GREENFIELD — After testifying that his girlfriend’s death was an accident, accused murderer Lewis H. Starkey III was cross-examined by First Assistant District Attorney Steven E. Gagne.
Prosecutors say Starkey, 55, murdered Amanda Glover, 47, during a late-night argument July 5, 2017 at their Wendell home. However, Starkey testified Wednesday morning that she died in an accident when the shortgun fired during a struggle with her son, Devin Glover.
The details of the defense’s drastically different story were put to the test during cross-examination that afternoon.
Gagne first attacked Starkey’s assertion that handwritten notes found by Massachusetts State Police with statements like, “Why did I do it?” were not referring to killing Amanda Glover.
The notes were found hidden in Amanda Glover’s car, which Starkey had been driving during a five-day manhunt following Amanda Glover’s death. Although the notes don’t explicitly admit murder, the notes make no mention of Devin Glover retrieving the shotgun, and never include the word “accident,” Gagne said.
In one note, Starkey writes he loved Amanda Glover, but adds, “Probably not the right way to show it.”
“So you’re not referring to the fact Amanda was shot in the face?” Gagne asked.
“I could’ve been a better boyfriend,” was Starkey’s explanation for the note.
In another note, “I never hurt anyone until now.”
Starkey, after Amanda Glover’s death, drove an hour to his place of work, Specialized Carriers in Chicopee. There, he allegedly fired at his manager, Michael Scribner, injuring the man with flying broken glass. Scribner was able to wrestle the gun away from Starkey before he fled again.
According to Starkey, the “never hurt anyone” note is referring to Scribner, not Amanda Glover, and that he wasn’t trying to kill Scribner, but firing a warning shot to make Scribner leave the building.
Gagne took issue with the explanation, and asked why Starkey didn’t use a “less lethal option” if he indeed wanted to scare Scribner away.
“Don’t you think going in there with this Mossberg shotgun and saying, ‘Get the (expletive) out,’ would have been sufficient to scare people out of the building?” Gagne asked, holding up the shotgun — earlier introduced as evidence — in a firing position for effect.
Starkey is not on trial yet for the Chicopee incident, and will be tried in Hampden County, but evidence from Chicopee has been allowed throughout his trial in Greenfield as related “bad acts” evidence.
Starkey’s behavior in general, including firing his shotgun at the door to Devin Glover’s bedroom where Devin Glover hid immediately after his mother’s death, was brought into question.
Gagne asked Starkey, if Amanda Glover was “the love of your life,” why then was the first reaction to go after Devin Glover instead of checking Amanda Glover’s pulse or calling the police.
“He ended my life. He might as well have shot me,” Starkey explained.
“And your life was over because of what?” Gagne asked.
“Because Amanda was my life, my future,” Starkey said.
Shooting the bedroom door, fleeing Wendell in Amanda Glover’s car, not his own, the Chicopee incident and the five days Starkey was on the run were all indicative of a murder, not an accident, Gagne suggested.
“You didn’t call 911 to report an accidental shooting?” Gagne asked.
“No,” Starkey said.
“You could’ve?” Gagne asked.
“I’ve never called 911 in my life. I live in Wendell. It takes 35 minutes to get there from anywhere,” Starkey said.
“So the way you processed that grief was to arm yourself and go to Chicopee to do a shooting, correct?” Gagne asked.
“That’s how it ended up,” Starkey said.
Gagne also questioned the notion that accidental shotgun fire would, by chance, hit Amanda Glover.
“It just happened to hit Amanda Glover squarely in the face? Just incredibly bad luck?” Gagne said.
“That’s bad luck,” Starkey said.
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.