THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 25, 1996 TAG: 9605250517
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 68 lines
Construction worker Joshua Hilliard Cathey was convicted Friday evening of a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death last July of Matthew Addelman, and was sentenced to a maximum of three years, eight months in prison.
Cathey also was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and inflicting serious injury in the wounding of Marine Lance Cpl. Carlos Bonafonte in the same shooting in Kill Devil Hills. For the assault, he was sentenced to five years probation.
A Superior Court jury of eight men and four women deliberated for almost three hours before returning the guilty verdict. Prosecutors had sought convictions for the more serious charges of second-degree murder in Addelman's death, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill in the wounding.
Dare County Superior Court Judge Jerry Tillett handed down the sentence following tearful pleas by the parents of both the victim and the defendant.
Cathey must also undergo psychiatric evaluation, and following his incarceration, perform 250 hours of community service work. He was also fined $5,000 and court costs.
Cathey, 22, of Gloucester, Va., and Addelman, 22, of Sea Isle, N.J., shared a house at 1513 Glider Court in Kill Devil Hills with two women. Testimony in the five-day trial showed a dispute over a utility deposit led to the incident in the two-story house.
Defense attorneys argued that the construction worker feared for his life when he was awakened at 4:30 a.m. by Addelman and four Marines trying to get him out of the house.
In statements to police, Cathey said he was trying to leave the house with a 9mm pistol when Addelman confronted him. He claimed he was hit by a wine bottle thrown from an upper level of the home, and struck in the temple. He said Addelman tried to take the gun away from him before he fired.
However, Bonafonte testified that he saw Cathey point the gun at Addelman, and that he threw the glass object in an effort to hit Cathey's arm. Bonafonte said he was shot twice, in the elbow and in the buttock, and after he ran into another room he heard several more gunshots.
Mike Lensch, Cathey's boss, was the only defense witness to take the stand Friday. He characterized Cathey as a model employee who had received three pay raises during the year he worked for Lensch.
Lensch described Cathey as a ``very truthful person . . . a soft-spoken, quiet person.''
Defense counsel G. Irvin Aldridge urged jurors to put themselves in his client's place.
``He was confronted with a situation in this small room . . . awakened by four people you've never seen, and one person you know. This is terrible.''
But Assistant District Attorney Robert Trivette pointed to some 30 items of evidence and the testimony of about a dozen witnesses as the foundation for the state's case.
``To consider this as self-defense is ludicrous,'' he said. Experts testified Addleman was shot four times in the back. ``This was not a case of self-defense, this was murder.
``To find him not guilty is not an adequate response,'' Trivette said. ``Everyone involved in this situation made bad decisions. No one is free of blame. But to find the defendant not guilty is ludicrous.''
Addelman's mother, Debbie Passarelli, expressed disappointment with the sentence.
``I've always felt since day one, when I found out my son was killed, that Joshua would get his justice in the end, and that God's justice is 10 times worse than any man's justice,'' Passarelli said. ``I do not feel justice was done in this case.''
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING TRIAL
VERDICT ASSAULT by CNB