By David Hurst
The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
SOMERSET, Pa. — SCI-Somerset Sgt. Mark Baserman’s wife, Rebecca Lynn, sat near the witness stand Monday, between a portrait of her husband in happier times and a victim’s advocate holding a message to the man convicted last month of killing him in 2018.
Her eyes filled with tears, she let the photo and her court- appointed advocate speak for her in what served as the opening day of a penalty phase to decide whether Paul Jawon Kendrick, 29, should face the death penalty for Baserman’s death.
“To say I’m angry is an understatement,” the Victim Services advocate said, sitting just feet from Rebecca Lynn Baserman, who was clutching a tissue.
The testimony was part of an emotional day in court that included calls for “justice” from Baserman’s family and pleas for mercy from Kendrick’s family, who said his life was derailed at childhood in a broken, abusive home.
Monday’s testimony included statements by a former City of Pittsburgh police detective about Kendrick’s first murder conviction in 2015 and a neuropsychologist’s report that the 29-year-old had the stunted “problem-solving” ability of a child younger than 10 years old.
Kendrick was convicted last month of first-degree murder in Baserman’s death, pummeling and kicking the corrections officer after becoming upset about a improperly displayed towel that was confiscated from his room that day.
Baserman died 11 days later of traumatic brain injuries suffered in the attack.
A panel of 12 Somerset County jurors will decide Kendrick’s fate.
He is the first person in decades facing a death penalty trial phase in Somerset County – and a possible punishment reserved for “the worst of the worst” murders in America, Somerset County District Attorney’s Office Trial Deputy Christina DeMarco-Breeden said.
In her opening statement Monday, she reminded the panel Kendrick didn’t just assault Baserman that day. He caused “irreparable brain damage” to a public servant who died in the line of duty.
“This is about justice that has been seven years in the making,” DeMarco-Breeden said.
Prosecutors are pressing for the death penalty based on for “aggravating factors” that the defense isn’t disputing.
One represents the fact Baserman was killed while serving as a law enforcement official – in this case, a corrections officer in the prison where Kendrick was being housed when he was fatally beaten.
The other three factors that qualify Kendrick for death penalty consideration include the fact he was previously convicted of a 2014 murder in Pittsburgh , that Kendrick was serving a life sentence for it when he attacked Baserman and that he was committing another felony – assault – at the time.
All 12 jurors must agree on a death sentence for it to be issued. But before issuing a verdict, all 12 jurors must consider those “aggravating factors” against the preponderence of evidence involving “mitigating” factors – whether it’s more likely than not that Kendrick’s prior life experiences lessen his culpability.
‘This is ... about the larger picture of Paul Kendrick’s life,” defense attorney Edward “E.J” Rymsza told jurors in their opening Monday, reminding them they pledged to consider his personal background and character before rendering a decision – and that they’d each do so independently. “This is not a group decision.”
‘Took care of everyone’
The week of trial leading up to Kendrick’s conviction focused mostly on the day of the attack and the 11 days that followed as Baserman’s condition declined and he later died.
Monday’s testimony offered a window into both of their lives before the deadly 2018 encounter.
Baserman’s wife, Rebecca Lynn, took the stand and was unable to speak in court.
But her statement read aloud in court described Mark Baserman as a loving, constant caregiver.
He helped her cope with multiple sclerosis, embraced her daughter as his own and helped his own mother battle health issues, jurors were told. Baserman was also a proud grandfather to what is now nine grandchildren.
“He took care of everyone,” she wrote.
The “cruel, selfish” acts of one man seven years ago instead left those young grandchildren with little more than the understanding that Baserman was dead.
“They were robbed of the time they should have had with him,” according to the statement read aloud in court. “To say I’m angry is an understatement.”
Neither she or Baserman’s stepdaughter, Jacqueline Holbay, mentioned the death penalty, but both said “justice” must be served to enable their grieving family to move on.
“I just hope no other families have to suffer this pain – ever again,” Holbay added.
Difficult youth, senseless murder
Former Pittsburgh city detective Robert Shaw said he served as the lead investigator for Kendrick’s first homicide, saying he was convicted in 2015 of gunning down another young man after a two-on-two basketball game at a Northview Heights playground.
Shaw, who now works as a state Attorney General’s office investigator, said testimony at the time indicated Kendrick, then 19, shot the other teen with a revolver after discovering he wasn’t from his neighborhood.
Defense attorneys pointed out Monday that another man sought in the crime was never identified or charged.
Kendrick’s mother, sister and a former babysitter all said Kendrick had a rough life before that – and they all offered different details.
Paul Kendrick was brought to tears in court as his mother, Nancy Fanelli , said, “I love you,” in court.
She said they suffered years of abuse by his father, who at one point attacked her while she was pregnant.
Fanelli, who is white, said her own family abandoned her because her family was Black.
After nine years with nowhere to turn, she moved Kendrick and his siblings to a city shelter – and at one point they were homeless.
“I begged for help,” a tearful Fanelli said, adding she at one point considered giving her children up for adoption so they could escape her personal “hell.”
Problems got even worse after Kendrick’s half-brother died in an incident involving police, which the family views as murder but was ruled in a coroner’s inquest as suicide, prosecutors said.
But Kendrick’s sister said life wasn’t much better with their mother.
Alezandra Kendrick, 31, said that she and her brother suffered “so much trauma, you can barely remember the good times.”
During cross-examination, Kendrick insisted her brother was “never violent” and disputed his two convictions, maintaining he was not guilty of either of his homicide convictions.
‘Mild impairment’Neuropsychologist Dale Glenn Watson evaluated Kendrick for three days last year.
A court-approved, defense expert witness, Watson said he reviewed decades’ worth of psychiatric exams on Kendrick, starting when he was a troubled boy.
He said his research and recent evaluation showed Kendrick’s “concept formation” – his ability to problem solve and “think things through” remained at a juvenile level and that he also struggled with memory issues – such as recalling things he was normally told to do.
Defense attorneys have said Kendrick “lost it” and attacked Baserman after getting reprimanded for hanging a towel to block the view into his prison cell, despite prior warnings.
Watson acknowledged he was paid more than $40,000 for his defense work, but told First Assistant District Attorney Thomas Leiden he’s evaluated at least 600 defendants over the years and only testified in 75 cases because he “often finds nothing at all” worth raising in court in his evaluations.
Leiden expressed skepticism about Watson’s lengthy mental health findings and asked if there was any indication Kendrick suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Watson said that did not appear to be the case, that Kendrick’s issues were developmental.
Then Leiden asked if Kendrick’s issues qualified as an intellectual disability – or were so impaired that he was unable to plan tasks.
“There is no evidence he’s intellectually disabled,” Watson responded, noting he scored average or better in other areas of the exam.
Testimony is expected to continue Tuesday.
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