Prosecution finishes closing arguments in Kauffman case preliminary hearing

The prosecutor in the Korey Kauffman murder case finished a two-day closing argument Friday by asserting that defendant and local attorney Frank Carson began preparing his defense in the case long before his arrest when he announced his bid for district attorney against incumbent Birgit Fladager.

“This was an actual attempt to set up his defense because he knew he was being investigated for murder,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira during the preliminary hearing.

She said the defense will call it “political vengeance” but that the facts she presented to court show Carson “aided and abetted and encouraged and facilitated and set up this murder.”

Carson lost to Fladager in the June 2014 election and was arrested more than a year later.

Ferreira spent much of the day Friday reiterating testimony in the case against Carson and his co-defendants: his wife, Georgia DeFilippo; her daughter, Christina DeFilippo; Baljit Athwal and his brother Daljit Atwal; and former California Highway Patrol Officer Walter Wells.

Authorities say Kauffman, 26, of Turlock was last seen alive in late March 2012 as he left the home of his friend, Michael Cooley, and headed to Carson’s property to steal irrigation pipes. Cooley’s Lander Avenue home and Carson’s Ninth Street property were separated by a fence.

The property had been plagued by theft and the prosecution says Carson recruited a group of people to send a violent message to burglars, which resulted in Kauffman’s death after he was caught stealing.

Kauffman’s remains were found in August 2013 in the Stanislaus National Forest in Mariposa County. His skull and much of his skeleton were recovered but not his fingers or toes.

Ferreira recounted the testimony of Robert Lee Woody, who also was charged in Kauffman’s death but has agreed to a plea deal in exchange for his testimony against his co-defendants.

Woody testified that he worked at a Turlock convenience store owned by Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal the night Kauffman went missing. After his shift, he and Daljit Atwal went to Carson’s Ninth Street property, where he said he saw Baljit Athwal beating up Kauffman. He said Daljit Atwal joined in and that they both hit Kauffman about 20 times then and kicked him after he fell to the ground.

Ferreria said Woody “described it like a cat trying to get away from a dog.”

She said Woody testified that he heard a shot and turned around to find Kauffman on the ground and Daljit Atwal holding a gun.

Woody said he helped cut Kauffman’s fingers and toes off before he helped the brothers bury Kauffman’s body outside the convenience store. About two weeks later, he said, he helped Baljit Athwal dump the body in Mariposa County. Woody said they used Baljit Athwal’s pickup to dump the body.

In late April 2012, Baljit Athwal reported his Chevrolet Silverado pickup stolen, the prosecutor said. The vehicle was found burned in an almond orchard. Woody says he burned the pickup and abandoned it.

Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal gave Woody $7,000 to $10,000 in dental work and offered Carson’s legal services to persuade Woody not to cooperate with authorities investigating Kauffman’s death, according to Ferreira.

She said the defense attorneys will argue that Woody is not a reliable witness, that his story changed repeatedly during multiple interviews and testimony.

But she said key elements of the crime always remained the same during the last four times he told the story, including seeing the brothers beat Kauffman, seeing Daljit Atwal with a gun, the handling of Kauffman’s body on both occasions, and Carson asking him to do favors in return for free legal services.

The defense attorneys will begin presenting their closing arguments when court resumes Wednesday.

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Prosecution finishes closing arguments in Kauffman case preliminary hearing."