Attorneys search for missing records relating to trial of Putnam murder suspect whose 2 previous convictions were overturned
Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy said Tuesday that when he tried to obtain the records he learned the personnel records are missing from the records unit at the county sheriff's office.
Attorneys for a man headed for a third murder trial after his two previous convictions were overturned are baffled that key pieces of evidence are missing from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.
The defense team for Anthony Grigoroff, 35, wants to know what happened to the personnel records of two former Putnam County deputies who investigated the 2008 murder that Grigoroff was convicted of twice and is still accused of.
Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy said that when he tried to obtain the records on Monday, he found that the personnel records were missing from the records unit at the county sheriff's office.
Grigoroff's attorneys are entitled to the information under New York state law.
"The personnel records will show if they've had prior bad dealings with civilians and if they've engaged in misconduct in the past," defense attorney Danielle Muscatello said after Tuesday's court conference. "We need to dig a little bit deeper into that."
Another of Grigoroff's attorneys, Bruce Barket, said in court, "I don't know how you can lose the records of two people."
"I'm just as unhappy about this as you are," Tendy told the defense.
Grigoroff's convictions from 2010 and 2017 were overturned by the same appellate court, which cited errors by the judges in those trials.
Tendy has argued that Grigoroff was in a car near Sullivan Garage on Route 9 in December 2008 while another man tried to break into the business, only to be confronted by the garage's owner, John Marcinak, Grigoroff allegedly shot and killed.
Grigoroff's attorneys have said Putnam County investigators used deceptive tactics to draw a false confession out of Grigoroff during a 12-hour interrogation.
The confession is the only known evidence against Grigoroff, who has since maintained he was never anywhere near the garage the night of Marcinak's killing.
His attorneys are also annoyed that cellular data indicating who might have been near the garage that night is also unavailable.
"The fact that there is no location data from a cell tower or a phone is highly unusual," Barket said. "The fact that they've lost the personnel files of multiple key investigators strikes me also as highly unusual."
The attorneys plan to seek sworn testimony from employees of the sheriff's office's records unit to find out how the records were lost.
Judge Joseph Spofford scheduled another conference for June 16 to discuss the status of the records and scheduled a third trial to begin on Oct. 14.
News 12 reached out to the Putnam County Sheriff's office to inquire about the missing evidence and is awaiting a response.
Tendy previously offered a plea deal to Grigoroff, which stated that if Grigoroff pleaded guilty to attempted burglary, he would be immediately released from jail on time served.
Grigoroff has not accepted the deal and remains in the Putnam County Jail.
The deal is still on the table.
