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OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Albany Office 39 NORTI-1 PEARL ST. 5m FLOOR ALBANY, NY 12207 (518) 436-1850 (518) 436-1780 FAX

VIA FAX-376-1656

Hon. Daniel King Acting Oswego County Court Judge Lewis County Courthouse 7660 State Street Lowville, NY 13367

RESPOND TO SYRACUSE OFFICE

September 18, 2015

RE: PEOPLE V. GARY THIBODEAU INDICTMENT NUMBER 94-161

Dear Judge King:

Syracuse Office 4 CLINTON SQUARE 3""FLOOR SYRACUSE, NY 13202 1315) 701 -0080 1315) 701 -0081 FAX

Lisa Peebles Federal Public Defender

I have enclosed an executed affidavit for Melissa Adams, Heidi Allen's cousin, concerning her purchase of an ID bracelet for Heidi and her subsequent discovery of this bracelet in her mailbox years after Allen was abducted. I previously filed an affidavit with the Court describing my conversations with Ms. Adams prior to her willingness to execute an affidavit detailing her memory of these events.

It is our position that Ms. Adams' testimony is relevant and significant in light of the information disclosed by Michael Bohrer, both in his notes and during his 2013 interview with Sheriffs Investigators Pietroski and Johnson. Specifically, Bohrer's notes reference Allen hiding a bracelet in the vehicle in which she was taken and during his interview with investigators he made statements about Gary and Sharon Thibodeau mailing jewelry in connection with the death of Mark Hall.

Interestingly, when Investigators Pietroski and Johnson contact Bohrer about the abduction of Allen, Bohrer is not told how his name recently surfaced in connection with the investigation and why investigators wanted to speak to him. When he is asked about what he knows about Allen's disappearance he begins by explaining that they should start with the death of Mark Hall. Within two minutes of the interview Bohrer launches into a scenario whereby he suggests Gary and Sharon must be connected to the death of Mark Hall beca aw {Q)

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COURT CLERK'S OFFICE

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knows the Thibodeau's mailed "their" jewelry to "her" parents to get a reaction out of them. Pietrosk.i then asked Bohrer whether he was referring to Sharon's parents and he said "yep, because that tells me Gary had something to do with Mark's." He then immediately claims he has no idea how much Gary may have had to do with Allen's disappearance and states he never really saw the connection. Bohrer's claim that Sharon would mail her jewelry to her own parents in order to get a reaction out of them in relation to the death of Mark Hall makes no sense. Bohrer quickly answered Pietrosk.i in the affirmative when he was asked whether Sharon mailed her own jewelry to her parents but he was never asked any follow up questions regarding this nonsensical statement.

It appears from Bohrer's statements during his 2013 interview with Pietroski and Johnson that he wanted investigators to believe Gary and Sharon Thibodeau were involved in mailing jewelry in response to another homicide and therefore, in the event jewelry surfaced during the Allen investigation it was something they had previously done. At the time of the interview Bohrer could not be certain and had no way of knowing whether investigators were in possession of Allen's ID bracelet or attempting to connect him to this bracelet. Bohrer' s immediate statements regarding jewelry appear to be a preemptive strike by implicating the Thibodeaus in a prior jewelry mailing scenario in a different homicide in an effort to throw investigators in a direction away from him.

There has never been any suggestion in any of the documents, filings, court proceedings or investigative interviews of jewelry being mailed in connection with the disappearance of Heidi Allen. The affidavit of Melissa Adams in combination with Bohrer' s notes and 2013 interview with investigators support the inference that Bohrer is responsible for placing Allen's ID bracelet in Adams' mailbox years after Allen was abducted.

Therefore, the defense respectfully requests that the Court permit the testimony of Melissa Adams and also admit Bohrer's handwritten notes.

By: Lisa Peebles, Esq. Federal Public Defender

LAP:vlb

cc: Gregory Oakes, Oswego County District Attorney Oswego County Court Clerk' s Office Gary Thibodeau

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COUNTY COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF OSWEGO: CRIMINAL TERM

..

THE PEOPLE OF THE STA TE OF NEW YORK, AFFIDAVIT

vs.

Indictment #94 161 GARY THIBODEAU,

Defendant.

STATE OF NEW YORK ) COUNTY OF OS\VEGO ) ss.:

I, Melissa Adams, being duly sworn depose and state:

I am 49 years old and my maiden name is Scarles and my nickname is Missy. I am Heidi

Allen's cousin and I have resided in the New Haven area most of my life. I lived in Florida from

January 2004 to September 2004. My sister, Shawnacy Searles, and l were very close with Heidi

and at the time she was abducted Heidi was residing with our grandmother, Mary Ann Searles in

New Haven.

I recently contacted Lisa Peebles about a bracelet I had given Heidi after I read her

defense motion posted on Syracuse.com. I read the notes attached to her motion which referred

to Heidi hiding a bracelet in the vehicle she was in after she had been abducted. I asked Peebles

who wrote those notes and she told me they were Michael Bohrer's notes and part of the

documents he collected in a box containing information about my cousin's case. I was very

upset after I read Bohrer' s notes because years after my cousin was kidnapped, the ID bracelet I

bought her for a graduation gift was left in my mailbox in a plain white envelope. The bracelet

was engraved with Heidi's name and on the back I had engraved, "Love Missy."

I never told anyone about finding this bracelet in my mailbox for several reasons. First, I

had no idea who put the bracelet in my mailbox and I did not want to upset my family because it

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was so many years later and they were convinced the Thibodeaus were guilty and Gary was

already in prison and Richard had been acquitted. Second, I was fairly certain that the Sheriffs

Department would simply take the bracelet and not do any follow up investigation because I

never felt as though they listened to anything I had to say during the initial stages of the

investigation and I was very close with Heidi and this bracelet was very special to me. Honestly,

I never would have mentioned anything about the bracelet showing up in my mailbox had it not

been for Bohrer's notes posted on Syracuse.com. I never intended to come forward with this

information because I did not want to upset my family.

After I spoke with Ms. Peebles she requested that I sign an affidavit but I refused for the

exact reasons I never came forward when the bracelet showed up in my mailbox. However, I did

agree to meet with Ms. Peebles and I showed her the bracelet and allowed her to photograph it

Even though I refused to sign an affidavit, Ms. Peebles filed an affidavit disclosing our

conversations and the photograph of the bracelet.

Once she filed her affidavit, I was confronted by two Sheriffs investigators, Carmen

Rojek and James Pietroski. On September 3, 2015, Rojek and Pietroski requested that I accompany them to the Sheriffs Department to provide them with a statement about the

bracelet. They appeared to be rather confrontational and accusatory when they approached me so

I became defensive and refused to accompany them. They showed me photographs of a bracelet

which appeared to be mailed from a Tracy Wise (Mathews) to Heidi's family. I did not

understand their point since I had in my possession the bracelet I had given to Heidi and the

photo of the bracelet they showed me was a different bracelet. I thought it was interesting they

had an envelope with a return address from Tracy Wise (Mathews) since she was the friend

Heidi was concerned about getting caught up in the drug world and il prompted Heidi to become

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an informant when she was in high school. Rojek and Pietroski asked if I would give them the

bracelet and I told them as long as they provided me with a property receipt, which they did, so I

turned the bracelet over to them on September 3, 2015. I told them I purchased the bracelet at

DuFore' s Jewelry on \Vest 2"d Street in Oswego sometime in 1992 or 1993.

I read the Affidavit Ms. Peebles filed about our conversations and I wish to correct a few

things. First, I do not remember exactly when I found the bracelet in my mailbox, I stated it was a I +c. r 2-o o? b u.J- r::9 c ct K ti.,.=t /LI c:. ...U .s?ca.c..:/ I y

more than 10 years because I had it' - w~ .., . ., ..$

Second, my sister was not with me when I met Bohrer in the t"yltA-1~ t:tp~

parking lot of the Tcxacana. Apparently, Bohrer testified that he met Heidi's cousin in a parking ~ ~ ~fJ;1x

~ lot and a girlfriend of the cousin. Although Bohrer initially mentioned Shawnacy's name as the cousin he met in a public parking lot, it was actually my close friend and I. My sister, Shawnacy, never met Bohrer in the parking lot. We never "fed" Bohrer information about the

case, Bohrer was actually asking us questions about the investigation into Heidi's disappearance.

I am also quite sure I did not talk to Bohrer in the parking lot in the days following Heidi' s

abduction because I was mostly with my family helping in the search efforts. The encounter

with Bohrer was many months later. l.\e fold Y"-y {',, ~t\cJ et~ J 1: ~cJ k,q U,,f S /. {t1Ve.st-rc4h:r Gv1cl we c!id not LV{ldots-to"'d L.vkt> kt w4S. 0-(Q\ '""t'\ Also, I did ~ot know Bohrer' s full name at the time he approached us in the parking lot, I L- ((_(/

just remembered some creepy guy who kept inserting himself in my path and lurking around the

bar where Shawnacy was bartending. It \Vas not until he was identified in this recent

investigation and I saw his photograph that I actually learned his name. I do recall Bohrer being

present at the Texacana bar and I often spoke to Shawnacy about the bracelet I gave Heidi

because I always wondered whether she was wearing it when she was abducted.

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Since I have disclosed this information, my family is not speaking to me and they are

very upset. I do not have an opinion about the Thibodeaus, but I decided to come forward

regardless of the consequences and provide a statement because I am interested in seeking justice for my cousin.

Sworn to before me this

_LCo"i!ay of September 2015

~ Notary Public .. --- -

LISA A. PEBBLES L'otary Publ:c, State of New Yr-'<

Qualified In Onondaga Cou:i!y Reg.#02PE5021239

rt'; Cc::-:-mission Expires Dec. 13, :JJ} .,

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Melissa Adams

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