NORWICH – The man who prosecutors claim shot William E. Lee was hiding from the law at the victim’s home, and he may have killed his friend in order to skip town with his money, according to the district attorney.
DA Joseph McBride told Acting Supreme Court Justice W. Howard Sullivan in court Friday that the accused, 25-year-old Richard T. Babcock of Norwich, was “hiding out at Mr. Lee’s,” because a warrant was issued for his arrest involving stolen property.
The Norwich Police Department requested a warrant for Babcock’s arrest on Oct. 28, 2008, asking that he be returned to Norwich City Court to face charges of fourth degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony, and petit larceny, only 11 days before he allegedly shot Lee.
The indictment accuses Babcock of approaching Lee while he was on his couch at his Tanner Hill home in November, and shooting him in the head with a 16-gauge shotgun at point-blank range. The cause of death was confirmed Nov. 13 by Pathologist Dr. James Terzian, who performed an autopsy at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.
Lee’s oldest sister, Linda Smith, also said Babcock was a friend of Billy’s who had been staying with him at 5220 State Route 23 in the Town of Norwich, in the weeks leading up to the murder.
Lt. James E. Lloyd of the Chenango County Sheriff’s Department said Babcock was involved in a local narcotics probe and had crossed paths with police investigators in the months before the murder.
Babcock was arrested Nov. 14, the day after Lee’s body was discovered. He was not charged in connection to the homicide, but was instead charged in the drug investigation, said Lloyd.
Babcock was charged with fifth degree criminal sale of a controlled substance for allegedly selling prescription pills to an undercover police officer on March 21, 2008. He was also charged with possession of stolen property for an offense that allegedly occurred on Oct. 28 involving a stolen credit card.
He was subsequently arraigned in the Town of Norwich Court and remanded to the Chenango County Correctional Facility in lieu of $30,000 cash or $60,000 property bond. He has been incarcerated since that time.
