Is there anything that needs to be said here? (Stupid arse!)
Boston Herald story
Witness: Andover doc's fatal shot wasn't self-defense
by David Weber
Tuesday, June 13, 2000
A witness testified yesterday he saw a doctor fire a fatal second shot into the back
of his wife's lover's head while the lover already lay motionless from being hit with
the first gunshot inside a Methuen hospital room.
Dr. James Kartell, 61, on trial for the Feb. 23, 1999, murder of 56-year-old Janos
Vajda, has asserted he shot Vajda in self-defense only after the younger, more
physically fit man viciously beat and kicked him while Kartell's horrified wife
watched from her Holy Family Hospital bed.
But Dr. Davor Kvaternik, who was attending to Kartell's pneumonia-stricken
wife, Suzan Kamm, testified that Vajda already was absolutely still when Kartell
pointed the gun at the back of his head and fired at virtually point-blank range.
``He (Vajda) was on his knees and his face was on the floor,'' Kvaternik said,
demonstrating the position to the jury of 11 men and five women in Essex Superior
Court in Salem.
Kvaternik testified that Kartell also was on the floor with his legs entangled with
Vajda's.
``He (Kartell) was in this position with the gun extended,'' Kvaternik said,
demonstrating how Kartell allegedly rose up on one knee to the left and slightly
behind Vajda. ``And after that, I saw the shot. I saw the explosion.''
Kvaternik testified that he had been talking to Kamm minutes earlier at her
bedside when Kartell and Vajda began to argue and Kartell ordered Vajda out of
the room. He said Kamm quieted the two men momentarily by threatening to get a
restraining order against Kartell.
Kartell then focused his attention on his wife's medical condition and asked
Kvaternik questions about her diagnosis and treatment. Kvaternik said Vajda
moved off to one side of the room and did not participate in the medical discussion.
Kvaternik testified he walked out of Room 440 to make some notes at a nurses'
station some 70 feet away when he heard an awful commotion and a sound he
later realized was the first gunshot.
He said he ran back inside the room and was inside ``five or six or seven seconds''
when Kartell fired the second shot.
Michael Bryant, a patient care assistant at Holy Family, testified he heard the
commotion in the area near Room 440 and ran to see what was going on.
``(Vajda) was on his knees, barely moving. Dr. Kartell was on the left of the victim,
kind of on one knee. His pistol was in his right hand and it appeared to be right up
to the back of the victim's head,'' Bryant testified.
Defense attorney J.W. Carney Jr. asked Bryant why he changed his story
yesterday. In previous police interviews and court sessions, Bryant acknowledged
he claimed to have seen Kartell holding Vajda in a headlock with his left arm while
putting the gun to his head with the right.
Bryant said he could not testify to that version yesterday.
Previous witnesses have testified Kartell was emotionally shattered by his wife's
open love affair with Vajda, even while Kamm continued to live with her husband
in Andover.
In his opening statement last week, Carney explained Kartell's possession of a
gun by saying he habitually carried a weapon for nearly 30 years. He also
promised the jurors Kartell will take the stand in his own defense.
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~USP
"... I rejoice that America has resisted [The Stamp Act]. Three millions of people, so dead to all feelings of liberty as to voluntarily submit to being slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest of us." -- William Pitt, British Parliament, December 1765
Boston Herald story
Witness: Andover doc's fatal shot wasn't self-defense
by David Weber
Tuesday, June 13, 2000
A witness testified yesterday he saw a doctor fire a fatal second shot into the back
of his wife's lover's head while the lover already lay motionless from being hit with
the first gunshot inside a Methuen hospital room.
Dr. James Kartell, 61, on trial for the Feb. 23, 1999, murder of 56-year-old Janos
Vajda, has asserted he shot Vajda in self-defense only after the younger, more
physically fit man viciously beat and kicked him while Kartell's horrified wife
watched from her Holy Family Hospital bed.
But Dr. Davor Kvaternik, who was attending to Kartell's pneumonia-stricken
wife, Suzan Kamm, testified that Vajda already was absolutely still when Kartell
pointed the gun at the back of his head and fired at virtually point-blank range.
``He (Vajda) was on his knees and his face was on the floor,'' Kvaternik said,
demonstrating the position to the jury of 11 men and five women in Essex Superior
Court in Salem.
Kvaternik testified that Kartell also was on the floor with his legs entangled with
Vajda's.
``He (Kartell) was in this position with the gun extended,'' Kvaternik said,
demonstrating how Kartell allegedly rose up on one knee to the left and slightly
behind Vajda. ``And after that, I saw the shot. I saw the explosion.''
Kvaternik testified that he had been talking to Kamm minutes earlier at her
bedside when Kartell and Vajda began to argue and Kartell ordered Vajda out of
the room. He said Kamm quieted the two men momentarily by threatening to get a
restraining order against Kartell.
Kartell then focused his attention on his wife's medical condition and asked
Kvaternik questions about her diagnosis and treatment. Kvaternik said Vajda
moved off to one side of the room and did not participate in the medical discussion.
Kvaternik testified he walked out of Room 440 to make some notes at a nurses'
station some 70 feet away when he heard an awful commotion and a sound he
later realized was the first gunshot.
He said he ran back inside the room and was inside ``five or six or seven seconds''
when Kartell fired the second shot.
Michael Bryant, a patient care assistant at Holy Family, testified he heard the
commotion in the area near Room 440 and ran to see what was going on.
``(Vajda) was on his knees, barely moving. Dr. Kartell was on the left of the victim,
kind of on one knee. His pistol was in his right hand and it appeared to be right up
to the back of the victim's head,'' Bryant testified.
Defense attorney J.W. Carney Jr. asked Bryant why he changed his story
yesterday. In previous police interviews and court sessions, Bryant acknowledged
he claimed to have seen Kartell holding Vajda in a headlock with his left arm while
putting the gun to his head with the right.
Bryant said he could not testify to that version yesterday.
Previous witnesses have testified Kartell was emotionally shattered by his wife's
open love affair with Vajda, even while Kamm continued to live with her husband
in Andover.
In his opening statement last week, Carney explained Kartell's possession of a
gun by saying he habitually carried a weapon for nearly 30 years. He also
promised the jurors Kartell will take the stand in his own defense.
------------------
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
~USP
"... I rejoice that America has resisted [The Stamp Act]. Three millions of people, so dead to all feelings of liberty as to voluntarily submit to being slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest of us." -- William Pitt, British Parliament, December 1765