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OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER


NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
Syracuse Office
4 CLINTON SQUARE
3""FLOOR
SYRACUSE, NY 13202
1315) 701 -0080
1315) 701 -0081 FAX

Albany Office
39 NORTI-1 PEARL ST.
5m FLOOR
ALBANY, NY 12207
(518) 436-1850
(518) 436- 1780 FAX

Lisa Peebles
Federal Public Defender
RESPOND TO SYRACUSE

OFFICE

September 18, 2015

VIA FAX-376-1656
Hon. Daniel King
Acting Oswego County Court Judge
Lewis County Courthouse
7660 State Street
Lowville, NY 13367

RE:

PEOPLE V. GARY THIBODEAU


INDICTMENT NUMBER 94-161

Dear Judge King:


I have enclosed an executed affidavit for Melissa Adams, Heidi Allen's cousin,
concerning her purchase of an ID bracelet for Heidi and her subsequent discovery of this bracelet
in her mailbox years after Allen was abducted. I previously filed an affidavit with the Court
describing my conversations with Ms. Adams prior to her willingness to execute an affidavit
detailing her memory of these events.
It is our position that Ms. Adams' testimony is relevant and significant in light of the
information disclosed by Michael Bohrer, both in his notes and during his 2013 interview with
Sheriffs Investigators Pietroski and Johnson. Specifically, Bohrer's notes reference Allen
hiding a bracelet in the vehicle in which she was taken and during his interview with
investigators he made statements about Gary and Sharon Thibodeau mailing jewelry in
connection with the death of Mark Hall.
Interestingly, when Investigators Pietroski and Johnson contact Bohrer about the
abduction of Allen, Bohrer is not told how his name recently surfaced in connection with the
investigation and why investigators wanted to speak to him. When he is asked about what he
knows about Allen's disappearance he begins by explaining that they should start with the death
of Mark Hall. Within two minutes of the interview Bohrer launches into a scenario whereby he
suggests Gary and Sharon must be connected to the death of Mark Hall beca

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OSWEGO COUNTY
COURT CLERK'S OFFICE

.....
knows the Thibodeau's mailed "their" jewelry to "her" parents to get a reaction out of them.
Pietrosk.i then asked Bohrer whether he was referring to Sharon's parents and he said "yep,
because that tells me Gary had something to do with Mark's." He then immediately claims he
has no idea how much Gary may have had to do with Allen's disappearance and states he never
really saw the connection. Bohrer's claim that Sharon would mail her jewelry to her own
parents in order to get a reaction out of them in relation to the death of Mark Hall makes no
sense. Bohrer quickly answered Pietrosk.i in the affirmative when he was asked whether Sharon
mailed her own jewelry to her parents but he was never asked any follow up questions regarding
this nonsensical statement.
It appears from Bohrer's statements during his 2013 interview with Pietroski and Johnson
that he wanted investigators to believe Gary and Sharon Thibodeau were involved in mailing
jewelry in response to another homicide and therefore, in the event jewelry surfaced during the
Allen investigation it was something they had previously done. At the time of the interview
Bohrer could not be certain and had no way of knowing whether investigators were in possession
of Allen's ID bracelet or attempting to connect him to this bracelet. Bohrer' s immediate
statements regarding jewelry appear to be a preemptive strike by implicating the Thibodeaus in a
prior jewelry mailing scenario in a different homicide in an effort to throw investigators in a
direction away from him.
There has never been any suggestion in any of the documents, filings, court proceedings
or investigative interviews of jewelry being mailed in connection with the disappearance of
Heidi Allen. The affidavit of Melissa Adams in combination with Bohrer' s notes and 2013
interview with investigators support the inference that Bohrer is responsible for placing Allen's
ID bracelet in Adams' mailbox years after Allen was abducted.
Therefore, the defense respectfully requests that the Court permit the testimony of
Melissa Adams and also admit Bohrer's handwritten notes.

By:

Lisa Peebles, Esq.


Federal Public Defender

LAP:vlb
cc:

Gregory Oakes, Oswego County District Attorney


Oswego County Court Clerk' s Office
Gary Thibodeau

.
COUNTY COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF OSWEGO:
CRIMINAL TERM

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THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,


AFFIDAVIT
vs.
Indictment #94 161
GARY THIBODEAU,
Defendant.

STATE OF NEW YORK


COUNTY OF OS\VEGO

)
) ss.:

I, Melissa Adams, being duly sworn depose and state:


I am 49 years old and my maiden name is Scarles and my nickname is Missy. I am Heidi
Allen's cousin and I have resided in the New Haven area most of my life. I lived in Florida from
January 2004 to September 2004. My sister, Shawnacy Searles, and l were very close with Heidi
and at the time she was abducted Heidi was residing with our grandmother, Mary Ann Searles in
New Haven.
I recently contacted Lisa Peebles about a bracelet I had given Heidi after I read her
defense motion posted on Syracuse.com. I read the notes attached to her motion which referred
to Heidi hiding a bracelet in the vehicle she was in after she had been abducted. I asked Peebles
who wrote those notes and she told me they were Michael Bohrer's notes and part of the
documents he collected in a box containing information about my cousin's case. I was very
upset after I read Bohrer' s notes because years after my cousin was kidnapped, the ID bracelet I
bought her for a graduation gift was left in my mailbox in a plain white envelope. The bracelet
was engraved with Heidi's name and on the back I had engraved, "Love Missy."
I never told anyone about finding this bracelet in my mailbox for several reasons. First, I
had no idea who put the bracelet in my mailbox and I did not want to upset my family because it

-was so many years later and they were convinced the Thibodeaus were guilty and Gary was
already in prison and Richard had been acquitted. Second, I was fairly certain that the Sheriffs
Department would simply take the bracelet and not do any follow up investigation because I
never felt as though they listened to anything I had to say during the initial stages of the
investigation and I was very close with Heidi and this bracelet was very special to me. Honestly,
I never would have mentioned anything about the bracelet showing up in my mailbox had it not
been for Bohrer's notes posted on Syracuse.com. I never intended to come forward with this
information because I did not want to upset my family.
After I spoke with Ms. Peebles she requested that I sign an affidavit but I refused for the
exact reasons I never came forward when the bracelet showed up in my mailbox. However, I did
agree to meet with Ms. Peebles and I showed her the bracelet and allowed her to photograph it
Even though I refused to sign an affidavit, Ms. Peebles filed an affidavit disclosing our
conversations and the photograph of the bracelet.
Once she filed her affidavit, I was confronted by two Sheriffs investigators, Carmen
Rojek and James Pietroski. On September 3, 2015, Rojek and Pietroski requested that I
accompany them to the Sheriffs Department to provide them with a statement about the
bracelet. They appeared to be rather confrontational and accusatory when they approached me so
I became defensive and refused to accompany them. They showed me photographs of a bracelet
which appeared to be mailed from a Tracy Wise (Mathews) to Heidi's family. I did not
understand their point since I had in my possession the bracelet I had given to Heidi and the
photo of the bracelet they showed me was a different bracelet. I thought it was interesting they
had an envelope with a return address from Tracy Wise (Mathews) since she was the friend
Heidi was concerned about getting caught up in the drug world and il prompted Heidi to become

an informant when she was in high school. Rojek and Pietroski asked if I would give them the
bracelet and I told them as long as they provided me with a property receipt, which they did, so I
turned the bracelet over to them on September 3, 2015. I told them I purchased the bracelet at
DuFore' s Jewelry on \Vest 2"d Street in Oswego sometime in 1992 or 1993.
I read the Affidavit Ms. Peebles filed about our conversations and I wish to correct a few
things. First, I do not remember exactly when I found the bracelet in my mailbox, I stated it was
a I +c. r 2- o o? b u.J- r::9 c ct K ti.,.=t /LI c:. ...U .s?ca.c..:/ I y
more than 10 years because I had it'
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Second, my sister was not with me when I met Bohrer in the

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parking lot of the Tcxacana. Apparently, Bohrer testified that he met Heidi's cousin in a parking ~ ~
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lot and a girlfriend of the cousin. Although Bohrer initially mentioned Shawnacy's name as the
cousin he met in a public parking lot, it was actually my close friend and I. My sister,

Shawnacy, never met Bohrer in the parking lot. We never "fed" Bohrer information about the
case, Bohrer was actually asking us questions about the investigation into Heidi's disappearance.
I am also quite sure I did not talk to Bohrer in the parking lot in the days follow ing Heidi' s
abduction because I was mostly with my family helping in the search efforts. The encounter
with Bohrer was many months later.

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Also, I did ~ot know Bohrer' s full name at the time he approached us in the parking lot, I

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just remembered some creepy guy who kept inserting himself in my path and lurking around the
bar where Shawnacy was bartending. It \Vas not until he was identified in this recent
investigation and I saw his photograph that I actually learned his name. I do recall Bohrer being
present at the Texacana bar and I often spoke to Shawnacy about the bracelet I gave Heidi
because I always wondered whether she was wearing it when she was abducted.

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. . -Since I have disclosed this information, my family is not speaking to me and they are
very upset. I do not have an opinion about the Thibodeaus, but I decided to come forward
regardless of the consequences and provide a statement because I am interested in seeking justice
for my cousin.

Melissa Adams
Sworn to before me this
_LCo"i!ay of September 2015

~
Notary Public

..

---

LISA A. PEBBLES

L'otary Publ:c, State of New Yr-'<


Qualified In Onondaga Cou:i!y
Reg.#02PE5021239
rt'; Cc::-:-mission Expires Dec. 13, :JJ}

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