Published: July 28, 2009 11:49 pm      

Witness details events prior to shooting

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The fate of a Johnstown man charged with first-degree murder in the death of a Daisytown man could be determined by a Blair County jury as early as today.

The prosecution’s case against Shawn Patrick Dugan, 39, concluded late Tuesday.

His attorney, Kenneth Sottile of Carrolltown, was noncommittal about whether Dugan will take the stand in his own defense this morning.

“That’s up to Mr. Dugan. He’ll have the night to think about it,” Sottile said.

Indications are that closing arguments by Sottile and Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio could be presented this morning with deliberations starting after lunch.

Dugan is charged with murder and related charges in the July 6, 2008, shooting death of Marcus Chromy, 39, at a remote campsite in Blue Knob, just across the Blair County line in Greenfield Township.

Dugan and Chromy, along with Dugan’s girlfriend, Donna Hawk, left Johnstown on July 5 with plans to camp at the site for a few days.

Hawk, 44, who is in the Cambria County Prison on a parole violation, testified the three picked up a prostitute in Johnstown for Chromy.

The unidentified woman got out of the car after she learned they had no drugs.

They shopped at Stager’s Store in Portage and spent time in a Portage bar, went to the campsite and drank heavily Saturday, July 5, before all three ended up sleeping in Chromy’s car.

Sunday, July 6, was a tumultuous day with Dugan and Chromy arguing.

While Dugan told police in a number of differing statements following the shooting that Chromy made sexual advances toward Hawk and allegedly suggested a sexual threesome, Hawk said Dugan was more upset over a nickname Chromy was calling him.

Hawk said she called him “Pretty Boy” because of the way he fussed with his hair, but when Chromy picked up the moniker, it angered Dugan.

They spent the afternoon playing cards and arguing.

Hawk said she last saw Chromy’s 12-gauge shotgun – the alleged murder weapon – leaning against the front of his car.

The two men went around the side of a cabin at the camp where the shooting took place.

“I heard them fussing and carrying on with each other, then I heard the shotgun,” she said.

Dugan came around the corner of the cabin.

“He said, ‘Come on, come on, we’ve got to go, we’ve got to go now. We’re going to jail, I just shot Marcus,’ ” Hawk testified.

Dugan tried repeatedly to get Hawk to tell police Chromy attempted to rape her and she shot him in self-defense, but she refused, she said.

The two traveled in Chromy’s car to Johnstown, where they sold his shotgun and headed west.

During testimony, Hawk identified them on a video taken at a Sheetz in Ligonier and later at a Pittsburgh Giant Eagle, where she sold the $162 left on her Access Card for $50.

She contacted a Johnstown man who wired them $35, which they spent at a Chinese restaurant.

Also testifying was Colleen Neff of Windber, an employee of a company she identified only as Zamias.

Dugan said he was acquainted with George Zamias and asked to speak to him regarding money. When Zamias refused to talk to him, he asked to speak to another member of the family who also declined the call, Neff testified.

Hawk said she decided to check into the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic in Pittsburgh.

Dugan said he was going to stay on the run, but changed his mind because he was afraid Hawk would tell employees at the facility what happened at Blue Knob.

Phone calls from the facility by Dugan to relatives in Johnstown helped authorities locate the couple.

Sottile said Hawk had inconsistencies in her testimony, especially regarding the time between her getting up Sunday and the shooting.

He focused on her testimony that the three had been drinking heavily and were “intoxicated, obliterated.”

Troopers Robert Bozenich and David Aiello testified on a number of contradicting statements made by Dugan on July 12 and 14, 2008. Dugan at times claimed he shot Chromy in self-defense, that the gun went off in a struggle and that Hawk shot Chromy.

Robert Hagins, a firearms examiner at the state police crime lab in Greensburg, testified that tests he did on the murder weapon showed it would not fire accidentally and would not discharge unless the trigger was pulled.

In a final statement, Trooper Kirk Kratzer said Dugan, after seeing a photo of Chromy’s body on the ground and no evidence of a struggle, confessed.

Kratzer testified that Dugan said: “I didn’t mean to kill the guy. I’ll never take a jury trial. I made a mistake. He was a friend of mine.”