POUGHKEEPSIE – The jury in the Poughkeepsie murder trial of Roy Johnson Jr., known as the “Courtyard Killer” heard closing arguments Wednesday morning and began deliberating the fate of the 36-year-old criminal after lunch. The account of recent testimony and the history of the case against both Devin Taylor, who previously entered a guilty plea, and Roy Johnson Jr., can be found here.
The jury heard from defense attorney Joseph Gulino, who worked diligently to plant the seed of reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors, with the exception of the criminal possession of a weapon charge, which he admitted during opening arguments on May 3, 2023.
During the opening remarks of the trial for Johnson, accused of killing 56-year-old Paul Kutz inside of the hotel, Gulino told the jury, “It is one thousand percent true that Roy Johnson was firing the Glock firearm inside the lobby of that hotel,” which is the admission to the weapons charge. Gulino also stressed the “reasonable doubt” defense. He implied that based on the pattern of the bullet holes in the lobby, Johnson could not have targeted Kutz directly and struck him with only one bullet. “The round that killed Mr. Kutz was not possibly fired from Mr. Johnson’s firearm that he was firing in that lobby.” Keeping with that defense, Gulino said the bullet that killed Mr. Kutz was fired from outside of the hotel, despite any evidence that indicates such a claim.
Gulino shocked many of the audience during his summation when he said that another gunman was by the kitchen door of the hotel that may have been responsible for the murder. He also showed the video footage of the incident and said, “There is another person with a firearm in the lobby,” pointing to the screen. Mid-Hudson News spoke with several attorneys that were watching the closing and not one of them agreed with that claim. “First he says the shot that killed the victim came from outside and then he says the mystery shooter was in the lobby,” one attorney said. “I agree with his attempt at reasonable doubt but you have to think that the jury will recognize the contradiction.”
Gulino noted that the “Marist Mom” Jennifer Krinsky who testified on behalf of the prosecution was less than truthful. Krinsky, a Massachusetts resident originally claimed that she had met the two defendants, Devin Taylor and Roy Johnson at the Holiday Inn on South Road where she was a guest.
Krinsky’s Maserati was towed from the TGI Friday’s parking lot around 9:00 pm the night before the murder after she had hit a light post in the parking lot. The car was eventually towed to the City of Poughkeepsie tow company and impounded by the Town of Poughkeepsie Police several days later.
During his closing, Gulino pointed to Krinsky’s flawed testimony from last week. He asked the jurors to consider that while on the stand, Krinsky said she had entered room 143 of the Courtyard with Taylor and Johnson but left after becoming “freaked out” by the presence of an AR-15-style gun. “In reality,” Gulino said, Krinsky did return to the room, and she spent most of the evening in the room, as evidenced by hotel surveillance camera footage that was presented.
Senior Assistant Dutchess County District Attorney Kristine Whelan opened her summation after Gulino by telling the jury “In order to find him (Johnson) not guilty, you would have to believe a series of coincidences that are too unbelievable to have happened,” referring to Gulino’s suggestions. Gulino repeatedly tried to deny that his client had ever been in room 143 at the Courtyard and Whelan poked holes in that defense by noting that Johnson’s clothes, identification cards, guitar case, and camping equipment were all recovered from that room during the police search.
“There was no other mystery shooter,” Whelan declared. Forty-eight rounds were fired from the Glock pistol that Johnson used. “Forty-eight shell casings were recovered from both inside and outside of the hotel.” Whelan reminded the jurors that evidence clearly showed that Johnson first fired 17 rounds from the illegally-altered Glock, emptying the magazine. He then inserted a 31-round magazine into the weapon and fired until the ammunition was exhausted, for a total of 48 rounds fired by Johnson.” Whelan said the math proves that Johnson was the lone gunman in the hotel.
Jury deliberations are scheduled to resume on Thursday morning.
