MARC ANTHONY BOOKAL - 4 yo (2009) - Newburgh NY

NEWBURGH, New York (WABC) --
Criminal charges have been filed in connection with the disappearance and death of a 4-year-old boy.
Marc Bookal was found dead last year. Officials are now planning to charge the man who was supposed to be watching him and charging him with murder.

Cory Byrd is already in jail for a parole violation. When he finishes that sentence in a few weeks, he will be here arraigned on murder charges. It was in a field that Orange County prosecutors say Byrd placed the
lifeless body of 4-year-old Marc Bookal in two garbage bags, and stashed
him under a pile of wood near his home. Almost a year after
the discovery, Byrd has been indicted with two counts of second degree
murder and two counts of manslaughter, handed up Wednesday.
The 4-year-old disappeared in December 2009 from his mother's apartment
in Newburgh. Prosecutors believe the child died that day, from blunt
force trauma to his head and body, but at a press conference
investigators explained it took a while to completely analyze the
forensic evidence and speak to witnesses. Byrd is the boyfriend of Marc's mother, Christina Bookal. She spoke to Eyewitness News exclusively last year. She could not be reached at her home today, where there is a still a
missing child poster and candles in the window. Gary Greenwald
represented Byrd when he was a person of interest last year, and plans
to speak to him tomorrow about the new charges against him. "They focused on Cory Byrd from jumpstreet, not any kidnapping or anything ultimately occurred."
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/northern_suburbs&id=7962961

NEW YORK (CBS 2/WCBS 880) – There was a major
development in the death of a 4-year-old Orange County boy Wednesday
afternoon. The man long suspected of being Marc Bookal’s killer has
been charged with murder.
Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips said Byrd, the
boyfriend of Bookal’s mother, has been charged with four counts of
homicide and two counts of tampering with physical evidence.
“Obviously a very tragic event when anybody dies as a result of a
homicide, compounded extraordinarily when that victim is 4 years of
age,” he told reporters including WCBS 880′s Catherine Cioffi.http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/02/16/police-to-announce-update-in-missing-ny-boy-case/

The wheels of justice have been slow moving in this case-thank goodness it looks like Mr Byrd will be held accountable for his actions....
I really wish Marc's mom had at least been charged with neglect-she admitted in open court that she allowed Marc to stay with Cory Byrd even though she was aware of Byrd's violent history.

Sadly, I think more instances like this will continue to occur until these 'mothers' are held accountable

roseyg76 wrote:The wheels of justice have been slow moving in this case-thank goodness it looks like Mr Byrd will be held accountable for his actions....
I really wish Marc's mom had at least been charged with neglect-she admitted in open court that she allowed Marc to stay with Cory Byrd even though she was aware of Byrd's violent history.

Sadly, I think more instances like this will continue to occur until these 'mothers' are held accountable

I agree roseyg76. Hopefully they may still bring more charges.

Byrd pleads not guilty on charges he killed 4-year-old Marc Bookal



Published: 12:50 PM - 02/25/11
Last updated: 12:59 PM - 02/25/11


GOSHEN - Cory Byrd was arraigned Friday on murder charges in the beating death of 4-year-old Marc Bookal, the son of his girlfriend.

Byrd was the last person with the boy before he disappeared Dec. 14, 2009, Assistant District Attorney Karen Edelman-Reyes told Judge Jeffrey Berry in Orange County Court. The little boy's blood was found in the home. Byrd was indicted Feb. 16 on charges including second-degree murder, manslaughter and evidence tampering.

Byrd was brought to County Court by two City of Newburgh police detectives who picked him up earlier in the morning from Downstate Correctional Facility, where Byrd is serving a sentence for violating parole on 2003 convictions for felony assault and drug sale. Edelman-Reyes noted that Byrd also has a 1998 conviction for felony reckless endangerment.

Lawyer Alan Joseph, who represented Byrd for arraignment, entered a not-guilty-plea on his behalf.

When Byrd is released from prison -- he expects to be paroled March 14, Joseph said -- he intends to stay with his mother in the City of Newburgh.

Marc's body was found on March 25, 2010, inside a bag that had been placed in another bag and hidden in a wooded lot a few blocks from the family's apartment. Edelman-Reyes told the court that the boy had suffered bruising so severe that he wouldn't have been able to walk; he had a subdural hematoma, a brain injury that would have rendered him unconscious; and he had suffered a severe, sustained beating.

Berry ordered Byrd held without bail on the murder charges. If Byrd is paroled on March 14, Orange County sheriff's deputies will pick him up at the prison and bring him to Orange County Jail.

Byrd's next court date is March 17.



http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110225/NEWS/110229832

Bookal's grandfather says death penalty should be brought back for Cory Byrd

03/17/11

GOSHEN – Cory Byrd was back in court on Wednesday to face charges he beat to death his girlfriend's 4-year-old son, Marc Bookal.

An Orange County Jail jumpsuit replaced the prison greens Byrd wore for his second-degree murder arraignment last month.

As defense lawyer Alan Joseph and Executive Assistant District Attorney David Huey discussed procedural issues with Judge Jeffrey Berry, Marc Bookal's relatives – his father's family – watched quietly from the back of the courtroom.

They were there for Marc.

Afterward, Marc's grandfather, Leroy Bookal, said the family had been told the appearance was just a conference.

His
voice was soft as he spoke in the courthouse hallway, but his words carried the weight of the family's grief and anger at what happened to Marc.

“I think the boy's (Byrd) guilty, right here, of a barbaric act,” Bookal said.

There's a moratorium on the death penalty in New York. But Bookal said, “They should bring it back just for him.”

Marc was last seen alive on Dec. 14, 2009, and his disappearance triggered a massive search; his body was found March 25, 2010, dumped in a wooded lot a few blocks from home. Byrd became a suspect early in the case.

Marc's mother, Christina Bookal, formerly Christina Coston, had left the child in Byrd's care at the apartment they shared. And in 1998, Byrd was charged with abusing his then-14-month old son – his son with Christina Coston, who later became Cristina Bookal – severely enough to fracture his skull and several ribs. He pleaded guilty to felony reckless endangerment in that case.

That history adds to the Bookals' frustrations.

“He's hurt his own child before,” Leroy Bookal said. “Now look what he's done to my grandson: he'll never live to be a man.”

Byrd's next court date is April 15.

Next Appearance

• Date:June 6, 2011
  
• Court:Orange County Court
  
• Judge:Berry, J
  
• Part:JGB
  

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcrim_attorney/Detail?which=case&docketNumber=cmg3cQatPrf9a0ynF7STww==&courtType=S&countyId=F2cxpIyM3w/G0BWtgvrPgA==&docketId=adm0Ex/7qOI_PLUS_0Xn5S6maYw==&docketDseq=o6PDyKIx4BvSfbvyCgDnHw==&defendantName=Byrd,+Cory&county=ORANGE&court=Orange+County+Court&recordType=C&recordNum=rIR18kMvp6FMa8/oPlu7aA==#IncidentandArrest

Next Appearance

• Date:June 30, 2011
  
• Court:Orange County Court
  
• Judge:Berry, J
  
• Part:JGB
  

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcrim_attorney/Detail?which=case&docketNumber=cmg3cQatPrf9a0ynF7STww==&countyId=F2cxpIyM3w/G0BWtgvrPgA==&docketId=adm0Ex/7qOI_PLUS_0Xn5S6maYw==&docketDseq=o6PDyKIx4BvSfbvyCgDnHw==&defendantName=Byrd,+Cory&court=Orange+County+Court&courtType=S&recordType=C&recordNum=RgmKPYi2pEWfis8EWZ7HGA==

Gory details revealed in Bookal killing
Court papers say cops found blood in home

By Heather Yakin
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 07/14/11
Last updated: 9:19 AM - 07/14/11
GOSHEN — From the start, police suspected the worst in 4-year-old Marc Bookal's disappearance from his City of Newburgh home, court records show.

As detectives checked around the apartment at 11 Benkard Ave. to make sure Marc wasn't hiding on Dec. 14, 2009, they found a spray of blood droplets on the wall and sink in the basement bathroom and a white adult sweatshirt soaking in bleach in the bathtub. They found blood droplets on the floor and vanity in the upper-floor bathroom, along with bloody tissues in a garbage can.

Cory Byrd, who was the boyfriend of Marc's mother, Christina Bookal, was the last person to see Marc alive, and faces murder charges in his death.


The documents — affidavits filed in support of search warrant applications — tell a chilling story of the first hours and days after Marc disappeared.


Blood evidence being tested
Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips said there's little he can comment on, except to say that all blood evidence has been sent out for DNA testing, and prosecutors will make every effort to introduce at trial any evidence that points toward Byrd's guilt. Byrd's lawyer, Alan Joseph, did not return calls for comment on Thursday.

This, according to affidavits filed by police in support of search warrant applications, is how events unfolded:

Cory Byrd was watching Marc on Dec. 14, 2009. At 1:09 p.m., Byrd called Newburgh city police and told them the boy had walked out of the house a few minutes earlier to visit a relative next door, and that he was missing.

Police swept the neighborhood, checking stores and knocking on doors to check whether anyone had seen Marc.


Police investigate story
Byrd's story quickly began to unravel that day.

At 3:45 p.m., a detective noticed a white sweatshirt soaking in bleach water in the basement bathroom tub. The detective saw blood droplets on the wall and next to the vanity in that bathroom. In the upper-floor bathroom, the detective saw blood droplets on the floor and vanity and bloody tissues in the garbage can.

Detectives spoke that afternoon to the two oldest children in the household, a 12-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl. There was a two-hour school delay, and their mother had left for work before they got up. The kids told police they woke up to hear Marc crying; the sister said Byrd had shoved Marc into the bathroom door because Marc had "pee'd and pooped" in bed. Byrd gave Marc a shower, she told police, and "she had heard the bathroom door shaking."

The 12-year-old boy said Byrd had beaten him, Marc and their middle brother before. He said a month earlier, Byrd had hit Marc with a belt hard enough to knock the child down.

Byrd told cops that he'd walked the 5-year-old boy to a babysitter's house between 8:30 and 9 a.m., taking Marc along. The older kids said Byrd and Marc returned before they left. They said Marc lay down on his bed, and they put some toys next to him so he wouldn't get in trouble for getting up to play. Then they headed out to the bus stop.

Cory Byrd answered questions from police, telling them he never gave the children "whuppings," and that Marc was sick that morning because his sister gave him an orange.

Byrd returns to court on July 28 for a hearing to determine if his statements to police were voluntary and if he was advised of his rights.

Marc Bookal timeline
Dec. 14, 2009: Marc Bookal, 4, disappears from his Benkard Avenue home in the City of Newburgh. He was being watched by his mother's boyfriend, Cory Byrd, who says Marc wandered away after he let the little boy walk to an aunt's house next door. An intense police search of Marc's neighborhood begins.
Dec. 15, 2009: Byrd is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, for allowing Marc to wander off and is sent to Orange County Jail on a parole violation after testing positive for marijuana. His criminal history includes five years in state prison for a 2002 attack on an 18-year-old man in Newburgh and two years in state prison from 1999 to 2001 for reckless endangerment for beating another of Christina Bookal's sons, who was 14 months old at the time.
Dec. 23, 2009: Reward money for finding Marc rises to $26,000 after several donors step up.
Jan. 4, 2010: Police call off ground search for Marc while they continue to work the case.
Feb. 9, 2010: Orange County prosecutors drop the misdemeanor endangerment charge against Cory Byrd to protect their ability to charge him with a more serious crime later.
March 11, 2010: Byrd begins serving 15 months in state prison for violating his parole on convictions of assault and criminal sale of a controlled substance.
March 24, 2010: Police find a body in a wooded area about three blocks from Marc's house. An autopsy confirms that the remains are of Marc Bookal.
June 15, 2010: Christina Bookal admits to a Family Court judge that she should never have left her children in Cory Byrd's care. Child neglect charges are adjourned in contemplation of dismissal.
Feb. 16, 2011: Byrd, 31, is indicted in the beating death of Marc Bookal. Charges include two counts of second-degree murder, one count each of first- and second-degree manslaughter and two counts of tampering with physical evidence, all felonies.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110714/NEWS/107140335/-1/NEWS81

Next Appearance
Date:October 24, 2011
Court:Orange County Court
Judge:Berry, J
Part:JGB

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcrim_attorney/Detail?which=case&docketNumber=cmg3cQatPrf9a0ynF7STww==&courtType=S&countyId=F2cxpIyM3w/G0BWtgvrPgA==&docketId=adm0Ex/7qOI_PLUS_0Xn5S6maYw==&docketDseq=o6PDyKIx4BvSfbvyCgDnHw==&defendantName=Byrd,+Cory&county=ORANGE&court=Orange+County+Court&recordType=C&recordNum=D6xZ4QBSmh9mSRkKj5fGUw==

Next Appearance
Date:November 7, 2011
Court:Orange County Court
Judge:Berry, J
Part:JGB

http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcrim_attorney/Detail?which=case&docketNumber=cmg3cQatPrf9a0ynF7STww==&courtType=S&countyId=F2cxpIyM3w/G0BWtgvrPgA==&docketId=adm0Ex/7qOI_PLUS_0Xn5S6maYw==&docketDseq=o6PDyKIx4BvSfbvyCgDnHw==&defendantName=Byrd,+Cory&county=ORANGE&court=Orange+County+Court&recordType=C&recordNum=D6xZ4QBSmh9mSRkKj5fGUw==

Cops testify about day 4-year-old disappeared

Legality of statements disputed






During a pretrial hearing Wednesday, a police officer and a detective described Cory Byrd's story
the day 4-year-old Marc Bookal disappeared.Jeff Goulding/Times Herald-Record

By Heather Yakin

Times Herald-Record

Published: 2:00 AM - 11/17/11

GOSHEN — When the first police officer got to
the scene of a missing child report Dec. 14, 2009, Cory Byrd was waiting
outside the apartment at 11 Benkard Ave. in the City of Newburgh.
Byrd had called 911 to report that his girlfriend's 4-year-old son, Marc
Bookal, had disappeared. Marc's body was found in March 2010, and Byrd
faces murder and manslaughter charges in the child's death.

That first cop and a detective testified Wednesday before Orange County
Court Judge Jeffrey Berry in a pretrial hearing on statements Byrd made
to police that day. The statements include what Byrd said to officers
and detectives as they first arrived and began looking for the child, as
well as a three-hour recorded interview Byrd had with a detective at
the city police station. The hearing will determine if Byrd was speaking
willingly, and at what point he was in police custody as a suspect.

Under questioning by Assistant District
Attorney Karen Edelman-Reyes, City of Newburgh Officer Melanie Mann said
she was in her patrol car nearby when the missing-child call came over
the police radio at 1:15 p.m. She got to the house within 30 seconds.

Mann testified Byrd said the boy, who was home sick, wanted to visit an aunt
next door but Byrd said no. Byrd told her he went to the bathroom, and
when he came out Marc was gone and the front door was wide open. She
said Byrd told her he saw a cousin outside; learning Marc wasn't next
door, he went back inside and looked for the boy, calling his name. Then
he called police.

Mann said she searched the apartment, with Byrd's permission, to make sure Marc wasn't hiding.
Detective Rolando Zapata testified that at the apartment, Byrd told him Marc had
disappeared while Byrd was watching TV. At 2:35 p.m., Zapata sat down
with Byrd at the police station to get his full statement on what
happened. The entire interaction was recorded on video and audio.

At 4:30 p.m., Zapata read Byrd his rights. The interview ended at 5:35
p.m. Police charged Byrd that day with endangering the welfare of a
child, a misdemeanor.

Byrd's lawyer, Joseph Brown, noted that police spoke to Byrd for two hours before reading him his rights.
The hearing resumes Friday.

Did this scum read Marc his rights?

NEWBURGH, N.Y. -- Two years to the day since four- year-old Marc
Bookal was last seen, the man charged with his murder has been indicted
on more charges.
Corey Byrd, 32, currently sits in Orange County
Jail awaiting a trial next month on murder and manslaughter charges.
Although, prosecutors say being behind bars hasn't stopped Byrd from
breaking the law
On Wednesday the District Attorney's office
indicted Byrd on four additional felony charges related to the case,
including coercion, intimidating a witness, tampering with a witness and
offering a false instrument for filing.
Orange County District
Attorney Frank Phillips says Byrd got himself into more trouble by
mailing a threatening letter from his jail cell to a potential witness
in the murder case.

"We’ve had cases such as this before where
people who were incarcerated in state prison or county jail have
committed or attempted to commit crimes. We’ve had one guy in jail that
tried to hire a hit man to kill his wife while he was in the county
jail, so this is not an unusual event," Phillips said.
Byrd pleaded not guilty to the new charges in court.
Meanwhile,
the City of Newburgh has not forgotten the young toddler. Family and
friends came together Wednesday night for a candlelight vigil to mark
the anniversary of Bookal's disappearance.

"Sometimes I cry when
I go to bed. You know, I just think about the stuff he used to say to
me on the phone when he called me. It’s just all I have to live on in
his memories,” said Yul Bookal.

While Byrd is scheduled to go to
trial next month, prosecutors say if the judge decides to consolidate
the coercion and murder charges, the trial date could be pushed back
several months.

http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/567031/two-years-after-boy-s-disappearance--murder-suspect-indicted-on-new-charges/

Heather Yakin: Messing with witnesses definitely a dumb move

By Heather Yakin

Published: 2:00 AM - 12/17/11

Last updated: 8:17 AM - 12/17/11

Another week, another indictment saying that a criminal defendant tried to mess with a witness.
Hint of the day: This will not help your case. This will, in fact, bite you
on the butt. Especially if you try to enlist the help of your fellow
inmates, who, for the most part, will be more interested in helping
themselves than in helping you.

This week's contestant was Cory Byrd, currently awaiting trial on murder charges in
the death of 4-year-old Marc Bookal. Prosecutors say Byrd threatened a
witness — said witness happens to be a jailhouse informant — in order to
compel that witness to opt out of testifying.

Last week, the contestant was Douglas Dunbar
III, who prosecutors say pleaded guilty to two robbery cases and then
solicited someone to kill two witnesses and kidnap another person.
According to the indictment, Dunbar put names and instructions in a
series of notes to his correspondent.

Last year, of course, murder defendant Jesse Green set the bar for these
ill-advised schemes when he tried to hire a fellow inmate at Orange
County Jail to kill his mother and grandmother. Green (now serving 30
years for manslaughter and assault) drew maps explaining how to sneak
into Tuxedo Park and how to get into the house.

As a result, Green ended up on full lockdown at the jail — no contact
except for his lawyer, no mail — a situation that led Legal Aid Society
lawyer Dave Lindine to call Orange County "Guantanamo on the Hudson."
I
wouldn't say that prosecutors love jailhouse informants, but they have
to present the evidence they have, and there aren't a lot of choirboys
and nuns hanging around drug deals or shootings.

By definition, these cooperating witnesses have baggage, and they've
usually cut a deal in exchange for their testimony. A prosecutor has to
overcome the credibility issues presented by that quid pro quo.

A good defense lawyer will go after the witness on the stand. The fall
issue of Atticus, the quarterly magazine of the New York State
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, dedicated an informative
article on dismantling jailhouse testimony, charmingly titled "Handling
rat testimony." The key, according to author and past association
president Ray Kelly, is doing your background research on said
informant.

Years ago, I watched the legendary
Bronx lawyer Murray "No Worry Murray" Richman dissect such a witness
during a murder trial. Richman, armed with a copy of the guy's rap sheet
and arrest details, picked the guy apart. I don't think the guy's own
mother would have believed his story about a jailhouse confession.
That brings up another point: Facing criminal charges, why on earth would someone confide anything to a fellow inmate?

Dave Lindine mused that maybe it's human nature. So he tells his clients,
over and over: Never, ever talk about your case with anyone but your lawyer.
Still, some of them talk.

And worse, it would seem, some of them try to commit new felonies. In writing. That's just ill-advised.
hyakin@th-record.com

Jury selection begins in trial of Cory Byrd, accused in killing of Marc Bookal

By Heather Yakin

Published: 2:03 PM - 01/03/12

Last updated: 2:29 PM - 01/03/12

GOSHEN - Jury selection began Tuesday morning in Orange County Court for the murder trial of Cory Byrd.

Byrd faces charges of second-degree murder, first- and second-degree manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence, felonies, in the disappearance and death of 4-year-old Marc Bookal.

Marc disappeared on Dec. 14, 2009 after his mother, Byrd's girlfriend, left the child in Byrd's care.

Prosecutors believe Byrd fatally beat the child and then disposed of his body, hiding it in a vacant lot a few blocks from the home Byrd and the boy's mother shared in the City of Newburgh.

Byrd initially told police the boy had wandered out of the apartment.

The child's disappearance sparked a massive search of the area.

On Tuesday, Judge Jeffrey Berry told the first batch of jurors that he expects the selection process to continue Tuesday and at least into Wednesday; opening arguments in the case will likely start Thursday
afternoon or Friday morning. Berry said the trial will last about two and a half weeks.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120103/NEWS/120109964

GOSHEN — Cory Byrd's recorded voice projected from small speakers on Monday in Orange County Court.

"I would like to file a missing person report," Byrd says in a 911 call recording.

It was 1:09 p.m. on Dec. 14, 2009, and police were getting their first glimpse into a case that would consume the City of Newburgh for months.

Byrd and the police dispatcher spoke briefly about a missing boy named Marc Bookal before the line went quiet.

Assistant District Attorney Karen Edelman-Reyes spent Monday, the second day of Byrd's murder trial, circling the killing of 4-year-old Marc, working to recreate for jurors those first minutes and then days after the little boy disappeared from his home on Benkard Avenue in Newburgh.

Marc's body was eventually found in March 2010, stuffed into a backpack and hidden below a woodpile a few blocks from his home.

Prosecutors will try to show that Byrd beat Marc to death and then pretended the boy had wandered off.

Edelman-Reyes has begun to build a timeline, starting with the first minutes when police officers checked under beds and hoped the little boy was only hiding.

Newburgh police Officer Melanie Mann told jurors of searching closets and pulling back shower curtains, including one that revealed clothes soaking in a tub.

The search moved to another level the next morning, as two dozen cops and state troopers combed an ever-growing spiral of grids in the bitter cold. Now-retired police Lt. Charles Broe described the early days as cops plunged into the Hudson River, tiptoed across the collapsing floors of ruined buildings and scaled the steep sides of a cliff on Newburgh's southern edge.

Part of Edelman-Reyes' job will be to show that Marc remained undiscovered below the brush pile despite an exhaustive search, a point Byrd's attorney, Joseph Brown, has already begun to question in a quest for reasonable doubt. Byrd has been in custody since the day Marc disappeared, so if he hid Marc's body, he must have done it before making that first 911 call.

Edelman-Reyes called as a witness the owner of a nearby storage area to testify he'd had overhanging trees cut down and piled in the place months before Marc was found.

A tenant testified he had walked his dog past the spot regularly, including one day in March 2010.

The snow was just beginning to melt that day after a long, cold winter. The dog bolted and tore at the snow in the corner of the wooded lot until the man pulled him away. It was so strange, said the man; his dog just kept sniffing and sniffing, pawing at the snow as if to dig.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120110/NEWS/201100333/-1/SITEMAP

Updated 01/10/2012 06:10 PM
Testimony continues in Cory Byrd trial
By: Elaina Athans
Jurors in the Cory Byrd murder trial heard graphic details of what four-year-old Marc Bookal looked like when his body was discovered. Our Elaina Athans was in court and has more on the testimony from the Orange County Medical Examiner.

ORANGE COUNTY, N.Y. -- Testimony continues in the Cory Byrd murder trial. Byrd is accused of killing his girlfriend's four-year-old son, Marc Bookal.

A retired lieutenant from the Newburgh Police Department continued his testimony on the stand Tuesday. He spoke to jurors and talked about the search efforts to find the four-year-old after a call came in that the child was missing.

A team of officers, K-9s and scuba divers canvassed the Newburgh area for more than a week.

The retired lieutenant told the jurors that on December 23rd 2009 "we covered everything that we could cover and at that time, we suspended the search."

Corey Byrd is accused of killing the boy.

The prosecution says that Byrd beat Bookal hard enough to cause internal bleeding, then put the boy's body in a bag and left him in a vacant lot. He faces life behind bars if the prosecution can prove to the jury that he did in fact kill Bookal.

"If they have the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, well, they have a case. If not, I expect the jury to return a verdict of not guilty," said Joe Brown, Byrd’s defense attorney.

On Wednesday, the mother of the four-year-old victim is expected to take the stand.

http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/569725/testimony-continues-in-cory-byrd-trial/

Updated 01/12/2012 06:02 PM


Bookal’s mother and father take the stand

By: Elaina Athans


There was emotional testimony Thursday in the Cory Byrd murder trial. The parents of four-year-old Marc Bookal, who Byrd is accused of killing, were on the stand. Our Elaina Athans has more.


ORANGE COUNTY, N.Y. -- The parents of four-year-old Marc Bookal took the stand in Cory Byrd's murder trial Thursday. Byrd is accused of killing Bookal in December of 2009.

The prosecution says Byrd is the last person to be with the boy before he disappeared. His remains were found in a bag in a vacant lot months later.

Prosecutors say Byrd beat the child to death while babysitting him. The defense argues Byrd fell asleep on the couch and would never harm the boy.

The boy's father, Yul Bookal, says there are many sleepless nights.

"I keep thinking about it constantly. It's been on my mind. Thinking about Marc suffering, the pain and suffering he went through before he died," Yul Bookal said.

Byrd is charged with second degree murder, manslaughter and tampering with evidence. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.


http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/569960/bookal-s-mother-and-father-take-the-stand/

Updated 01/13/2012 06:51 PM
Cory Byrd murder trial
By: Elaina Athans

Jurors heard taped conversation between the mother of a murdered four-year-old boy and the man who police say killed him as the Cory Byrd trial continued Friday. Our Elaina Athans has been following this trial and joined us from Goshen with the latest.

ORANGE COUNTY, N.Y. -- Christina Bookal, mother of four-year-old Marc Bookal, took the stand in the Cory Byrd murder trial on Friday.

Christina Bookal testified that it was her book bag that her son Marc's body was found in a vacant lot in Newburgh in 2009.

Byrd is accused of beating and killing Marc and then stuffing his body in the book bag.

According to the defense, Bookal is still dating Cory Byrd and several phone conversations were played back in court on Friday.

Christina was emotional on the tapes, saying, "god only knows who took my son and what they did with him."

Byrd has been charged with second degree murder, manslaughter and two counts of tampering with evidence and faces up to life in prison.

http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/570108/cory-byrd-murder-trial/

Snipped from above article:

"According to the defense, Bookal is still dating Cory Byrd and several phone conversations were played back in court on Friday."

This article makes it sounds like the mother is still with the man accused of murdering her son? What is she blind? Sheesh, no wonder her son is dead. He didn't have a mother to protect him if she is still standing by him.

Judge denies mistrial request in Bookal killing case

By Heather Yakin

Times Herald-Record

Published: 2:00 AM - 01/19/12

GOSHEN — Cory Byrd's murder trial started with a bang on Wednesday as his lawyer asked the judge for a mistrial.

He didn't get his wish.

Byrd, 32, is on trial in Orange County Court, charged with murder, manslaughter and evidence tampering in the Dec. 14, 2009, disappearance and death of his then-girlfriend's son, 4-year-old Marc Bookal. Marc disappeared while Byrd was watching him. The mother, Christina Bookal, was at work.

Byrd's lawyer, Joseph Brown, asked Judge Jeffrey Berry to declare a mistrial based on evidence presented by Assistant District Attorney Karen Edelman-Reyes about serious burns Marc had suffered to his hands in September 2009. In her opening statement, Edelman-Reyes put responsibility for the burns on Byrd. Brown argued that neither testimony nor the medical records Edelman-Reyes submitted into evidence support the theory that Byrd caused the burns. "This has contaminated the minds of the jury," Brown argued.

Berry denied Brown's motion. The jurors draw their own conclusions from the evidence, Berry said. Prosecutors are arguing that Marc was injured while in Byrd's care, Berry said, noting it can be related to this case because "his neglect may have caused the injury."

Much of the day's testimony was dedicated to two dog handlers from the Westchester Department of Public Safety who aided in the search efforts the day after Marc disappeared. The two men and their bloodhounds set out to pick up the trail of Cory Byrd's scent on the area toward Newburgh's waterfront. They decided against searching for Marc's scent, said one handler, Officer Matthew Notaro, because "he was most likely no longer with us."

Using gauze pads that had been placed on Byrd's toothbrush and pillowcase as scent articles, the dogs ran separate trails. They essentially traced Byrd from the waterfront, up Renwick Street to Liberty Street, and then back to Marc's family's house at 11 Benkard Ave. One dog veered briefly onto Colden St. near the lot where Marc's body was found March 24, 2010.

Then testimony turned to letters Byrd sent from jail to Christina Bookal — and a letter sent in November 2011 to the wife of a man who'd been jailed with Byrd in early 2010, who had come forward to testify against Byrd. The letters bore the return name of Michael Jackson, who turned out to be another inmate who'd been in jail with Byrd, state police Investigator Shawn Houck testified.

Edelman-Reyes asked if anything changed with the witness as a result of the letter sent to the witness' wife.

"He stated that he no longer wanted to (cooperate), because he couldn't protect his family while he was incarcerated," Houck said.

The trial resumes Thursday.

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Witness: Byrd admits Bookal slaying

Inmate says child killed to pay debt

By Heather Yakin
Times Herald-Record

Published: 2:00 AM - 01/20/12

GOSHEN — Cory Byrd is a Blood who admitted in jail to killing 4-year-old Marc Bookal, a self-professed gang member testified on Thursday in Orange County Court.

Byrd, 32, is on trial on murder, manslaughter and evidence-tampering charges in the Dec. 14, 2009, disappearance and death of his then-girlfriend's son, Marc. Marc was home sick, alone with Byrd, when he disappeared.

The witness, known on the street as "Kastro," is serving prison time for violating parole on an attempted-robbery conviction. Kastro said he talked to Byrd in early 2010 while they were both on the same unit in Orange County Jail.

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Kastro said he'd heard of Byrd through the Blood prison grapevine as "Kasino," but he'd never seen him before they meet at Orange County Jail. He said they socialized, playing the card game casino for packets of soup.

As a high-ranking member of a Bronx Blood set, Kastro said he was entitled to question Byrd, a lower-ranked "two star." He asked why Byrd was in jail. Byrd, he said, told him he was being held for endangering the welfare of a child.

Kastro said he asked for more information and that Byrd told him he'd been ordered by a guy he
owed drug money to kill everyone in his house to get the money or face death himself.

"He told me he killed the little boy, whose name was Marc, because he was easy access," Kastro said.

Assistant District Attorney Karen Edelman-Reyes asked Kastro for his reaction.

"I didn't want to talk to him no more," Kastro said. "Being Blood, you don't kill no little kids. That's not part of — that's a no-go."

Kastro said he's been threatened for testifying. Cooperating is strictly forbidden by the gang code. He said a threatening letter was sent to his wife's home, threats were sent to a prison, and threats have made their way to him even in involuntary protective custody.

Byrd's lawyer, Joseph Brown, hammered at Kastro's motives. "You expected to get a deal out of it, didn't you?"

"I did it because it was a defenseless little kid who didn't deserve to die," Kastro replied.

Brown asked about a Dec. 29 letter where Kastro told prosecutors "there's only one way I'm going to testify, and that's with a date to go home."

Kastro said he was upset over threats. He added, "I didn't get no deal." He got a letter from prosecutors to parole saying he cooperated.

The trial resumes Friday.

GOSHEN, N.Y. -- The murder trial of Cory Byrd continues at the Orange County Courthouse.
Byrd is accused of killing his girlfriend's 4-year-old son, Marc Bookal, in December 2009.
The prosecution is slowly making its way through a two and a half hour long interrogation video.
Byrd
spoke with police officers shortly after the child disappeared. The
prosecution said Byrd claims he was missing when in fact the child was
already dead.

In the video, Byrd described the clothes Bookal was wearing and said the child was not the type to wander off alone.
At another point, Byrd wanted to remind police that he was the one coming forward about the child's disappearance.
The
detective who spoke with Byrd at the police station said he was
cooperative for the most part, except when he found out he was being
arrested.

http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/571120/cory-byrd-murder-trial-continues/

GOSHEN — Now it's up to a jury to decide if Cory Byrd murdered 4-year-old Marc Bookal.

After hearing closing arguments, the jury began deliberations at 3 p.m. Wednesday and halted at 4:30 p.m. Deliberations resume Thursday morning.

Marc disappeared Dec. 14, 2009, while Byrd was watching him at the City of Newburgh apartment Byrd shared with Marc's mother, Christina Bookal. Byrd told police that the little boy, who was home sick, had wandered next door to visit his aunt.

"Marc Bookal never left 11 Benkard Avenue, alive," Assistant District Attorney Karen Edelman-Reyes told the jury Wednesday.

Byrd called Christina Bookal all morning, Edelman-Reyes said, but not when Marc had his fourth accident that day, soiling his pants. That triggered a rage in Byrd that led him to grab the child, strip him of his soiled clothes and beat him, taking him to the downstairs bathroom, where a smear of Marc's blood was left on top of the toilet, Edelman-Reyes said.

The medical examiner's testimony about Marc's fatal brain bleed, coupled with deep bruises to his buttocks and ankles, demonstrated injuries caused by an adult seeking to punish, humiliate and force submission on a child, Edelman-Reyes said.

And Byrd lied, she argued, saying his story changed again and again.

Byrd beat Marc to death, she said, and then tried to cover up his crime.

"Little kids bounce back," Edelman-Reyes told the jury. "When people break them, they mean to."

When Marc's body was found 3½ months later stuffed inside two bags in a vacant lot, he was wearing a white T-shirt, gray sweatpants and white sneakers. But, Edelman-Reyes pointed out, Marc wasn't wearing socks — he always wore socks — or his beloved Lightning McQueen hat.

Defense lawyer Joseph Brown dismissed the prosecution's case against Byrd as "just smoke and mirrors."

"There is no hard proof in this case of anything," he said Wednesday during his closing arguments.

Brown pointed to the extensive police searches that didn't turn up Marc's body until March 24, 2010, in a lot that had been checked four times previously. There was no proof of when Marc's body was placed there, he argued.

Brown dismissed dog-tracking of Byrd's scent past the lot where Marc was found as proof only that they were in Byrd's neighborhood. He characterized the prosecution's jailhouse informant, who testified that Byrd admitted to killing Marc because of threats over a drug debt, as a liar out to get himself freed from prison.

"They have proven nothing except that Mr. Byrd resided with Ms. Bookal and the children were there in the house," Brown said.

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