OFF THE WIRE.
Man says slow business may have turned Mosley against partner, Holley
By BOB GARDINIER Staff writer
Michael Mosley, right, sits in the courtroom in the Rensselaer County Courthouse in Troy, N.Y. during his murder trial May 9, 2011.
TROY -- A prosecution witness told jurors Thursday that the crack cocaine business run by murder victim Sam ''Frost'' Holley and his alleged killer Michael Mosley took a big downturn before the killing, suggesting it could have turned Mosley against Holley as the defendant was deprived of large amounts of the crack and money he once earned.
Mosley, 41, of Averill Park is on trial before Judge Robert Jacon on charges of first-degree murder and faces up to life in prison if convicted of the torture, beating and stabbing of Holley, 27, and his girlfriend, Arica Lynn Schneider, 18, in their Brunswick Road apartment on Jan. 26, 2002.
Prosecution witness Shenoll "Ambush'' Bruno, who was in the crack cocaine trade with Holley and Mosley, said Thursday they got permission from the biker gang the Dominion Saints to sell crack cocaine at the South End biker bar Nature's Pub in late 2000. Bruno said he and Holley would bring the product to the bar and Mosley did the transactions with the bar patrons.
A falling out with the gang ended that relationship and Bruno said it crippled their business at the bar where they had a regular clientele and did not have to worry about police.
"We felt safe there because they told us no police would be around,'' Bruno told jurors. ''They said that was their neighborhood and they controlled it.''
"Michael Mosley had much less money after that fallout at Nature's Pub, right?'' Assistant District Attorney Christa Book asked.
"Business was bad,'' Bruno said.
Defense attorney Terrence Kindlon has said his client did not kill the couple but did stop by Holley's apartment and found the bodies before the police were notified but quickly left and never told anyone what he saw. Kindlon has suggested Holley, who supported himself selling drugs, was regularly around dangerous people including the Bloods street gang of which he and Bruno were members.
Bruno, though, said Holley had no problems with the Bloods.
"He was like a Robin Hood to them,'' Bruno said. "He would help people like those getting out of prison, helping them get set up and stuff."
In Feb. 2010, DNA from blood found at the scene was matched to Mosley leading to his arrest and the clearing of Bryan Berry and Terrence Battiste, who had previously been charged with killing Holley and Schneider. Dubbed by the FBI as 'stick men' who robbed local drug dealers, prosecutors theorized that Berry and Battiste, may have targeted Holley and killed the couple during a robbery.
Bruno testified, however, that he and Holley had never heard of Berry and Battiste.
Also Thursday, Linda McKiernan, an expert in serology and DNA analysis with the State Police Forensic's Lab, reviewed piles of blood evidence on clothing, floors, knives and other objects she tested. Two pieces of carpet cut from the apartment floor as well as a large piece of blood smeared paneling have been entered into evidence.
McKiernan said her exams showed that the couple was not sexually assaulted at the time of the killings.
Officials have said Schneider was not involved in drugs and was in the process of leaving Holley when she died.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Witness-Drug-sales-made-duo-enemies-1377339.php#ixzz1MHo6I7Rn
