Questions remain in trial of police officer's accused killer

The reason why Utica police Officer Thomas Lindsey was shot to death last April still remains unclear after four days of witness testimony in the ongoing trial of Lindsey's accused killer.

Yet several possible scenarios took form last week as witnesses described the circumstances surrounding Lindsey's slaying, as well as their link to the alleged shooter, Wesley Molina-Cirino.

Molina-Cirino, 24, of Utica, is charged with aggravated murder in Lindsey's death, and his trial will resume Monday in Oneida County Court.

As prosecutors Laurie Lisi and Michael Coluzza presented evidence against Molina-Cirino, the following questions have emerged:

A conspiracy?

Sammy Rivera, the key witness to Lindsey's shooting, testified he looked Molina-Cirino right in the eyes after Lindsey was shot outside Rivera's red Neon during a traffic stop on the 1100 block of Neilson Street. Rivera also said he saw Molina-Cirino get out of a black Monte Carlo on Neilson Street moments before Lindsey was shot.

But defense attorney Rebecca Wittman believes Lindsey's death could not have happened the way Rivera describes it unless other people were involved.

During the week, Wittman pointed out any time a witness suggested one or more people were responsible.

When Michelle Agosto recalled Rivera frantically coming into a John Street church after the shooting, she thought Rivera's girlfriend, Noemi Diaz, told her mother that "they hurt someone."

Molina-Cirino's friend, Aurelio Pizarro, also told police he first heard about Lindsey's death when Molina-Cirino told him, "They killed a cop."

Wittman also focused on Rivera's testimony that he spent the hours before Lindsey's death visiting several friends, buying and selling drugs, and giving people car rides.

And when Lindsey stopped Rivera's Neon, he initially reported "unknown occupants," according to Lindsey's radio transmission. Two police officers who drove past Lindsey minutes before he was shot also described the Neon's driver in a way that does not match Rivera's appearance.

Regardless, everyone who saw someone running from the shooting scene describe a single suspect wearing a "white hoodie."

Shooter's motivation?

Rivera testified Molina-Cirino seemed angry that police, and possibly Lindsey, were harassing him. Molina-Cirino had an insulting nickname for Lindsey, and Molina-Cirino once threatened, "That (expletive) is going to get it one day," Rivera said.

A jail inmate, James Bell, testified Friday that Molina-Cirino told him, "I'll kill you like I killed that cop." Molina-Cirino also told Bell he can't stand police, and that he previously killed police in Puerto Rico.

But prosecutors have yet to call any witness who describes a specific encounter between Molina-Cirino and Lindsey that might have bred animosity between the two.

Other alleged comments attributed to Molina-Cirino indicate he had information about Lindsey's shooting, including allegations the shooter was a man named "Rico" or Molina-Cirino's distant cousin, Jose Cirino. Yet most of those comments offer no insight as to why the shooting may have occurred.

Wittman is suggesting Rivera or somebody else in his car could have had more reason to take action against Lindsey than perhaps Molina-Cirino did.

Rivera admitted to having drugs on him when he was stopped by Lindsey, and Rivera identified himself to Lindsey as his brother Ishmael to hide a recent seatbelt ticket he had received. The computer inside Lindsey's patrol vehicle also showed that Lindsey had discovered an arrest warrant against Ishmael Rivera, police testified.

Rivera wasn't worried about the drugs in his pocket, he said, and Lindsey was going to allow him to pay the outstanding fine. But after Lindsey was shot, Rivera said he tried to pass the drugs to his girlfriend to avoid being charges as police took them into custody.

Sammy Rivera the target?

One jail inmate's testimony suggested Lindsey may not have been the shooter's original target.

While incarcerated at the Oneida County jail, Dennis Rodgers said he overheard Molina-Cirino say he initially wanted to kill Rivera. But when Molina-Cirino saw Rivera with his girlfriend's 2-year-old son in the car, that's when Molina-Cirino shot Lindsey instead, Rodgers said.

"He said, 'I felt like I had to kill somebody, so I killed that (expletive),'" referring to Lindsey, Rodgers recalled.

Rivera testified he and Molina-Cirino had an argument two months before Lindsey's death, causing Molina-Cirino to call Rivera a "dead man walking."

But even after their friendship deteriorated, Rivera said he still gave Molina-Cirino a ride two days before Lindsey's death.

Rivera, however, said he did not tell police Molina-Cirino was the shooter until nine days later because he feared for his life.

The suspect's story

Molina-Cirino had several conversations with police about Lindsey's slaying, and each one changed slightly until Molina-Cirino eventually said he witnessed Lindsey get shot.

But the video recorded interviews involve hours of Spanish to English translations, so prosecution and defense attorneys expect to debate this week what those interrogations actually reveal.

Does it show that Molina-Cirino knows too many details that only the shooter could know? Or does it suggest that Molina-Cirino was bamboozled by police as he merely repeated what other people told him happened?

Observer-Dispatch