Defendant speaks of Turlock man’s slaying, provides gruesome details in recent ‘revelation’

Korey Kauffman huddled in the fetal position on the ground, trying to protect himself as two men pummeled him. Then a gunshot rang out.

When authorities recovered Kauffman’s body in the Stanislaus National Forest more than a year later, not much was left behind except a bullet with a mushroomed tip found in his pants.

These were some of the harrowing details that emerged this week in testimony and arguments during a lengthy bail hearing for five people charged with murder in Kauffman’s death. Those defendants include a Modesto defense attorney, his wife, a former California Highway Patrol officer and the two owners of a Turlock liquor store.

Robert Lee Woody, the first person arrested in the case, decided to cooperate with authorities after the eight other defendants were arrested Aug. 14. Woody has been in custody since last year, charged with murder in Kauffman’s death. He has given investigators conflicting stories.

Woody was housed at the Stanislaus County jail, but he was moved to an undisclosed out-of-county facility after he gave investigators a new version of the circumstances surrounding the victim’s death. This time, Woody detailed Kauffman’s demise and those involved.

Defense attorneys said they were not aware of Woody’s “last-minute revelation.” Attorney Martha Carlton-Magaña called Woody “a felon and a liar” who came up with these stories after he was arrested and charged. She said Woody, who at one point declared he shot Kauffman, is not credible.

Investigators taken to initial burial site

Steve Jacobson, investigator with the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, testified Tuesday about what Woody told him during daylong interview sessions Aug. 14 and 15. Jacobson said Woody directed investigators to the Pop-N-Cork liquor store on East Avenue in Turlock, where Woody said Kauffman’s body initially was buried in a shallow grave.

Woody told Jacobson that he and the Pop-N-Cork owners, Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal, were at the store about 11 p.m. March 30, 2012, when Baljit Athwal left to check on defense attorney Frank Carson’s property.

Carson had been victimized by repeated thefts of antiques and scrap metal from his 5-acre property on Ninth Street, several blocks south of the liquor store. Chief Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira argued that authorities had made arrests and prosecuted those stealing from Carson, but he was frustrated that the thefts continued and decided to “take matters into his own hands.”

Prosecutors say Carson recruited the store owners, Woody and others to help him patrol his property and catch those stealing. They also say Carson, a prominent attorney and 2014 candidate for district attorney, concocted a plan to respond with violent force and send an ominous message to other would-be thieves.

Woody told Jacobson that within an hour after Baljit Athwal went to Carson’s property, Daljit Atwal received a phone call. Atwal then told Woody that they had to leave, according to Jacobson’s testimony. The two men closed the liquor store and drove to Carson’s property.

They arrived, and Woody said they spotted an opened rear gate. They entered, and Woody claims he then saw Baljit Athwal and Kauffman in a scuffle. Woody said Kauffman appeared to have the upper hand against his opponent, then Daljit Atwal joined the fight.

That’s when Kauffman cowered on the ground, trying to block blows from the two store owners, according to Woody. He claims he tried to stop the fight, but that the brothers were too big. Woody told the investigator that he turned to walk away when he heard the single gunshot.

Woody said he turned back and saw Kauffman motionless on the ground with the two brothers standing over him. Jacobson didn’t testify on whether Woody knew who had shot Kauffman, or if either of the brothers was armed that night.

Jacobson said Woody then convinced the brothers that they had to remove the body. During cross-examination, the investigator testified that authorities did not find any forensic evidence that Kauffman was ever on Carson’s property, even after searching the area with cadaver-sniffing dogs. There’s no indication that Carson or his wife were on the property during the shooting.

Woody told Jacobson that they took Kauffman’s body to the East Avenue liquor store, where Woody dug a 2-foot grave on the side of the business as Baljit Athwal stood as a lookout to make sure nobody saw them. Daljit Atwal then opened the store as to not attract suspicion, according to Jacobson. Defense attorney Timothy Rien appeared skeptical when asking the investigator why someone would open a store while others were burying a body nearby.

Woody said he and Baljit Athwal cut off Kauffman’s fingers and toes so authorities wouldn’t be able to identify him if his remains were unearthed. Woody also claims that then-CHP Officer Walter Wesley Wells arrived and went into the store. Wells didn’t speak to Woody or approach the makeshift grave, according to Woody.

The investigator testified that Woody later went into the store and found Wells and Daljit Atwal laughing. Woody claims that Kauffman’s body remained buried next to the store for 27 days, until they learned of the investigation into the man’s disappearance and decided to move the body.

During cross-examination, Jacobson said he can’t say whether investigators have found forensic evidence indicating Kauffman’s body was buried at the Pop-N-Cork. He said authorities need to look for possible DNA traces on a zipper found there and analyze dirt. The investigator also said Woody told him they used to dig holes there for fire pits.

The store was a hangout for some off-duty law enforcement officers who would drink beers with the owners and employees in a back room. On the night in question, Wells had been at the store, hanging out with his girlfriend, his sister and his brother-in-law. They were grieving the death of a relative and left before Baljit Athwal went to check on Carson’s property.

Body believed moved to mariposa county

Woody told Jacobson that they unearthed Kauffman’s body and loaded it onto Baljit Athwal’s pickup. He said they drove about two hours to the remote area in Mariposa County. They took the body down a ravine “and left him there for the animals,” Jacobson testified.

Authorities only found Kauffman’s skull and bones and marks from what appeared to be rodents and other animals, according to Jacobson. Possible DNA traces from two sources found on the recovered bullet are still being analyzed.

Woody said they returned to Turlock, and that he burned Baljit Athwal’s pickup to destroy any possible evidence on the vehicle. He initially told investigators that he burned the pickup to help the owner recover insurance money. Jacobson testified that Woody frequently lied to him and other members of the task force to limit his culpability in such a gruesome crime.

“Yes, he did give different versions of the story,” the investigator said.

Carlton-Magaña also challenged Jacobson’s credibility, calling the investigator a biased witness who is being sued by Carson and faces contempt of court charges based on allegations first made by Carson.

Based on their jobs, Jacobson said, he and Carson have an adversarial relationship. “We’re not friends,” he said during cross-examination.

Carson is suing Jacobson and the county, seeking damages on a claim of battery. The attorney claims the investigator accosted him while he was photographing Jacobson. The trial was scheduled to start Aug. 11, but it was postponed and has not been rescheduled.

In a separate case, Jacobson is accused of questioning an alternate juror while the jury deliberated in the trial of one of Carson’s clients. Chief Deputy District Attorney Dave Harris is accused of failing to promptly notify the court that Jacobson had improper contact with an alternate juror. The contempt case was put on hold pending an appellate court decision on whether Carson is allowed to participate in that court proceeding.

Harris was part of the task force investigating Kauffman and had been the prosecutor in the case against Woody since the defendant’s arrest last year. Ferreira is now prosecuting Woody.

The defense has called this a case of malicious prosecution, an attempt to eliminate a successful criminal defense attorney and staunch critic of the District Attorney’s Office. During his campaign for district attorney, Carson directed voters’ attention to what he called public corruption in police agencies throughout the county.

Motion to remove DA’s Office

Tim Pori, an attorney representing Carson’s wife, Georgia DeFilippo, filed a motion this week asking the court to remove the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office from the case. The 18-page motion comes with a 281-page declaration from the attorney claiming there’s a conflict of interest.

“The arrest of Ms. DeFilippo is wholly unsupported by probable cause and appears motivated by rancor toward Mr. Carson,” Pori wrote in his motion filed Tuesday. “Ms. DeFilippo is not the first individual targeted for her association with Mr. Carson in what appears to be a concerted effort to discredit him and neutralize his presence in the community by any means necessary.”

This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Defendant speaks of Turlock man’s slaying, provides gruesome details in recent ‘revelation’."