawrence County. That’s what it is all about – solving these as quick as possible. These dangerous individuals, to get them off the streets, is so, so important to the citizens. That’s why the individuals behind me and the law enforcement officers put all those hours and time into those investigations, because they know it is important to get those individuals off the streets. Again, I want to commend them on all that they did as quickly as we did to get them arrested. That’s a pretty quick turnaround for a homicide. But, like Gary said, we are still not done. We still have a lot to do. But that level of getting him off the streets, for myself as Sheriff, the Sheriff’s Office, and all the law enforcement agencies – it's super important to keep every citizen in the county as safe as we can.”
Q: “Is Adam Smith suspected of any other crimes in St. Lawrence County besides the murder and stealing the truck?”
A: “We are looking hard at everything he has done in the past several months, if not years,” SLC Sheriff Bigwarfe said. “We have a lot of unsolved crimes in this county. Was he part of some of those crimes? That is what we are looking into. We are looking hard at all of these things, and we continue to do that.”
Q: “Does Smith have any type of a criminal record?”
A: “Yes, he does,” SLC Undersheriff Sean O’Brien said. “He is currently on probation. It was violated and he is being held in the custody of the Sheriff since Friday when we had the arrest on the larceny charges that he had. So, he was out on the street on probation. It’s unfortunate that people had to lose their lives for that.”
Q: “What crime is he on probation?”
A: “There was a violation probation filed on Friday,” DA Pasqua said. “It was filed in open court. I believe it was filed for Burglary in the Third Degree conviction. I am not positive about that, but I believe that is what it was filed.”
In closing, SLC Sheriff Bigwarfe told the local media: “I appreciate you guys coming here and covering this. It is important for St. Lawrence County citizens to know what happened here in this investigation.”
To view the full press conference, visit St. Lawrence County’s YouTube page.