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Photo Mary Ann Bragg
Murder suspect Nathan Miksch outside Barnstable Superior Court on Monday. |
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Miksch trial begins
Alleged murder site, lifestyle, rape, illegal drug use described
By Mary Ann Bragg
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN — The postmortem severing of an arm will likely not be revealed to jurors in the Nathan Miksch murder trial, which began this week in Barnstable Superior Court.
Judge Gary Nickerson ruled prior to the trial beginning that the post death mutilation of a body would not be allowed as evidence, based on the murder charge and the type of defense planned. “At best, it’s a wait and see,” Nickerson said, adding that the “inflammatory” detail may become relevant later in the trial.
Still, there will be peculiarities in the proceedings.
After the first day of testimony, defense attorney Drew Segadelli managed to portray the residence where the victim, Timothy Maguire, died as a den of illegal drugs, including crystal meth, ecstasy and GHB, known as the “date rape” drug. He needled Provincetown resident Erik Ovalle, an early witness, asking what types of illegal drugs Ovalle used during the summer preceding Maguire’s death, where the drugs were purchased and how frequently.
Ovalle and his male partner were the primary residents of the house where Maguire lived. They were close friends with the victim and the ones who called police in on Oct. 28, 2003, because of Maguire’s absence and the bad smell coming from his bedroom. Maguire’s body was found shortly thereafter in a sitting position in his bedroom closet covered with a sheet, one arm missing.
Miksch, who will turn 31 during the trial, is charged with the first-degree murder of Maguire, with whom he had a dating relationship. Cape & Islands Assistant District Attorney Sharon Thibeault believes Miksch killed Maguire deliberately and with the intent to inflict harm. Miksch is also charged with assault and battery with a belt and larceny of Maguire’s ATM card.
Segadelli has said he will pursue a lesser, manslaughter charge, arguing that his client was in a “diminished” state of mind at the time of Maguire’s death, affected by drug and alcohol use, severe anxiety, depression, lack of sleep and self-worthlessness.
According to the state medical examiner Maguire died of asphyxiation due to strangulation.
The trial began in earnest late Tuesday morning and is expected to run through next Tuesday, March 7. There was an extensive weeding out of jurors who might be prejudiced against gay men or upset with a discussion of rape. Fifteen potential jurors admitted they might be unable to be impartial knowing the alleged crimes involved homosexuals and homosexual rape, in the words of Judge Nickerson.
During the jury selection it was revealed that 20 Provincetown residents may appear on the witness stand, out of 62 potential witnesses.
In her opening statements, Thibeault said Maguire died in the early morning hours of Saturday, Oct. 25, 2003. The two men were alone in the room, she said, and Miksch strangled Maguire with a belt and then placed the body in the closet.
Thibeault cautioned jurors that some of the evidence presented would involve illegal drug use, sexual activity and the Internet dating site manhunt.net, and was not meant to be shocking or upsetting. “This is about the activity of one man who happened to be part of the diverse community that is Provincetown,” Thibeault said.
Thibeault said she would call medical experts as witnesses, including those who will describe markings on Maguire’s neck and the cause of his death, and discuss the possibility that the victim could have recovered from the strangulation if released within a certain time period.
Thibeault said she will provide jurors with statements made by Miksch to police, where he admitted killing the victim. She said Miksch was provoked into the killing because the victim had boasted about having sex with Miksch while Miskch was asleep on that Friday night.
That alleged sexual activity is not provable, Thibeault said. She added that jurors will hear a somewhat different version of those events from statements Miksch made to a reporter 18 months later.
Segadelli, in turn, began his opening statements with a caution to jurors, saying each person was chosen for their stated impartiality to “alternative lifestyles.” “We don’t want these lifestyles to guide you in your deliberation,” he said. “Look for the facts to determine what actually occurred some 28 months ago.”
Segadelli reminded the jury that Miksch did not have to speak to either the police or to the reporter that Thibeault mentioned. He portrayed 2003 as a tumultuous year at Maguire’s home, “where a lot of drugs and partying was going on, a lot of the alternative lifestyle was going on.”
Segadelli said Maguire spent an increasing amount of time in his bedroom as the year progressed, that the relationship between Miksch and Maguire had deteriorated and that Maguire wouldn’t take “no” for an answer from Miksch. He also said that Maguire, at the time, was about 60 pounds heavier than Miksch.
Segadelli said Miksch did manage to separate himself from Maguire in the summer of 2003 but was often drawn back due to a dependence on illegal drugs. “He couldn’t afford it, but Maguire could,” Segadelli said.
Miksch even left Provincetown in October of that year, in an attempt to sober up, but was drawn back, with Maguire “baiting the trap,” Segadelli said.
“They did drink that Friday night,” Segadelli said of the evening before Maguire’s death. “There was a noise at some point, a boom, a thump in that house. [Miksch] passes out on alcohol. He awoke. He gets back on the Internet. Maguire comes in and says, ‘We had a fine time last night. I did some things to you.’”
Segadelli said at that point in the evening Miksch realized he had been victimized and that his only intent was to get out of Maguire’s room.
Segadelli described Miksch as victimized as a child, and also in 1999 when local police allegedly failed to act on Miksch’s behalf in another incident.
That frazzled state of mind all led to Maguire being strangled, Segadelli said. He added that Miksch’s state of mind showed shallow thinking, where seemingly few options were available. He said when police later gathered evidence from Maguire’s bedroom, they found Miksch’s small travel bag, prepared for a flight from town. The bag contained a can of SPAM, a sex toy and a cigarette lighter.
mabragg@provincetownbanner.com
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Mar 2nd, 2006