NORWICH – Accused murderer Richard T. Babcock admitted in Chenango County Court Monday that he was the trigger man in the November 2008 slaying of William E. Lee.
Babcock, 27, has maintained his innocence since his arrest 19 months ago, but decided to accept a plea deal late last week, according to Public Defender Alan Gordon.
Appearing before Acting Chenango County Court Judge Joseph F. Cawley Jr. of Broome County, Babcock told the court a 72-hour drug binge led to Lee’s shooting. He also said he’d argued with the deceased about obtaining more drugs; the defense claims Lee was a local drug dealer.
“I was using drugs for approximately three days, a binge on cocaine,” said Babcock. “We had a brief argument and I shot him in the head and took the narcotics.”
Prosecutors accused Babcock of approaching the 61-year-old Norwich native while he was on his couch at his Tanner Hill home. They say Babcock shot Lee in the head with a 16-gauge shotgun at point-blank range. The cause of death was confirmed by Pathologist Dr. James Terzian, who performed an autopsy at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.
Gordon said his client would be sentenced to 15 years in state prison under the plea arrangement.
District Attorney Joseph McBride said the agreement was made with the consent of the family, who wished to put the tragedy behind them.
The DA said Babcock killed Lee on Nov. 9, 2008 and that state police discovered Lee’s body on Nov. 13.
Following the killing, McBride said Babcock stole “several thousands in cash” and contacted a local cab service for transportation to the Binghamton bus station. Prosecutors were prepared to call the cab driver and a convenience store clerk to the stand to testify that Babcock was “flashing a big wad of cash around,” just hours after the shooting, said McBride.
“Mr. Babcock took a bus to North Carolina where he was robbed while attempting to purchase cocaine at a bus station there. He then returned home to get funds from his mother and was picked up in Binghamton by state police investigators,” he said.
Babcock was arrested Nov. 14, the day after Lee’s body was discovered by troopers, but he was not immediately charged in connection to the homicide. He was instead held on charges of fifth degree criminal sale of a controlled substance in relation to the drug investigation he eventually pleaded guilty to in October.
Though Babcock could not recall the specific date of the incident in court, McBride said that on March 21, 2008, the defendant sold prescription drugs to an undercover narcotics officer.
McBride said Babcock met the officer and another man in the stairwell of a Norwich apartment house, where he sold the two men pills of lorazepam, a prescription anxiety drug.
