WATERTOWN — In Jefferson County Court Monday, a jury found Gregory Michael “Mike” Noonan, 40, guilty of all of the charges in the indictment lodged against him.
The top count was second-degree murder, with other charges including assault and criminal contempt. Noonan was formally charged in the murder of Barbara L. Curry Getman, 39, in Nov. 2016, after she was found dead in their apartment at 217 South Pleasant St. in August of that year.
The verdict came after four hours of deliberations and four days of prosecution testimony. The defense offered no witnesses, and Noonan did not take the stand in his own defense.
Noonan had told 911 operators that he believed Ms. Getman had suffered a seizure during sex, but Jefferson County medical examiner Dr. Samuel A. Livingstone determined her cause of death to be blood loss as a result of an abdominal blow that nearly cut her liver in two.
Ms. Getman was also found to have suffered from tracheal hemorrhaging as a result of choking and internal bleeding in her skull.
The defense team, Public Defender Julie M. Hutchins and Senior Assistant Public Defender Laurel A. McCarthy, argued that the case was circumstantial because no weapons were found at the scene and no marks were found on the victim.
Toxicology reports also showed that Ms. Getman had a blood alcohol content of 0.3 percent — nearly three times the legal threshold for intoxication — on the day of her death, which defense suggested could have led the victim to fall onto furniture or down stairs.
“We can’t pinpoint the exact time Barbara sustained those head injuries,” Ms. Hutchins said in her closing argument, “and questions are beholden to doubt.”
The victim’s injuries, which Dr. Livingstone testified could not be incurred accidentally, and witness testimony of Noonan’s possessive behavior were the heart of the prosecution’s case. The prosecution team was led by Chief Assistant District Attorney Patricia L. Dziuba and Senior Assistant D.A. Nicole L. Kyle.
“We can see a pattern in the defendant’s behavior here,” Ms. Dziuba said, “He’s admitted to punching walls and throwing things when he’s angry, so would something like this be so out of character?”
The jury, made up of 4 women and 8 men, had requested to see two pieces of evidence again during their deliberations, including Noonan’s second interrogation video and a hammer found at the scene of the crime.
The hammer, which was found in the bedroom Noonan and Ms. Getman shared, was sent to the New York State Police Crime Lab but tested negative for DNA on its head.
The interrogation video, which consisted of questioning by Watertown City Police Detective Cristin N. O’Brien, was taken the day after Ms. Getman’s death. In it, Noonan could be seen redirecting the detective’s questions to instead describe graphic sexual acts with the victim just before her death.
When the verdict was read at 3:30 p.m., Ms. Getman’s family was overcome with emotion, simultaneously cheering and weeping.
David K. Curry, Ms. Getman’s brother, said he felt “an overwhelming sense of relief” when the verdict was read.
“I was a little anxious at first when I saw the jury reviewing some of the evidence, but I still had complete faith in them. I think they were just making sure they had all the facts,” Mr. Curry said. “We definitely feel that justice was done.”
Outside the courthouse, Patricia Dziuba said she was grateful for the cooperation of the Curry and Getman families. “Them being able to talk about some of these difficult subjects helped immensely,” she said.
Noonan’s sentencing is scheduled for June 27. Second-degree murder is a Class A-I felony which carries a minimum sentence of 15 to 25 years in prison.
Both Mr. Curry and Ms. Dziuba said they were confident that County Court Judge Hon. Kim H. Martusewicz would assign Noonan a sentence they thought appropriate.