Trial underway in 1995 murder of school teacher

The 1995 murder trial of Mary Catherine Edwards began before Judge John Stevens with opening statements from Prosecutor Mike Laird on March 12 in the Jefferson County Criminal District Court.

After a local, statewide and national investigation came to an end after 26 years, stemming from the relentless pursuit of justice by Beaumont Police Department and former Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney Bob Wortham, advances in technology led officers to match DNA at the crime scene with that of former Beaumont resident and 1978 Forest Park High School graduate Clayton Bernard Foreman, subsequently resulting in his extradition from Ohio and 2021 capital murder indictment.

“The day I was sworn in (Beaumont Police Department Chief) Jimmy Singletary and I met, and I asked him, Jimmy put your best agents on this. I really want to make this case,” Wortham told The Examiner following Foreman’s 2021 arrest.

Day 1 Tuesday, March 12

Laird began by outlining the forthcoming testimony, which would include nearly 30 individuals and the presentation of four crucial DNA pieces collected from the crime scene which Laird stated will prove that Foreman sexually assaulted and killed Edwards.

Edwards was described as a very loving and trusting person. “Maybe even a bit naive,” her twin sister Allison Edwards Brocato testified.

The Price Elementary School fifthgrade teacher lived a low key routine life alone with her dog, Maggie, in her Park Meadow townhome.

The first witness called to the stand was Carolyn Lewis, who has more than 30 years as a dispatcher and supervisor with the Beaumont Police Department (BPD). Overruling defense attorney Tom Burbank’s objection, Stevens allowed Lewis’ testimony and expertise to sponsor the 911 calls as evidence.

The courtroom atmosphere intensified as frantic 911 calls from the Edwards family, made upon discovering Mary Catherine’s lifeless body in her home on Jan. 14, 1995, were submitted as evidence – vividly recounting the distressing ordeal faced by her loved ones.

“My daughter has been murdered,” screamed Mary Edwards to dispatcher Dorothy Gray. “We found her, she’s handcuffed and has been tortured… don’t ask me to go through this over the phone… I think they drowned her.”

A somber tone took over the courtroom. Several jurors and observers began wiping tears from their eyes.

Next to testify was Merrell Cooper, an elderly man who lived in the adjoining townhome with his wife, Deborah, at the time of the murder. Awakened by several thumps in the night, Cooper testified that the neighbors shared bedroom walls divided only by a closet and was awakened around 1:30 or 2 a.m. to just over a minute of thumping that sounded like someone kicking a wall. With the absence of screams or sounds of struggle, Cooper and his wife went back to sleep.

Later, the jury heard testimony from Matthew Wick, who was age 12 at the time of the murder. He was staying with his dad and the Coopers in their townhome.

“I heard thumping like someone beating on the wall and it woke me up,” said Wick.

Wick described hearing what sounded like someone coming down the stairs and then going outside, opening a car door, hearing loud music, and seeing the reflection of the lights from the vehicle pull away.

“It’s something I’ve held with me my whole life,” said Wick. “I wish I would have got up and beat on that door or something.”

Brocato, the victim’s closest friend and twin sister, was called to the stand in an effort to describe events leading up to her sister’s death. She described a very close family relationship between her, her sister, her brother Lum Jr. and her parents, Mary and Lum Edwards.

The current All Saints Episcopal School teacher said her sister, also a teacher, loved her students dearly and “called them all her kids.”

“She talked about them all the time,” said Brocato.

The twins lived in their Park Meadow townhome until 1991 when Allison got married and moved with her husband.

“She would walk her dog alone at night or go sit outside alone and read. And I’d tell her that’s not a good idea, but she just loved nature and was very trusting,” said Brocato.

Continuing to answer the State’s attorney’s questions, Brocato recalled her relationship with Dianna Daleo.

“We were friends, but we weren’t that close,” she said.

Brocato described knowing who Foreman was due to him dating Dianna and the sisters both being bridesmaids in their wedding, but did not recall a single conversation or interaction with Foreman.

Brocato testified the Friday morning before the murder, her sister dropped Maggie off at her house before heading to work, as she did every day, and stopped back by around 4 p.m. to visit and pick her up.

“She usually stayed and visited me, and the new baby for a while, and the last time I spoke to her was the night of Friday, the 13th, around 8 p.m.,” said Brocato. “She had went for Italian food, came back and did her bible study, and went to bed.”

The distraught sister described Jan. 14, 1995, as a typical Saturday morning and recalled ringing her sister’s house phone several times to firm up plans for family lunch and a trip to the movies later that day.

“She didn’t answer, and I called over and over, and she didn’t answer… We were all trying not to panic. I left messages on her answering machine and she was usually real good about checking the machine and calling back. We didn’t have cell phones back then,” stated her sister.

Brocato went to her parents’ home where they discussed the possibility of her sister being at St. Andrew’s (Presbyterian) church cooking since she was in Junior League and typically wouldn’t finish until noon.

Her father Lum became uneasy, obtained the townhouse key from Brocato and decided to check on his daughter at her home.

“I called over there and Dad answered her phone and said ‘Your sister’s dead,’ I called 911, and then I called my brother and we all cried and cried. It was horrible,” said Brocato, as she wiped the tears from her face. “They were never the same and I think they died a little bit too when she did… I was cheated, it’s just not fair.”

As questioning turned to the defense, Foreman’s attorney brought up Edwards’ ex-boyfriend, David Perry, and the nature of their relationship. The attorney asked if they had a “scary relationship” to which Brocato described a very passionate on-again, off-again relationship and an incident with a heated fight, but stated Perry wasn’t a violent guy.

The defense attorney asked if Perry was stalking Edwards, to which Brocato replied, “He was not.”

In opening arguments, Laird mentioned Perry was the original suspect but was cleared as a suspect early in the case.

“Prior to her passing, they had a conversation that they were breaking up for good,” said Brocato.

The defense brought up another suitor and the sisters’ time possibly spent at nightclubs, but Brocato assured the court that they may have gone out with friends sporadically in college, but that they didn’t frequent nightclubs once they graduated.

The day unfolded with further testimonies from former BPD Officer Carmen Apple, who was dispatched to the homicide scene, along with retired BPD employee Sara Moon, who collected photographs and evidence at the scene as an ID technician for nearly three decades.

As evidence was presented to the court, photographs of the gruesome scene were admitted and passed to Foreman’s defense attorney for review. Foreman made what appeared an intentional effort not to look at the photos. The defense continued to attempt to poke holes in the way some of the evidence was processed, but their objections were ultimately overruled.

During a brief recess, a juror was replaced for what Stevens described as “just cause.”

The day concluded with Moon’s testimony.

Day 2 Wednesday, March 13

On March 13, the trial began with Dr. Charles Harvey called as a witness and he appeared via Zoom due to health conditions. Harvey, a certified forensic pathologist, performed the autopsy on Edwards and testified to his findings. He described the process of performing the autopsy, detailing 30 injuries to Edwards’ body which was found lifeless, naked from the waist down, hands handcuffed behind her back and draped over the bathtub.

“Her head in the water and her legs on the floor,” according to the investigative report.

The jury reviewed key evidence including the t-shirt Edwards was wearing at the time of her death, the blanket from her bed, handcuffs that were fastened on her wrists during the assault, and the results of the sexual assault kit containing DNA, which led to identifying Foreman as the killer in 2021.

Burbank asked Dr. Edwards why he indicated the cause of death as drowning almost 30 years ago, but has had a recent change of opinion.

“This was done almost 30 years ago and you’ve changed your mind,” asked Burbank.

Edwards replied, “Yes.”

Specifically, Dr. Edwards, after reviewing the case a month ago, has recently concluded that the amount of fluid in Edwards’ lungs was not sufficient with the cause of drowning and indicated that he now believes the cause of death to be entrapment asphyxiation detailing that the pressure of the weight of someone compressing her diaphragm area caused her death.

Burbank went into extreme detail regarding the bruising and even lack thereof in the chest area, arguing it was insufficient for a determination of entrapment asphyxiation but the doctor disagreed.

The prosecution called Boyd Lamb, a retired BPD officer, responsible for assisting in processing evidence at the crime scene alongside Moon. Lamb was able to positively identify evidence from the scene and account for the chain of custody of evidence. Lamb stated he collected specific items from the bed because of his belief of a possible struggle occurred in the bed area.

After a short recess, the prosecution called “Mitch” Woods, a retired Jefferson County Sheriff and former District Attorney’s Office chief investigator at the time of Edwards’ murder. Woods was at the murder scene which he stated was common practice on a major crime scene during that time.

He testified that using DNA evidence at a crime scene was in its infancy at the time and there were limited laboratories in the area able to process the data. Woods testified he and Sgt. Tatum personally took the bed linens, clothing, and the sealed sexual assault kit to the FBI crime lab and Cellmark, a private lab in Maryland for processing. Woods acknowledged that Edwards’ ex-boyfriend, Perry, was the prime suspect at the time. Perry willingly provided blood and DNA samples for analysis.

Following Woods’ testimony, Cary Oien, who has been employed with the FBI for nearly 29 years and currently works as chief of scientific analysis in the Quantico, Virginia laboratory, took the stand. Oien confirmed the evidence receipt of the items submitted to the FBI trace laboratory where hairs and fibers were analyzed for comparison to the victim and a possible suspect.

Next up was David Middleman, an Othram Laboratory employee. Othram Laboratory is a forensic laboratory that works with law enforcement in a very specific area of testing aimed at developing a DNA profile from evidence.

“The profile contains hundreds of thousands of data points that can be used to build a suspect profile to generate investigative leads,” said Middleman.

Middleman noted Othram analyzed vaginal swabs and a piece of the comforter fabric in April 2020. Middleman stated that the lab was able to develop a profile from the vaginal swab which can be used for comparisons and genetic genealogy, among other things.

According to Middleman, investigators then may opt to enter the profile into other databases to continue the investigation and indicated any reports generated would have been submitted to the Texas Rangers.

Middleman’s testimony was the conclusion of Wednesday’s witnesses, however, Stevens advised that it would be a temporary release and he would likely be called back for additional testimony.

The third day of testimony is scheduled to begin with an expert from Cellmark Laboratory.

Foreman, with a history of criminal accusations, was previously reported to have a rape charge dating back to 1981, where he pleaded guilty to raping a fellow classmate from Forest Park High School.

“In the 1981 case, Clayton encountered the victim stranded at a gas station during a rainy night with her car stuck. He offered her a ride home, falsely claiming to be a police officer to gain her trust,” stated Detective Tina Lewallen.

In a previous interview with The Examiner, Lewallen highlighted the striking parallels between the two crimes, noting similarities in the method of sexual assault, the connection to Forest Park High, the binding of the victim’s hands, and the use of police-related items during the assaults.

Proceedings are expected to continue throughout the next week.