The Oswego County hearing in the case of Heidi Allen resumes Tuesday after a six-week break. Gary Thibodeau is seeking a new trial, claiming there is new evidence pointing toward his innocence. He was convicted of kidnapping Allen from the convenience store where she worked in New Haven more than 20 years ago. The defense wrapped its case last month, but Syracuse Post-Standard reporter John O'Brien, who has been covering the hearing, reports that Thibodeau's attorney has asked the judge if she can call new witnesses before the prosecution begins its case. Meanwhile, Gary Thibodeau will not be in the courtroom when the hearing resumes. WRVO News Director Catherine Loper spoke with O'Brien about why.
Catherine Loper: Gary Thibodeau is at the center of the question being brought up at this hearing, and whether or not he got a fair trial. But I’ve read in your publication, Syracuse.com, that he’s not going to be at this phase of the hearing. Can you tell us about that?
John O’Brien: Yeah, that’s right. He told his lawyer, Lisa Peebles, that it’s too much on him, physically. He’s got trouble with his ankles, he has one lung. It’s hard for him to sit through the hearing and it’s very hard for him to travel from Dannemora, way upstate, to Oswego County. So he just said, I want to be there, but I can’t. And she says it’s unfortunate, but it really doesn’t have an impact on a hearing like this because there’s no jury. You would want the defendant to be there for a jury, but if it’s a judge who’s hearing the case, it’s different. So that really doesn’t have an impact, but it will be a little odd not to have him there.
Loper: And did you see evidence of his ill health or fragility when he was in the courtroom before?
O’Brien: You know, a little bit. He moves slowly all the time. And he definitely did have both his ankles broken in a fall many years ago. So, yeah, he looked frail, for sure. And he did fall down the stairs, I think it was the first day of the hearing, which didn’t help anything.
Loper: The heart of the case, really is Heidi Allen and what happened to her. What has the mood been in the courtroom when you were there, regarding Heidi Allen’s whereabouts?
O’Brien: That is just on everyone’s mind all the time. It never goes away. This poor, 18-year-old girl, who’s totally innocent, and her life is just over. And 20 years later, we still don’t know where she is, and that’s always there.
Syracuse Post-Standard reporter John O'Brien will be covering this hearing when it resumes Tuesday morning. You can follow O’Brien’s reporting at syracuse.com or on Twitter.
