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Commonwealth: Groves planned woman’s murder

LOCK HAVEN — Kathy Heckel had become something toxic in Loyd Groves’ life, similar to the asbestos he removed from the buildings at Hammermill Paper Co. That’s why he killed her.

That was just one of many accusations Senior Attorney General Daniel Dye stated in an fiery closing statement to the Jury Friday evening. This was the final statement before the jury was sent to begin deliberations the same night.

Dye referenced Groves’ job at Hammermill, which involved the removal of the dangerous mineral, asbestos, from the plant in 1991 multiple times, comparing it to the alleged murder of Kathy on July 15, 1991.

“Quiet. Focused. Cold. His focus was to remove threats in the form of asbestos,” he described Groves, referencing multiple commonwealth witnesses’ testimony as he did so.

“And then one day the woman he was having an affair with became toxic to him because she wanted to get away,” Dye said.

“He did what he had the training to do, remove something that had become toxic to him. Including the most toxic thing of all, the corpse of the woman he had murdered,” Dye alleged. “And he almost got away with that.”

Dye told the jury the alleged planning of Heckel’s death was obvious.

“From the duct tape, ammunition, running shoes, a knife … a kit made for murder,” he said of the contents found in Groves’ van when it was searched in 1991.

“And the matching gun stored away in a desk after the deed. Stored away in a gun-free zone,” Dye continued, referencing testimony by former Hammermill employee Julie Brennan who found the gun in the top middle drawer of Groves’ desk.

He added that ammunition found in the van was a match for the .25 Calider Colt semi-automatic handgun found in Groves’ desk.

Dye continued to describe the affair Groves and Kathy had, that led to an alleged argument the morning of her disappearance.

He specifically referenced testimony made by Michael Ryan who testified he heard an argument that morning between Heckel and Groves.

Groves sounded “acrimonious,” or bitter and angry, Michael testified.

This testimony was consistent with that of Dennis Taylor, whom Kathy was also having an affair with at the time, Dye said.

“She was trying to get away. Kathy was trying to get away but there was this clinging vine. Cards and phone calls and ‘he wants to meet,’ “ Dye said in reference to Taylor’s testimony.

“I’ll tell you right now I’m not going to spend time with you on bagels and butter knives. I’m not going to spend time with you on pornography magazines. I’m not going to spend time with you talking about dumpsters and what’s inside them,” he said to the jury. “I’m going to ask you to look at the witness testimony and use common sense.”

Dye continued to reference the fact that Kathy seemed normal the day of her disappearance. Multiple commonwealth witnesses had testified to this throughout the trial.

“Of course she was acting normal, ladies and gentlemen, they were not trying to kill her,” Dye shouted.

He referenced the alleged fear with which Kathy spoke to Taylor the morning before she went missing, adding that Taylor’s testimony was consistent in the fact that Kathy wanted to get away from Groves.

“What you heard in his testimony was his consistency … that she was trying to break it off and that the defendant didn’t want to,” he said.

He disputed defense attorney David Lindsay’s, closing statement, which alleged Dennis Taylor should have been treated like a suspect or person of interest just like Groves.

“Denny Taylor sought out the state police,” he said. “The contact was initiated by him.”

Dye also disputed Lindsay’s statements about Kathy Heckel’s former husband, John Heckel III, and how he allegedly threw out a wallet containing credit cards and a driver’s license for Kathy Heckel.

Heckel testified during the prosecution’s rebuttal and said he did not initially remember throwing out the purse which contained the wallet but agreed he may have done so after drug sniffing dogs went through the Heckel home, leaving a mess behind them.

He testified he threw some items in a garbage bag and took it to the National Guard Armory in Lockport where he threw the items in a Dumpster.

Dye stated that Heckel was clearly distraught and upset and that there is no set way someone should grieve the loss of a loved one.

“You’ve heard, John Heckel was, is, a broken man. You heard him (testify) twice,” he said. He added that Heckel should not be chastised for “throwing some junk out.”

“What is the defense trying to say? That John murdered her,” Dye asked the jury.

Dye accused the defense of attempting to distract the jury from the evidence.

“Those are red herons,” he said, pointing to the defense team.

“Look over here, look over there but whatever you do, don’t look there,” he shouted, pointing this time to Groves, who was seated between Lindsay and other defense attorney George Lepley.

Dye told the jury charges were able to be filed and that they were sitting in court because of Kathy’s friends, family and co-workers.

“Something Groves didn’t plan for,” Dye said.

“(He’s) a planning man,” he said about Groves.

He knew how to remove threats to him “be it asbestos or the woman he murdered,” Dye said.

Kathy’s friends and family sprung to action as soon as she didn’t return to lunch, which was very odd for her, he continued.

“Kathy’s friends immediately sprang into action. They’re looking out windows, trying to see where she’s at, trying to see where Loyd’s van is at,” he said. “That’s how the defendant became a suspect. Not because the state police had laser beam vision but because people who knew Kathy knew something was wrong.”

“That’s why he (Groves) moved the gun into the gun free zone. That’s why he scrubbed the blood out of the carpet. That’s why he rushed home to change his clothes,” he said.

Dye focused on the reddish brown stain in Groves van and the removal of section of carpet where the stain had been. He brought commonwealth witness Corey Motter to their attention.

“I submit to you that Corey Motter had to have been in the van on the evening of July 15 or thereafter to see that stain that had to be scrubbed,” he said.

Motter testified to the Grand Jury in 2014 as well as on Nov. 21 he saw the stain after July 15, 1991 but a police report found by the defense reported Motter said he saw it on July 12, 1991… three days before Kathy’s disappearance.

He alleged that a 14-year-old, the age Motter was in 1991, would not necessarily remember a specific date.

“A big blood stain in a van. That’s the detail kids focus on,” he said.

Dye told the jury it was possible Motter did see the stain after Kathy’s disappearance and that the conversation between Motter and one of Groves’ sons prompted the accused to remove the sections of carpeting.

He believes Groves was taking Motter and his children somewhere when the 14-year-old asked about the stain.

“Think in that moment what the defendant would have thought,” he said.

Motter testified that one of Groves’ sons told him “Dad shot a deer”.

Groves’ ex-wife Kathy testified he told her that he’d removed the carpet because the kids spilled oil or tar in the area.

“Folks use your common sense. Nobody’s jamming a deer into a 1987 conversion van in July,” Dye said. “Nobody’s hacking a carpet out of their nearly new van to remove oil or tar.”

“And then what happens in the days between Motter announcing out loud that he has seen a reddish brown stain? The defendant goes to his 1987 conversion van … this is a brand new car, they’re still making payments. He goes to that exact same area and hacks the carpet out of his own vehicle, down to the padding,” he continued, pointing to a projection of the inside of the van.

Dye also pointed out that a section of the wall was removed as well.

“What do we find all around that area? Human blood,” he continued.

Focusing on the blood, he referenced blood analysis expert Donald Bloser who testified that the blood found in the van was Kathy’s.

Initially four samples were taken from the van but only one speck was enough to discover it was Kathy’s.

“It took the development of this science to get this information,” he said.

He added that the defense stipulated, agreeing it was in fact Kathy’s blood after repeatedly denying that it was.

“Now a trial where the stakes are high and the escape routes are closing in its suddenly ‘oh yeah that was her DNA,'” he said.

“In that regard this isn’t a no-body case,” he said. “There was a body of Kathy Heckel, and it was in that van.”

The defense previously produced evidence that could prove Kathy had a cut on her finger during the time she frequented Groves van in June and July which could explain the speck of blood.

Dye continued to point out what he believed were issues with the defense’s explanation for the blood.

“Does it make sense what the defense said … that someone was mysteriously wedged down in there with a bagel cut on their finger,” he said, “or does it make sense that if you load a body in the side (door) of a van, you’re going to jam that body right up against that wall and its going to bleed right onto that spot on the floor.”

Dye again began to attack another theory the defense alleged. That Kathy may still be alive.

Sarah Kucherer, a data analyst whose career involves using what’s called a ‘digital footprint’ to find fugitives and missing people, testified there were no signs of Kathy since the 1980s.

“Kathy Heckel doesn’t have that because she’s dead,” Dye said, “because she died in 1991 and she was wedged in the back of that van until the defendant had time to get rid of her.”

“That’s where Alicia and John Heckel’s mother spent her last moments. Dead or dying in the back of a 1987 conversion van,” he continued.

Although a body was never found, Dye believes that testimony by Gayle Taylor is enough to prove Groves’ guilt.

“It’s no coincidence that in the defense’s closing she wasn’t mentioned at all,” he said. “She’s just a regular person. Co-worker in a bureaucracy. Little did she know she held the defendant’s confession.”

“As the years rolled by, he (Groves) got more confident. Awfully confident enough to say to her, (with) no emotion mind you, ‘I can get rid of a body where no one can find it,'” he continued.

Taylor testified that Groves’ said this when she approached him about her teenage son’s drug problem when Groves worked in Ohio.

“All these witnesses build a case,” Dye said. “He didn’t count on the regular joes of the plant … he thought he got away. He told Gayle Taylor the truth.”

Dye believes Groves had a window of opportunity between 1 and 3 p.m. on July 15, 1991 to kill Kathy.

Multiple witnesses have said they saw Groves that afternoon but can’t be certain, he said.

“That timeline is blown up, the window is wide open,” he said. “There’s plenty of evidence to show the defendant’s guilt.”

“Loyd Groves killed Kathy Heckel, and all that other stuff; Dumpsters, bagels, pornography magazines, put that inside the Dumpster,” he said. “This is the end one way or the other. The story of Kathy Heckel’s life ends between now and the hours before your verdict.”

“Wherever the defendant put her is the only grave she’ll ever have. Your verdict will be her headstone, your verdict can be that granite monument … here lies Kathy Heckel murdered by the defendant’,” Dye said, his voice charged with emotion. “Let’s put Kathy to rest.”

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