A lawyer pointed out to Joshua Tomlinson Friday there’s a similar accusation in both of his murder trials: his DNA allegedly was found on the handle of the knives used to kill both seniors.
A lawyer pointed out to Joshua Tomlinson Friday there’s a similar accusation in both of his murder trials: his DNA allegedly was found on the handle of the knives used to kill both seniors.
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“That’s what’s being said, yes,” Tomlinson responded.
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Tomlinson, 38, and Noah Brown, 31, have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and breaking and entering the death of Allen Schairer, a 62-year-old retiree and photographer who lived alone on Devine Street near Tecumseh Park. He was discovered in his bathtub stabbed to death on Jan. 26, 2021, after police found his car abandoned on city outskirts, the month-long trial has heard.
The jury has learned Tomlinson has another trial coming up on a separate murder charge in the death of Sue Lumsden, 66, three days earlier.
Tomlinson testified this week he was never in Schairer’s house and didn’t kill him or see who did.
As Brown’s lawyer, Michael Moon, continued cross-examining Tomlinson for a third day Friday, he asked Tomlinson if he also denied ever holding the knife used to kill Schairer. Tomlinson said he did.
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But he also denied the knife with which he said Brown cut him when he forced him to help offload stolen goods from a car on Jan. 26, 2021, was the same knife as the murder weapon.
“I’ve never claimed that it was the knife that cut Mr. Schairer,” he testified.
Moon later pulled out an affidavit written by Tomlinson’s lawyer’s office, saying Tomlinson was in disbelief at being charged with Lumsden’s murder and thought the police must be framing him due to his long criminal history.
The jury heard Tomlinson has 82 convictions — many for breaking and entering, but also assaults — and finished serving a two-year jail sentence in August 2020.
“I must have said that, yes,” Tomlinson said after reading the affidavit.
He also was given another affidavit with a defense theory his DNA was somehow transferred to the knife seized in the Lumsden case. Tomlinson said he didn’t recall saying such things, but added it’s a theory that has possibly been said.
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Moon asked him, notwithstanding the affidavit, if he had absolutely no idea how his DNA showed up on the handle of either of the knives used to kill the two seniors.
“That is correct,” he responded.
He then asked if he was framed up in both cases.
“It’s a possibility,” he said.
Picking up from the end of Thursday’s testimony when Tomlinson continually denied killing Schairer, Moon continued questioning Tomlinson’s explanation of where he was the night Scharier died: Scoping out businesses on Exmouth Street that would be easy to break into.
Moon accused Tomlinson of not disclosing the particulars, such as the route he walked, the stores he considered, or the clothes he was wearing, to anyone but his lawyer until he testified this week. He later had him mark on a map the businesses he scoped out.
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Tomlinson eventually agreed it was the first time the jury and the court heard the details of his whereabouts, but he also consistently disagreed with Moon’s calling his story an alibi.
Moon, as he has for three straight days, also focused on Tomlinson’s history of lying. The lawyer pointed out again how he told Surie Landry-Caudle, his girlfriend at the time, he was out playing poker that night and had cut his hand on a putty spatula while painting.
“Those are lies, not alibis,” Tomlinson pointed out.
Moon asked why he lied to her about the cut if he was the victim. Tomlinson replied he didn’t know how she’d react because their relationship was still in its infancy.
Once again, Moon pointed out he tried to use Landry-Caudle as a false alibi the night he was arrested, telling police he’d been home every night from 11 pm to 6 am as ordered by his probation.
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“At the time, I was very upset being accused of something I didn’t do,” Tomlinson said. “All I could think about was trying to figure out any possible way to get out of the situation that is so crazy.”
Moon again pointed out Tomlinson didn’t know who he was being accused of murdering or when he allegedly took place when he was first arrested, yet immediately came up with the false alibi about being home that night.
Tomlinson said he was a drug addict who has lied and stolen in the past. “It’s just natural, sir,” he said.
Moon suggested the oath he swore before taking the stand means nothing.
“I’m not lying, today or yesterday or the day before,” Tomlinson said.
Late Friday afternoon, Moon also pointed out, according to historical weather data, it didn’t start snowing until 5:50 am on Jan. 26, 2021, and he was lying about saying he was getting snowed on while walking to Exmouth Street earlier that night.
Tomlinson recalled saying he was cold and wet and there was snow on the ground and it could have been snowing.
Moon called him a liar and said he got caught in a pivotal false alibi he was trying to pass on to the jury.
“I wasn’t lying,” he said.
He’ll likely still be on the stand when the trial continues Monday.
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