When Caleb Silver’s murder trial started last week — his third trial, the first two having ended in mistrials — we had a better idea of what the defendant had been doing just prior to his lethal visit to Dennis Boardman’s house in Fort Bragg. Caleb’s preliminary hearings revealed he’d been committing burglaries in the Elk area and stealing a vehicle in Boonville.
(At any one time in Mendocino County, a large posse of free range tweakers are supporting their drug habits by burglaries and theft.)
We have also had a letter from the defendant saying our coverage has been unfair, that he is really “compassionate and empathetic.” From the jail in San Jose when he was first arrested, Caleb wrote a letter to his mother, trying to convince her, of all people, how “sweet” he “really” is, and that he was likely going to spend 25-to-life in prison (the usual term for murder) and asking her to check out any homicide investigations involving him — oh, yes, and he strenuously reminded Mom that he’s “really sweet.”
We know that Dennis Boardman rescued Silver from Hospitality House in Fort Bragg and was letting Silver and his girlfriend, a Ms. Fisher, stay at Boardman’s Fort Bragg home until Silver got so abusive with her that the girlfriend left. Shortly after the departure of his love interest, Boardman kicked Silver out.
Silver then went to Boonville where he grew up and still knows lots of people and schmoozed himself a crash pad at Silvia Carsey’s property behind The Frosted Owl on Highway 128. When Ms. Carsey left a few days before Christmas 2015, her brother, James Cardin, told Silver he would have to leave. But Silver came back on the pretext of looking for his dog, Woozle. (People who know Caleb Silver have described him as both a schmooze and a weasel; so when he named his dog Woozle, we had to wonder… Is this what the psych docs call “transference”? More about Woozle later.) Silver then stole Ms. Carsey’s GMC pickup truck, which he drove through a locked gate, sideswiped another vehicle, and eventually wrecked it by piling into a tree near Elk, where Silver broke into and burgled three separate residences.
The third residence was that of a young woman who was gone for the holidays, and Silver, like a tweaker Goldilocks, ate her food, slept in her bed, didn’t bother to flush her toilet, pawed through her drawers, stole her jewelry, keepsakes from her grandmother and a trip to Ireland, took her laptop computer, and left on her bicycle. Ordinarily, this kind of behavior is not considered compassionate.
I don’t recall this woman’s name, but I’ll never forget the look she gave defendant Silver as she left the stand, but he was lucky to survive it.
At about the same time Caleb left Boonville on December 22, 2015, Dennis Boardman was just coming home from an operation at the VA Hospital in San Francisco. His voice box had been surgically removed, so he wasn’t able to speak. During his absence the woman who lived upstairs, a long-time friend of Boardman’s, took care of Boardman’s beloved dog, Bugsy. Her name is Cindy Buckmaster, a self-confessed stone-cold alky who has rarely drawn a sober breath since the age of 15. Ms. Buckmaster had a drinking buddy, Michael Salo, who often spent extended time in the upstairs room with her, too drunk even to go downstairs to the bathroom.
These two unlikely witnesses had not been called to testify in the last trial, and defense lawyer Eric Rennert, in his closing arguments had tried to make it look like the drunks were not called because prosecution had something to hide. In fact, it was a defense theory that Mr. Salo had murdered Boardman because he wanted to see Caleb Silver “fry in prison.”
Deputy DA Tim Stoen argued at the time that he hadn’t called them because the police had cleared them as suspects, and that if the defense felt so strongly about it then why hadn’t they called them in? Defense was free to subpoena Ms. Buckmaster and Salo and put them on the stand if they thought they had something to offer, and one had to wonder why they hadn’t.
But at this third trial Mr. Stoen did call them, and it was clear why the defense hadn’t, and doubly clear why the police had cleared them.
But first Stoen called Silver’s former girlfriend, Andrea Fisher, the one who had lived with Boardman in the upstairs room for about five months before his murder. She said she broke up with Caleb and moved out because she was sick and tired of Caleb, and was especially disgusted with “the way Caleb treated Dennis, constantly abusing him physically and verbally. He [Caleb] was really mean to him [Dennis] over nothing. Random things would set him [Caleb] off. Like if Dennis wouldn’t give him a cigarette. And I’ve seen him [Caleb] physically assault Dennis because he [Dennis] wouldn’t let Caleb bring his [Caleb’s] addict friends into the house.”
Stoen asked about the dog Woozle, which Ms. Fischer said was hers and Caleb’s, and that they got it from La’Eshia Cooper.
On cross, Rennert asked: “Isn’t it true that while you lived with Dennis you were doing meth with Caleb?”
Fisher: “No.”
Rennert: “Well, isn’t it true that he, Dennis, that is, that he would let transients into the house?”
Fisher: “No.”
Rennert: “But isn’t it true he invited people from Hospitality House over?”
Fisher: “No, Dennis wanted to live by himself.”
Ms. Fisher had more to say on the subject, but Rennert objected and she stepped down.
La’Eshia Stevens-Cooper was called. She said Caleb had invited her over to do meth, but when she got there and met Dennis, “I could see that wasn’t happenin’ so I split.”
Stoen: “How did you know Caleb?”
Cooper: “He was part of our family.”
Stoen: “How do you mean?”
Cooper: “We had a puppy in common. It’s a family relationship with me and my dogs, when I give somebody a puppy. I interviewed him and Sabrina [Silver and Fisher] and gave them Woozle.”
Stoen: “Did you name the puppy?”
Cooper: “No, Caleb did.”
Stoen: “What kind of a dog is Woozle?”
Cooper: “He’s a lab-border collie-German Shepard-rottweiller- [the jury began to chuckle merrily]… Well, sorry, but he’s eight different breeds, a mutt I guess you’d say.”
Stoen: “Do you recall when Woozle was born?”
Cooper: “Well, now, I’m afraid ya got me on that one — until I found out I was gonna have a kid I was so high all the time I couldn’t really say. But now I’ve been going to NA [Narcotics Anonymous] meetings and church and all that, and I can tell you I have Dennis Boardman to thank for that…”
Rennert: “Objection! Relevance, you honor.”
Judge John Behnke; “The objection is sustained.”
Cooper: “I was at church when I heard Dennis was dead and I called the police department right then.”
Rennert: “Objection! Non-responsive.”
Behnke: “Sustained. Just answer the questions you are asked, Ms. Cooper.”
Stoen: “Did you see Caleb around Christmastime?”
Cooper: “Yes. He came to the door and I sent him away. By then I was clean and sober with a three month-old son.”
Rennert : “He didn’t want drugs, though, did he?”
Cooper: “No.”
Rennert: “Did Mr. Boardman let people stay at his house when you were going there to see Woozle?”
Cooper: “Yeah, sure, he was a kind person who would help anyone in need.”
Ms. Cooper started to say more but Rennert cut her off. She turned to the judge and asked if she could say something, but Behnke told her she must follow the rules. She left the stand with a parting look at Caleb, the second woman on the day to fix him with ocular assassination.
Cindy Buckmaster was called. She said she lived upstairs and always did Dennis’s laundry, and there was a neatly folded pile of fresh laundry on the bed in one of the evidence photos, which she had put there. She couldn’t remember whether the bed was made or not, but the laundry was on the uncovered mattress in the photo.
Stoen: “What was Caleb like with Dennis?”
Buckmaster: “They got into a big ol’ argument ‘cause his dog Woozle went in the alley once. I called the police on Katrina pretty often though.”
Stoen: “How long did Caleb stay there?”
Buckmaster: “I’m not sure. I can’t remember when he left.”
Stoen: “Did you last see him on the 27th of December?”
Buckmaster: “I’m not sure of the date but it was around Christmas. I’m always upstairs in my bedroom.”
Stoen: “When’s the last time you saw Dennis alive?”
Buckmaster: “About 11 a.m. on Christmas.”
Stoen: “Would you have kept doing his laundry if you knew he’d been killed?”
Buckmaster: “No, ‘cause there wouldn’t be any in the hamper.”
Stoen: “When was the last time you did his laundry?”
Buckmaster: “It had been a long time and I thought he’d gone to see his daughter.”
Stoen: “Have you ever used a hammer or a knife as a weapon?”
Buckmaster: “No.”
Stoen: “Nothing further.”
Rennert for the defense: “Do you remember telling Officer Wilder you saw Dennis Boardman on the 27th of December?”
Buckmaster: “Dennis Boardman? Or Mike? Mike was fine.”
Rennert: “Do you remember talking to Officer Wilder on January 2nd?”
Buckmaster: “Yes.”
Rennert: “Isn’t it true you told her that it might have been somebody from the Hospitality House [that killed Dennis]?”
Buckmaster: “No — no, but he let Caleb in because he’d been friends with his grandpa.”
Rennert: “Do you know Katrina Webb?”
Buckmaster: “Yeah.”
Rennert: “You often called the police on her?”
Buckmaster: “Yeah, that was me.”
Rennert: “Hadn’t the police come on multiple occasions, and not just for Katrina?”
Buckmaster: “I don’t know about that.”
Rennert seemed about done, shuffling his papers when Caleb whispered a reminder to his lawyer: “Oh, yes. Do you remember speaking to Officer Wilder a few weeks ago?”
Buckmaster: “Yes.”
Rennert: “And isn’t it true you told her [Wilder] you let Dennis Boardman use your EBT [food stamps] card for part of the rent?”
Buckmaster: “Yeah, I forgot about that.”
Rennert: “Nothing further.”
Add food stamp fraud to the long list of crimes committed against the late Dennis Boardman.
Laurel Boardman was called. She told the jury how her late father Dennis had recently repaired their long estrangement and that she’d been with him for his surgery at the Vet’s Hospital in San Francisco, then returned to her home in Portland where she worked as a personal trainer. She said they often talked over the phone about their pets, and that she took after her father in their mutual love for dogs, as well as in other ways. She said that on December 29th she got a call from the hospital and learned that her father hadn’t come in for a check-up appointment; she waited a couple of days, getting more and more worried, then she called the Fort Bragg Police and requested a welfare check, telling them to break in to the house if necessary.
Officer Wilder called Laurel back the night of January 2nd to tell her her father was dead.
Michael Salo was called. He lived on Sherwood Road, but often spent time drinking with Cindy Buckmaster, and on their rare sober occasion, they played cribbage and drank coffee with Dennis Boardman in the breezeway between the kitchen and the garage. Salo said he’d recently gone on the proverbial wagon and attributed his new-found sobriety to Boardman.
Stoen: “How good are you at remembering?”
Salo: “Terrible.”
Stoen: “Are you an alcoholic?”
Salo: “Yes.”
Stoen: “Do you drink to the point you sometimes blackout?”
Salo: “Yes.”
Stoen: “Do you remember the last time you saw Dennis alive?”
Salo: “It must have been on Christmas Eve day when he took me to Rite-Aide to buy Christmas presents for my grandkids.”
Stoen: “Did he allow people into his bedroom?”
Salo: “No, never.”
Stoen: “Did you know Caleb Silver?”
Salo: “I’ve met him; I didn’t know him.”
Stoen: “How did you react to Dennis’s death?”
Salo: “I was devastated, got pretty weird over it, I guess… but time passes on."
Stoen: “Did you kill Dennis?”
Salo: “No.”
Stoen: “Ever use a weapon like a knife or a hammer?”
Salo: “No.”
Stoen: “Nothing further.”
Rennert for the defense: “Did Dennis Boardman ever tell you he wanted Cindy Buckmaster to leave?”
Salo: “No.”
Rennert: “Didn’t you tell Officer Wilder, on January 2nd, that you saw Dennis several days prior?”
Salo: “Maybe I did.”
Rennert: “You can’t recall?”
Salo: “I couldn’t swear to it.”
Rennert showed the transcript to the witness: “Does that refresh your memory?”
Salo: “Uh… no.”
Rennert: “Really?”
Salo: “I was on a holiday binge — whew!”
Rennert: “On December 25th weren’t you staying with Cindy Buckmaster?”
Salo: “I spent the night there sometimes, so if Cindy says I was there, I take it I was.”
Rennert: “Were you there on the 26th?”
Salo, looking at the judge: “I don’t know where I was or what day it was.”
Behnke: “You can give that answer, if you don’t know, just say so.”
Salo: “I don’t know.”
Rennert: “Recall speaking with Investigator John McCarty?”
Salo: “Not the date but I remember McCarty.”
Rennert: “Remember him asking you if you had been truthful?”
Salo: “No.”
Rennert: “Ever tell him you wanted to see Caleb Silver fry in prison?”
Salo: “No, I don’t remember it, but I could have said something like that.”
Rennert: “Nothing further.”
Bittoria Vittle was called. She confessed she’d served four terms in prison for child cruelty and when DA Stoen asked if she had 37 aliases, she said the police gave the aliases to her by misspelling her name so often. She said she was finally going to Alcoholics Anonymous and that Dennis was instrumental in getting her sobered up.
Vittle: “A true friend, he helped me when I was just out of prison, picking me up and taking me to meetings, very supportive of me.”
Stoen: “Do you recognize the dog in this photograph?”
Vittle: “Oh, yes, that’s Dennis’s dog Bugsy. I rescued him! Dennis loved that dog.”
Stoen: “Did Dennis ever leave Bugsy in the truck overnight?”
Vittle: “Oh, no, not at night, never. At night Bugsy was always inside with Dennis, slept in Dennis’s bed with him.”
Stoen: “You visited with Dennis often?”
Vittle: “Oh, yes, we did lots of things together with the dogs, lots of outings or just playing cribbage.”
Stoen: “Do you know Caleb Silver?”
Vittle: “Yes I do.”
Stoen: “Were you ever a witness to Caleb’s relationship with Dennis?”
Vittle: “Yes, and it was very chaotic because Caleb was always doing drugs and alcohol.”
Stoen: “Do you recall the last time you saw Dennis?”
Vittle: “I believe it was on Christmas Day. I took presents to Cindy and Michael.”
Stoen: “Did Cindy and Michael have a drinking problem?”
Vittle: “Oh, yes, they were hardcore alcoholics, at that time they weren’t even getting out of bed, upstairs peeing in buckets.”
Rennert: “Isn’t it true Dennis Boardman opened his house to transients?”
Vittle: “Oh, no, only to people he knew, like me and Cindy and Mike; they were best friends, him and Cindy.”
Rennert: “Isn’t it true that Dennis Boardman kept another set of keys in his truck?”
Vittle: “Oh, yes, because he would forget where the others were sometimes.”
Rennert: “You knew that about him?”
Vittle: “Oh, yes.”
Rennert: “Nothing further.”
And so the first week of the third trial ended.
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