Closing arguments delivered in Thomas Rath Murder trial

By Wendy Post —

He was somebody’s son. Thomas Rath, the victim’s father of the same name, was the first witness reviewed by Defense Attorney Amanda Kelly as she began closing arguments on Wednesday afternoon at the Tioga County Courthouse in Owego.

The defendant, 48-year-old Angelo Baez, is on trial for first-degree murder, second-degree murder, kidnapping in the first degree, and an intimidation charge in the case involving the kidnapping, torture, and murder of 34-year-old Thomas Rath.

Thomas Rath’s own father, of the same name, had early on explained his son’s plight and how his son lost his construction job when the pandemic hit, falling on hard times. He developed an addiction to drugs like meth and heroin and found himself homeless, residing in the encampment known as “The Jungle” in Ithaca.

On May 20, 2023, Thomas Rath was beaten, restrained, and taken out of the encampment. He was then put into an SUV, a Volvo, and taken to 70 Benjamin Hill Rd. in Newfield, N.Y., where he was placed on a tarp in the garage and tortured for hours. He was also violated with a dowel and cut with a knife.

People entered the home on Benjamin Hill Road, they entered the garage, took videos, sent pictures, but nobody helped a severely injured Thomas Rath, who was being tortured.

Thomas Rath, according to some of the witness testimony and further evidence presented during the autopsy, was kidnapped, beaten, tortured, and then eventually led to his death on Ekroos Road in Candor, N.Y. Robert Hines, aged 52 of Candor, N.Y., was the driver of the truck. Jonathan Glennon and Angelo Baez were also with Hines, along with Thomas Rath.

For nearly eight days, the 12-member jury has listened to the evidence presented, and as the case unfolded, right up until the closing arguments.

In this case, over a dozen were arrested initially, with Grand Jury indictments following, and eventual cooperation agreements with some of those involved. And despite the agreements, some of those involved are still facing some pretty heavy time behind bars; Colleen Dillon being one of them. Her involvement was so deep that the defense attorney referred to Dillon as the “Queen of Joe’s Puppetry.”

Dillon’s testimony was one where the defense argued inconsistencies. But upon the Tioga County Defense Attorney’s closing, he informed the jury that Dillon is still going to prison for ten years; her sentence lowered from kidnapping one to kidnapping two in this case.

So, to unravel the testimony of so many involved, sort out the evidence, and come to a conclusion is the task set aside for the trial’s jury. Deliberations begin Thursday morning around 9 a.m.

With so many prosecution witnesses taking the stand during this trial, many of them previously charged and testifying on a cooperation agreement, the defense attorney, during her closing arguments, challenged each of them.

Her main argument that she addressed to the jury regarding the witnesses presented under an agreement, stating, over and over, “As long as this table is happy,” pointing to the district attorney’s table. Her context being they were only saying what the district attorney wanted them to say. This, she said, was why all the testimony kept pointing to Angelo Daez.

She referred to Robert Hines, the driver of the truck that went to Ekroos Road, as getting the deal of a lifetime. His initial charge of first degree kidnapping reduced.

During the defense attorney’s closing, she told the story of Angelo Baez, a man that was at each scene, but did not participate.

“He was present, but not a participant,” Attorney Kelly stated to the jury, over and over.

But the district attorney, upon closing arguments, looked at it a bit differently. Tioga County District Attorney Kirk Martin told the jury that Angelo Baez was working “in concert” with Joseph Howell, the first defendant in this case who was found guilty in October 2024 of similar charges to Baez. Although here, Howell is referred to as the puppet-master that orchestrated everything, Baez the trigger-man.

But DA Martin had a job ahead of him to connect the complete dots. His theory to connect Baez to the murders, too, was that the ammunition and rounds found were a match to two of the guns utilized.

Baez took the stand on Wednesday morning, claiming his innocence and that he was fearful of Howell and was threatened. He even presented a witness that testified about an injury from a slice to his genital area that had to be treated.

Baez, who appeared more agitated than usual on Wednesday, also testified that Robert Hines did not shoot Thomas Rath when questioned about what happened on Ekroos Road. That would mean two guns, two types of ammunition, two shooters. He pointed to Baez as one of the triggermen. If Hines didn’t shoot, it had to be Baez and Glennon.

Also, when Hines testified, he said that Angelo Baez fired, but a round jammed, and he had to dislodge it and cock the gun again.

This testimony matched the evidence of rounds found at the scene. The shell casings and a live shell from the jam matched the two guns utilized, and matched the ammunition found in the home at 70 Benjamin Hill Rd. and at Ekroos.

The district attorney, in his closing, told the jury that Angelo Baez was at the jungle, he was at 70 Benjamin Hill Rd. He was at Ekroos Road, and he is sure they will find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Robert Hines led police to the body in August 2023, ending the search for Thomas Rath, although Angelo Baez had testified that he went to the police because he was scared, that he lied because he was scared, he was agitated, they had a search warrant for his apartment.

The district attorney argued that Baez wasn’t scared, and technology helped prove the defendant’s involvement.

With records searches at various communication corporations like Google, Meta, and others, videos of various stages of the two days of horror were recorded, one sent to a man named Antonio Morrow, who is not a co-defendant.

According to the district attorney and evidence obtained from the phone records and social media, video footage of the acts in the garage and during the torture were sent to Morrow. Now, the video, along with another video of the kidnapping taken from Baez’s own phone, are all part of the evidence the jury will consider while deliberating.

If found guilty, Angelo Baez could face life without parole for the first-degree murder charge. For the kidnapping charge, Angelo Baez could receive anywhere from 25 years to life, but this would likely run concurrently with the murder sentence.

For the charge of intimidating a witness, Baez could be sentenced to four years.

Things continue Thursday morning in the Tioga County Courthouse in Owego, N.Y. with instruction from the Honorable Adam Schumacher, and then the jury will enter deliberations in this case.