Friday, May 07, 1999
Furnish attorney calls murder case unprovable
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — His attorney laid it on the line Thursday for Kenton Circuit Court jurors, who will spend the next weeks listening to testimony and deciding whether Fred Furnish murdered and robbed a 66-year-old Crestview Hills woman in June.
“Beyond a reasonable doubt, you'll find that Fred (Furnish) is a crack addict, that he is a thief and a burglar,” public defender Mary Rafizadeh said in her opening statement. “But no matter how many witnesses, no matter how many days you are here together, you will not hear evidence that Fred murdered Ms. (Jean) Williamson.”
After more than a week of jury selection, the trial for Mr. Furnish, 31, of Covington, got under way. He faces charges of murder, burglary, robbery, theft and receiving goods by fraud.
Her housekeeper found Ms. Williamson's body around 1 p.m. June 25 in the master bathroom of her Calumet Court home. She had been strangled, and her killer had immersed her head in a full bathtub.
Mr. Furnish became a suspect after investigators discovered a receipt on her kitchen table for a May 19 carpet
cleaning. They have said that Mr. Furnish killed her and, within the hour, used her stolen debit card to withdraw money. He allegedly used the cash and stolen jewelry to feed his crack addiction and finance a party.
In opening statements, Ms. Rafizadeh acknowledged that her client and a friend went to Ms. Williamson's home that day with the intent to burglarize her home. But she said that it was Mr. Furnish's unnamed friend who did the killing.
“The plan had gone haywire,” said Ms. Rafizadeh, noting that Mr. Furnish was questioned for 12 hours June 26 but that he never confessed to the killing. “In that time frame, they were not able to get him to say the words they wanted to hear.”
Kenton Commonwealth Attorney Don Buring began his own opening statements by saying that the trial, expected to last three more weeks, would delve into “a day in the life of Fred Furnish.”
“It was a busy day,” he told the jurors. “It was an extraordinarily busy day for Fred Furnish. It was the day he murdered Jean Williamson. It was the day he robbed Jean Williamson. It was the day he burglarized her home. It was the day he used her credit card.
“Today is a new day. Today is the day when you as a group will begin to hear evidence that the defendant, Fred Furnish, is guilty.”
But he acknowledged that his case has holes, including a lack of blood samples and fingerprint evidence to tie Mr. Furnish to the case.
“This is a case of circumstantial evidence,” he said. “The commonwealth will readily admit to you (that) we do not have any physical proof that the defendant was in the house. But we do know what was missing, (including) jewelry, cash and Mrs. Williamson's debit card.”
He noted that Ms. Williamson's debit card was used several times to withdraw $1,000 in the 24-hour span after her murder. Mr. Buring promised that at least one of those transactions would accompany a clear photo from a bank, indicating that Mr. Furnish was making the withdrawals.
Testimony began after Thursday's opening statements.
Jeffrey Cheser, president of the former Kiwi Carpeting, testified that Mr. Furnish began working for him April 9. His records confirmed that two employees, Mr. Furnish and Eric Patterson, cleaned Ms. Williamson's carpet May 19.
Mr. Patterson confirmed that information and said that, after the cleaning, Mr. Furnish wanted to go to a Newport pawnshop.
The owner of that pawnshop verified that visit and said Mr. Furnish had come in to pawn two 14-karat rings. Mr. Buring has said those rings belonged to Ms. Williamson's daughter, Gayle.
Mr. Furnish faces the death penalty if he is convicted of murder.
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