XAVIER ASHLINE - 3 Months (2010) - Bath (SE of Buffalo) NY

Closing arguments today in Ashline case

The evidence phase of Bryan Ashline’s double-murder trial ended Tuesday, but not before the prosecution questioned the defendant about the killings of his ex-girlfriend and their infant son on Father’s Day 2010 in Bath.

Ashline, 25, of Watervliet in the Albany area, is charged with two counts each of first- and second-degree murder and two other felonies for the killings of 3-month-old Xavier Ashline and 25-year-old Trieste Clayton late June 20, 2010, at the woman’s Mountview Road West apartment.

Under direct examination by defense attorney Thomas Stahr on Monday, Ashline admitted he was the killer. He is using a psychiatric defense, claiming he was under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance when he killed the pair and is therefore guilty of manslaughter, not murder.

During cross examination Tuesday, District Attorney John Tunney attacked Ashline’s credibility and the notion he acted under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance. He also explored online writings from Ashline, who admitted he had previously thought about killing Clayton.

Additionally, Tunney pressed Ashline on one of the case’s most puzzling unanswered questions: Why kill Xavier?
“I honestly don’t (have an answer), sir,” Ashline said. “(It’s) almost like I was a passenger in what was going on, an observer.”

In interviews with police, Ashline said it was “accurate” that if he couldn’t have Xavier, neither could Clayton. In the same interviews, he said, “I should have let him live.”

Tunney continued pushing Ashline, reminding him Xavier was still alive when Clayton was killed. Tunney then introduced his own theory.

“You didn’t want your son growing up knowing what you did to his mother, right?” Tunney asked.
“That was not going through my mind at the time,” Ashline answered.

In attacking Ashline’s credibility, Tunney introduced entries from an online journal in which Ashline called himself “the best liar I know.” Ashline said he made the statement “sarcastically.”

Also included in the online journal were references to having crazy thoughts, including killing. In one entry from 2005 – which Ashline said was an exercise in creative writing – Ashline wrote about a man who stabs a woman to death, receives 25 years to life, and then kills himself with the same knife after he is paroled.

“That fictional character was very grief-stricken,” Ashline testified, adding that the story was an “extreme coincidence.”

Ashline did admit, however, that he had previously thought about killing Clayton and himself.

“Never Xavier,” he said. “Myself and Trieste, yes … I can’t explain the thoughts, (I’m) just merely admitting (I had) them.”

Clayton was stabbed 13 times, including the fatal blow to the back of her neck that severed her spinal cord, causing instant death. Analysis done by the state police concluded Clayton was standing up and holding Xavier when she was fatally stabbed.

The analysis also concluded Xavier was stabbed on the floor after he fell from his mother’s arms as she died. He was stabbed three times, including in the chest and abdomen.

Ashline has testified he knows he killed Xavier but has no memory of the act.

Under direct examination and in interviews with police, Ashline said he only stabbed Clayton after she attacked him first and cut him with a knife. Ashline said he was attempting to leave the apartment with Xavier, but Clayton wouldn’t allow it. Ashline said he was afraid of being left out of his son’s life.

Ashline and Clayton met in the Albany area in 2008. They moved in together the following year, but Clayton returned to Steuben County in August 2009 when Ashline assaulted her while he was drunk.

Ashline said his relationship with Clayton following the domestic dispute – and his fear of not having a relationship with his son – caused him great mental anguish.

Closing statements are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. today in Steuben County Court. They will be followed by jury instructions and deliberations.

Today will mark the eighth day of the trial, which is being overseen by Judge Joseph Latham.

http://www.the-leader.com/news/x671085954/Closing-arguments-today-in-Ashline-case

Ashline guilty on all counts; faces Dec. 21 sentencing

Bryan Ashline was stoic until the bitter end.

Ashline bowed his head and remained still Wednesday as a Steuben County jury found him guilty of all charges in connection with the Father’s Day 2010 murders of his ex-girlfriend and their infant son.

Ashline, 25, of Watervliet in the Albany area, faces a maximum sentence of life without parole when he is sentenced Dec. 21 for killing 3-month-old Xavier Ashline and 25-year-old Trieste Clayton. Ashline was convicted of two counts each of first- and second-degree murder, and single counts of aggravated criminal contempt and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

The reaction in the courtroom was tempered when the jury announced its verdict, but outside, Clayton’s mother cried as she spoke about getting justice for her daughter and grandson.

“He got what he deserved … but it won’t bring them back,” Cynthia Watson said. “It’s very hard to sit there and not jump over the wall.”

Watson said the verdict provided “a little” closure. She added that her daughter “was so close to perfect … and he took it away.”

Standing next to his wife, Clayton’s stepfather, Scott Watson, said the family had no choice but to be strong and reserved throughout the legal process.

“We couldn’t do anything stupid … and justice showed,” Scott Watson said. “We’d like to thank them all (our supporters).”

Ashline’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Thomas Stahr, said he wasn’t at all surprised his client showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Throughout the trial, Ashline displayed little to no emotion, even on the witness stand.

“(But), of course, he’s not handling it well,” Stahr said.

Ashline killed Clayton and Xavier late June 20, 2010, at Clayton’s Mountview Road West apartment in Bath. He was visiting his son for Father’s Day.

The case was never a whodunit. Ashline admitted – to police and to the jury – that he killed Clayton and Xavier. Stahr claimed Ashline acted under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance and was therefore guilty of manslaughter, not murder.

Stahr said Ashline reached a mental breaking point when Clayton refused to allow Xavier to leave with him. He wanted to take the boy to Watervliet for a family party the following weekend. Ashline and Clayton were estranged, though Ashline longed to reconcile, he said.

Stahr said the relationship problems and hardships growing up made Ashline a “time bomb.” He noted Ashline didn’t have an intimate relationship with his father, his mother worked nights, and his closest sister left the household when he was 10 or 11; Ashline was bullied for years after rumors that he was gay began circulating; Ashline “put up walls” to deal with his problems; and Ashline feared he wouldn’t have a significant relationship with his son because Clayton wouldn’t allow it.

“I sincerely believe in the extreme emotional disturbance defense,” Stahr said. “The kettle steamed over.”

In his closing statements Wednesday, Stahr said he wasn’t blaming Clayton, but after the verdict, he said the killings could have been avoided.

“If she had said, ‘Yes, you can have your son for the weekend,’ we wouldn’t be here,” Stahr said. “I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often.”

District Attorney John Tunney said Ashline intentionally “executed” Clayton and “sacrificed” Xavier. He noted Ashline admitted he considered killing Clayton and himself before the murders and that Xavier was killed after Clayton.

“He didn’t want his son growing up knowing what he did to his mother,” Tunney said.

What exactly happened in the kitchen when Clayton and Xavier died remains disputed.
According to state police analysis, Clayton was holding Xavier in her arms when Ashline began stabbing her. She died instantly when a thrust to the back of her neck severed her spinal cord.

Xavier fell from his dying mother’s arms, at which point Ashline used a butcher knife to stab him in the chest and abdomen, the state police analysis concluded. Both thrusts cut entirely through Xavier’s body and chipped the floor underneath.

Stahr said his analysis of the evidence suggests Ashline was holding Xavier when Clayton stabbed him in the hand – before Ashline attacked. He said that would explain why Xavier had a puncture on his back – something that wasn’t explained by prosecution witnesses.

Stahr also claims that Xavier’s body was found too far from his mother to have fallen from her arms as she died. He believes Xavier remained on the floor after Ashline dropped him when stabbed by Clayton.

Ashline and Clayton met in June 2008 in the Albany area. They eventually moved in together, but Clayton left Ashline and moved back to Steuben County after Ashline assaulted her in August 2009.

They continued to speak and see each other on occasion, and Xavier was born in March 2010. Ashline didn’t meet his son until several weeks after the child’s birth. He saw his son a handful of times before Xavier was killed.

Stahr said he plans to appeal the convictions.

http://www.the-leader.com/news/x1992153416/Ashline-guilty-on-all-counts-faces-Dec-21-sentencing

Ashline gets life without parole

Bryan Ashline will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Ashline, 25, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the Father’s Day 2010 murders of his ex-girlfriend and their infant son in Bath. Trieste Clayton, 25 and Xavier Ashline, 3 months, were stabbed to death during a domestic dispute at Clayton’s Mountview Road West apartment.

Shackled and dressed in jail-issued green, Ashline declined to make a statement before he was sentenced. His attorney, Thomas Stahr, said Ashline apologized for the killings on the witness stand and nothing he could have said Wednesday would have resonated with anyone.

Cynthia Watson, Clayton’s mother, called Ashline a selfish “monster.”

“You’ve made me a broken person,” Watson said to Ashline in court Wednesday. “You destroyed our lives forever. You’ve destroyed how I wake up every day, you’ve destroyed our holidays.”

Watson noted that Clayton’s birthday is Dec. 20.

“We celebrated her 27th birthday (Tuesday),” Watson said. “You took away from me my daughter and my grandson, who I adored.

You’ve ruined me and my two girls, who looked up to their sister.”

Watson said that one of her other daughters, after meeting Ashline for the first time, predicted Ashline – who has a criminal history for assaulting women – would hurt Clayton.

“I guess she was right,” Watson said. “I’m glad New York state doesn’t have the death penalty. I hope you suffer for the rest of your life. You’re a monster, and I hope you continue to suffer.”

Judge Joseph Latham described Ashline’s actions as “hellish” and said Ashline turned “their happy home into a slaughterhouse.”

“You chose not to abide by the rules of civilized society,” Latham said.

District Attorney John Tunney said life without parole “was the only appropriate sentence.” He said he wasn’t surprised Ashline declined to apologize Wednesday, saying it was “absolutely consistent” with Ashline’s actions.
Stahr, however, said Ashline is not a cold-blooded killer. He said Ashline killed Clayton and Xavier after the “kettle boiled over.” Stahr added that he agreed with Ashline’s decision not to make a statement.

“He’s had enough of his words twisted to last a lifetime,” Stahr said. “He was pretty much prepared for the worst, and expecting it.”

Ashline was convicted by a jury in November of two counts each of first- and second-degree murder and two other felonies. He will appeal.

Ashline, of suburban Albany, admitted he killed Clayton and Xavier during a domestic dispute late June 20, 2010. He was in town visiting his son for Father’s Day.

The exact circumstances of the incident remain in question, but Ashline said he attacked only after Clayton stabbed him first. According to Ashline’s testimony, he was attempting to leave the apartment with Xavier when Clayton confronted him. He said he wanted to take the child back to his home in Watervliet, but Clayton wouldn’t let him.

“What new mother would let someone take her newborn infant?” Watson said in court Wednesday.

Clayton was stabbed 13 times. One of the blows severed her spinal cord, causing instant death. A state police investigator testified that Clayton was holding Xavier when Ashline attacked.

Xavier was lying on the floor when he was killed. Ashline stabbed the boy multiple times, including once in the chest and once in the abdomen.

Ashline attempted to persuade a jury that he acted under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance and was therefore guilty of manslaughter, not murder.

Ashline testified he was afraid Clayton would not allow him to have a relationship with his son and that Clayton rebuffed his efforts for reconciliation. Also, he testified that he didn’t have an close relationship with his father, his mother worked nights and his closest sister left the household when he was 10 or 11. He also said he was bullied for years after rumors that he was gay began circulating, and he lacked the ability to discuss his emotions.

http://www.the-leader.com/news/x2084006127/Ashline-gets-life-without-parole