GREENFIELD — All of the evidence has been presented in the Orange double homicide case against Joshua Hart, 25, of Athol.
The 14-person jury will begin its deliberations Thursday following closing arguments from the prosecution and defense before Judge John Agostini at the Franklin County Justice Center, Greenfield.
Hart and his co-defendant, Brittany Smith, 29, of Athol, are accused of murdering Thomas Harty, 95, and fatally wounding his 77-year-old wife, Joanna Fisher, during an Oct. 5, 2016, home invasion of the couple’s 581 East River St., Orange, home.
Hart and Smith, who will be tried after the conclusion of Hart’s case, have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The defendants face a life sentence in state prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of the murders.
The prosecution, led by Attorney Jeremy Bucci of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, rested its case Wednesday in the Superior Court proceedings against Hart.
The jury heard testimony from police and a medical examiner, and viewed surveillance footage of Hart and Smith after the Oct. 5 incident. Hart and Smith were caught on video at several locations between Orange and Rockbridge County, Va., where they were apprehended.
Once in custody, Hart gave two interviews to police — one to the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office and a second to Massachusetts State Police Trooper Stephen Bushay — and confessed to the murder, as well as to stealing the victims’ Toyota Matrix and credit cards. The jury listened to the audio recording of the second interview Wednesday.
“I don’t want (Smith) paying for my crimes,” Hart is heard saying in the taped interview. Early in the interview, Hart continuously denied Smith’s involvement in the murder, and claimed he stabbed both Harty and Fisher before Smith even entered the house.
“I stabbed (Harty) and pushed him back,” Hart recounted. “She (Fisher) started screaming, so I stabbed her in the neck. The knife got stuck, and I couldn’t get it out.”
The prosecution alleges that Hart, who had warrants for his arrest from Pennsylvania, and Smith, a heroin addict, decided to run away together after being arrested on Oct. 3. They allegedly wanted to escape incarceration and court-ordered drug addiction treatment, respectively.
Hart and Smith allegedly staked out Harty and Fisher, decided to enter their home, ransack it, steal their car and flee. Once they entered the home, the prosecution alleges they engaged in a “joint venture” in which they both assaulted the victims. Fisher herself, who died a month after the attack from her wounds, told police and family it was a female who was her primary attacker.
However, Hart was insistent early in the interview with Bushay — as well as his interview with Virginia police, played for the jury on Tuesday — that he committed the murders himself.
“It’s not right that she (Smith) should go to jail for what I did,” Hart said.
Hart also attempted to portray himself positively in the taped recording, describing himself as someone who loves kids. He also said he only stabbed Harty after Harty charged at him, and that once he had stabbed Harty he had no choice but to finish killing him as an act of mercy.
After stabbing Harty, “I put a pillow over his face because he was just suffering,” Hart said.
The defense, led by Attorney Brian E. Murphy, presented no evidence in Hart’s favor, and rested its case after cross examination of Bushay, who conducted the taped interview with Hart. The defense was under no obligation to present evidence in the case, because the burden rests entirely on the prosecutors to prove Hart’s guilt.
The defense does not dispute Hart’s involvement in the robbery, and in fact asked the jury to “convict him of the crimes he did do.”
However, Murphy asserts that Smith physically killed the victims, and that Hart helped her “clean up” but is not responsible for the murders. He also said both of Hart’s confessions were false, and that Hart gave them in order to protect his girlfriend, Smith.
The defense highlighted the lack of physical evidence against Hart. His DNA was not found at the crime scene, and the murder weapon was not found.
Furthermore, Hart changed his story halfway through his interview with Bushay, and admitted Smith had a bigger role in the killings than he initially stated.
“Brittany has already done an interview also and she did admit to taking part in the attack,” Bushay told Hart. “Why were you trying (to say she did not take part)?”
Hart said he knew he would be going to jail for a long time, possibly for life, and wanted Smith to be found not guilty of the murders so she could still maintain contact with him. Hart also professed his love for Smith throughout the interview, and asked if he could see her “for five minutes” in order to “say goodbye.”
Hart then told police Smith entered the house with him, did not wait outside and had a knife of her own, a reversal of his statements earlier in the interview.
“So you didn’t try and slit her (Fisher’s) throat?” Bushay asked.
“No. That was Brittany,” said Hart, who then reiterated he was the one who killed Harty.
“He was a fighter,” Hart said, adding that Harty ripped the rosary beads from his neck — those beads were photographed at the crime scene in the vicinity of Harty’s body and the prosecution considers them evidence of Hart’s guilt.
The defense claims Hart’s powerful feelings for Smith caused him to make a false confession, and that he killed neither victim.
At the end of the day, the defense asked that Agostini alter the instructions given to the jury to aid in its deliberations, giving the jury the option to consider involuntary manslaughter for Hart. Agostini denied the motion, stating this case involves more than the “wanton and reckless conduct” required for an involuntary manslaughter conviction.
“If I’m pointing a gun at you, it’s not wanton and reckless conduct,” said Agostini, citing a similar case.
Agostini referred to the testimony of medical examiner Dr. Andrew Sexton who performed exterior and interior inspections of Harty’s body. Sexton presented the jury with a photo of Harty’s heart, which had been stabbed three times.
“If one stab didn’t do it, multiple did,” Agostini said.
The trial is expected to wrap up by week’s end.
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.