Pictured in the Tioga County Courthouse in Owego, N.Y. on Monday, from left, is Defense Attorney George Awad, and defendant Douglas Every, who is currently on trial for Second Degree Murder and Evidence Tampering following the alleged stabbing of 39-year old Milton Jump at Douglas Every’s Thorn Hollow Road residence on Oct. 23, 2013. Photo Courtesy Time Warner Cable News.
“Stop it, just stop it,” were just a few of the words that 63-year old Douglas Every, of the Town of Tioga, Tioga County, N.Y. told investigators he said to Milton Jump during a close to the one and a half hour intake interview that was played to jurors on Monday as the Second Degree Murder Trial continued in the Tioga County Courthouse in Owego, N.Y.
Douglas Every was indicted earlier this year on charges that he stabbed 39-year old Milton Jump in the heart after an argument ensued at Douglas Every’s home in the Town of Tioga on Oct. 23, 2013. At the time of the incident, James Atwell, who was being cared for by Milton Jump was present, and is expected to testify as a witness for the defense this week.
The trial, with all of its sadness and complexities, began last week with a two-day jury selection, and brief opening arguments that followed.
On Monday, the prosecution continued to call upon investigators and forensic specialists involved to argue their case, to include Tioga County Sheriff Investigator Wayne Moulton, who interviewed Douglas Every the evening of the alleged crime, Oct. 23, 2013.
In the lengthy interview, Douglas Every’s story on the incidents of the evening were not coming together for investigators, but Douglas Every was evidently distraught in the video, and was very concerned about the welfare of his dogs if he was to be remanded to jail that evening, and also wondered what would happen to Atwell.
In Douglas Every’s statement to investigators, which was recorded and reviewed by the jury, he told them that he ran out of the house after a fight ensued between he and Milton Jump that evening.
Douglas Every explained that he tried to call 911, but the power in the home went off, rendering the phone booster needed to utilize the cell phone in this remote location inoperable.
In the recorded interview, Douglas Every then stated he went back into the house through the laundry room to turn the power back on, and that Milton Jump lunged himself into a knife that Douglas Every was holding.
The one piece that was missing for investigators in the interview is the ability to correctly put the sequence of the events that occurred into place correctly, and to understand why Douglas Every didn’t just leave the home if it was dangerous for him. They also could not understand how the knife ended up in Douglas Every’s hands – the same knife that delivered an alleged fatal wound that took Milton Jump’s life.
But calls to domestic situations between Milton Jump and Douglas Every were not unfamiliar to law enforcement.
The two were involved in a relationship over a decade ago, and then Douglas Every took Milton Jump and James Atwell back into his home after they were displaced from the FEMA home they were assigned to after the flooding.
The calls, according to testimony, were related to arguments between the victim, Milton Jump, and the defendant, Douglas Every.
Douglas Every in the recorded interview, stated that Milton Jump was abusive to him and would say things to him like, “Go [expletive removed] yourself,” and would sometimes throw things.
Douglas Every described Milton Jump, in the interview, as “the good and the horrible” when he [Milton Jump] drank, and it was previously testified to that there was drinking that night.
But the story, for investigators, just didn’t make sense, Moulton stated during the taped interview. Douglas Every, who in the interview was concerned about being sent to jail that night, told investigators that he wanted the abuse from Milton Jump to just stop. Douglas Every also stated, in the taped interview shown on Monday, that James Atwell wanted the abuse to stop as well.
Atwell is expected to testify for the prosecution tomorrow, as well as six other witnesses that the defense plans to call to the stand.
The burden of proof on whether it was self defense or not, as Douglas Every’s Attorney, George Awad stated in his opening arguments last week, will fall on the district attorney.
Regarding the Tampering with Evidence charge, the District Attorney, Kirk Martin, called several forensic specialists to the stand to testify about blood evidence and DNA that was found on a sponge in the sink where two knives were found; although the swabs were taken from the knives as well, according to one forensic specialist, it was not sufficient enough to draw a conclusion.
The forensic lab also removed an area from the sponge in the sink that had what appeared to be blood on it. One of those areas, as testified on Monday, tested positive as being mostly DNA from Milton Jump, and partially from Douglas Every.
The testimony in this case continues Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. in the Tioga County Courthouse in Owego, N.Y.
If Douglas Every is found guilty of Murder in the second degree, he could face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life. If the jury lessens the crime to Manslaughter 1, the defendant could face a sentence no longer than 25 years.
Manslaughter, as described by the law, demonstrates the intent to cause serious injury, and by doing that, causes death.
