NY - Christopher Porco - Another Menandez situation? - sentenced

[BrenTex]

I also agree with you that Porco did this crime himself.....no accomplice.
There's one more thing that absolutely fascinates me about this case.......that is that he left both victims alive after the attacks. If he was smart enough to cover ( or not leave) physical evidence, and planned the thing so that he would be thought to have been in Rochester at the time, why was he stupid enough not to have made certain that he finished the job. Did he just make a mistake (actually 2 mistakes since they were both alive after the attacks - Peter dying later after having made his way downstairs) OR (God forbid) did he mean to leave them alive but dying....calculating that they would suffer for a while as they bled out and then die? Stupid mistake or heinous cruelty? Hmmmm.

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Or maybe he could be cool and collected enough to think that if he left them alive but sure to die then he could be somewhere else he could prove at the time of death determined by the M.E.?? Diabolical but possible?? Heinous cruelty for sure.

 

[SheerLuck]

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Or maybe he could be cool and collected enough to think that if he left them alive but sure to die then he could be somewhere else he could prove at the time of death determined by the M.E.?? Diabolical but possible?? Heinous cruelty for sure.

I'd guess they struggled at first; trying to block the ax with their hands, but when they stopped defending themselves and he hit them a bunch more times and blood was all over the place; he probably figured they're dead or would be very soon and he better start cleaning himself up. But who knows; trying to read a killers mind is near impossible. The killer was cool and collected enough after the attack to meticulously clean up to the point where no blood ever left the house, so he had to have had an extra change of clothes and also extra footwear.

 

[mamaodyssey]

Where oh where did he stash the bloody clothing????? Wouldn't it be great if it was found? Probably way too late now though.
I agree that trying to read the mind of a killer is next to impossible, but you have to admit that even the coolest of characters had to be dumbfounded when learning that one of your victims was still alive!

 

[BrenTex]

This is a really good and interesting thread. I'm glad I found it. Y'all have done a lot of thinking about it and it's obvious.

 

[Garnan]

He could have stripped naked, committed the crime, showered and dressed. No bloody clothing to be found.

 

[mamaodyssey]

I tend to agree with Garnan. If I were going to do this crime, that's how I would do it actually because then there would be no clothing to be found later. There was also testimony that he swung the axe rather shallowly (as oppossed to big swinging strokes) and as such there was not as much blood spattered around as there would otherwise have been. Does this "shallow swing" tend to show further planning on his part??? I think it may very well show just that and if I were the prosecution I would certainly argue that to the jury.

 

[SheerLuck]

He could have stripped naked, committed the crime, showered and dressed. No bloody clothing to be found.

Interesting idea and you're right, there wouldn't be any bloody clothes, which makes this idea a real possibility. Your idea of doing this naked is really interesting because all along I thought the police might be delaying this case; in the hope that maybe a bag of bloody clothes would wash up on some lake somewhere or be found by some passerby in the woods somewhere between Albany and Rochester. The tricky part would be to do the crime naked and take a shower; without leaving a trail of blood along the way from the bedroom to the bathroom. But 2 1/2 hours elapsed from when the alarm is disarmed until the phone lines are cut, which is plenty of time to clean up real good.

 

[SheerLuck]

Even though not wearing clothes makes sense, my gut feeling is that Porco was heavily clothed, to minimize getting blood on his body, and that he also wore surgical gloves; as he worked for a vet. But who knows; not wearing clothes would explain a whole lot. On a lighter note and one that's probably irrelevant, the only fingerprint found of Porco's(Chris); was on the basement door where the dog was found. I wonder if Porco entered the house with gloves, but in bringing his dog to the basement; maybe he took his glove off to pet his dog; thus leaving a print on the door. It's so weird that the only print found was near the dog by the basement door and does anyone; even a killer; ever pet his dog with gloves on?

 

[jannuncutt]

"Peter Porco had risen from his bed, where the attack took place, and stumbled through the home leaving a trail of blood before collapsing and dying, according to McDonald. In the kitchen, Peter Porco had opened a dishwasher full of clean dishes. On top of the dishes was a $100 cashier's check in Christopher Porco's name that was to be used to pay his fine for a traffic infraction in Saratoga Springs".

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=497445&category=PORCO&BCCode=&newsdate=7/10/2006

I wonder if Peter Porco put that check there because he was trying to name Christopher as the assailant.

 

[mamaodyssey]

I wonder is Peter Porco put that check there because he was trying to name Christopher as the assailant.

You know, I was wondering the same thing. Kindlon claims that it shows that Peter Porco was thinking about his son even as he was dying, in an effort to show that the two of them were close.

About the fingerprint: Does anyone know if it was a bloody print that was found in the basement near where the dog was? It was also my understanding that there was another print found out by where the phone lines were cut....or maybe it was a partial print, I'm not sure. Seems to me that a bloody print that can be tied to Christopher would pretty well cap it, don't you?

 

[SheerLuck]

About the fingerprint: Does anyone know if it was a bloody print that was found in the basement near where the dog was? QUOTE]

Nope, just a regular print, but no blood. The only bloody fingerprints found(as far as we've been told until now); is Peter Porco's bloody fingerprints. The fingerprint on the door is Chris's. A fingerprint of Chris's by the cut wire would be very important, but I didn't hear about that. I mentioned the print near the dog; more to lighten things up and as a pycholigical angle; but it has no relevance I don't think. But it would be weird to pet a dog with a glove on, so I thought it was interesting that the only print of Chris's was found near the family dog. I had the idea that even the most deranged cold blooded killer; might slip up and take a glove off and have a moment of compassion for his dog and want to pet his dog; thereby accidentally leaving a print by mistake. Doubt this matters though

 

[Jade]

http://timesunion.com/specialreports/porco/graphics/Porcoemail1.pdf

In this email to Chris from his mother she says "we don't know if you are well or mentally stable". Also that they were thinking of discussing him with his uncles and aunt. Is one of them a doctor?

http://timesunion.com/specialreports/porco/graphics/Porcoemail2.pdf

This one from his father is interesting. Poor guy. God Bless him.

At first I did not believe that Chris did it because I thought that he would not killed the goose that lays the gold egg. I was sure that he had taken someone with him to the house when his parents were not home and entered using the hidden key and used the code in front of the future murderer. Where I live attorneys are for the most part wealthy or at least live like they are – lavish homes, private schools, import cars, etc. But now I wonder if Chris went on a rampage because the goose wasn’t laying a gold egg at all. Their home was very modest. With a strict Catholic mother I dare say money was going to church or savings before diamonds and gold or other baubles. Pretty slim pickings for a thief to kill for.

Wonder what kind of cars the parents drove? Chris had a nice ride for a college student. Course at a private college I expect a lot of the students have expensive cars.

 

[mamaodyssey]

Nope, just a regular print, but no blood. The only bloody fingerprints found(as far as we've been told until now); is Peter Porco's bloody fingerprints. The fingerprint on the door is Chris's.

Bummer about the print.....I simply can't get excited about Chris's print being found in the house unless it is a bloody one. By the way, I liked your comment about petting the dog without the gloves on! I can absolutely see that happening!
I am anxious to see what developed in testimony today with regard to the jeep on the videotape at the Thruway.

Where I live attorneys are for the most part wealthy or at least live like they are – lavish homes, private schools, import cars, etc. But now I wonder if Chris went on a rampage because the goose wasn’t laying a gold egg at all. Their home was very modest. ...Chris had a nice ride for a college student. Course at a private college I expect a lot of the students have expensive cars.

Not all attorneys are wealthy, although that is a popular myth. There are many, many who make a rather modest living and those that are employed by the court system, governmental entities, etc., make substantially less than many attorneys in private practice (although there area good many in private practice, especially solo or small partnerships, that don't make all that much either.
As for Chris's car, I think that this is one of the loans on which he forged his father's name in order to obtain the financing for it. Anyone remember if this is correct?

 

[SheerLuck]

As for Chris's car, I think that this is one of the loans on which he forged his father's name in order to obtain the financing for it. Anyone remember if this is correct?

Yep; mamaodyssey, Porco ripped off his Dad for 2 loans; the first one was $31,000 for Rochester tuition and the second one was $16,000 for the jeep. Porco got his dads info by tricking him. Porco had told his dad that Rochester was allowing him back in school in September for free; no charge for tuition; because it was a mistake to have expelled him the previous spring. Of course this was a lie, but his dad was a nice guy and like most dads; he believed his son. Then in late September; Chris calls his Dad and asks him for a small loan for some expenses. So his dad sends him some personal info and Chris gets the small loan. But this was just a trick and a few weeks later; Chris uses his Dad's info to get both the tuition loan and the jeep loan. Late October Peter Porco found out about the tuition loan and he was nice about it; he replaces the high interest loan with a low interest loan and lets Chris stay in school. But then in early November; Peter Porco finds out about the $16,000 Jeep loan and thats when the **** hits the fan. About 10 days later; Peter Porco is found dead

 

[hockeymom]

Is there anyway to tell how old a fingerprint is? Probably not or I would have heard of that before.
On the subject of the disposal of bloody clothes, don't most vets have a biological waste incinorator or some kind of receptical for that sort of thing? Would he have had time and/or access to that.? What if it was outside the vets office ,say in the back of the building. Wonder if that was ever looked into.
I really question the judgement of people who claim Chris is such a"nice boy". How nice a boy can he be(even if he didn't do the murder),if he would steal so blatently from his parents? I think he is a rotten kid who has no conscience.

 

[Garnan]

Fingerprints can't be aged. Could be 3 days, 3 yrs, 30 yrs. No telling.

 

[SheerLuck]

Is there anyway to tell how old a fingerprint is? Probably not or I would have heard of that before.
On the subject of the disposal of bloody clothes, don't most vets have a biological waste incinorator or some kind of receptical for that sort of thing? Would he have had time and/or access to that.? What if it was outside the vets office ,say in the back of the building. Wonder if that was ever looked into.
I really question the judgement of people who claim Chris is such a"nice boy". How nice a boy can he be(even if he didn't do the murder),if he would steal so blatently from his parents? I think he is a rotten kid who has no conscience.

Hockeymom: He would have easily had time to access the vet's building because the Porco's lived on Brockley Drive; near to the Delaware Ave side; which is literally a 1 minute drive to the vets building(the vet building is about 1/3rd of a mile from where the Porcos had lived). Someone who knows vetinary clean up procedures could tell us if he could have destroyed evidence at the vet building and how that works with incenerator. If he could have quickly burned the clothes; before racing back to Rochester; I'm sure he would have. I know that vets and their assistants; use a chlorine bleach solution for blood clean up; so with Porco's 3+ years experience; I'm sure he was well versed in blood clean up. I would hope the Bethlehem Police thought to check out the vet building for clues right away; but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[mamaodyssey]

Hockeymom: He would have easily had time to access the vet's building because the Porco's lived on Brockley Drive; near to the Delaware Ave side; which is literally a 1 minute drive to the vets building(the vet building is about 1/3rd of a mile from where the Porcos had lived).

SheerLuck: The vet building you are referring to is Delmar Animal Hospital, but Chris did not work there. He works at the Bethlehem Animal Hospital on 9W in Glenmont. This, of course, is a tad farther away, but perhaps do-able in the time frame he had. I am not sure that the Bethlehem Animal Hospital has an incinerator or not though. Also, if he did go to the Bethlehem Animal Hospital to dispose of clothes or what not, why the heck wouldn't he have gotten on the Thruway at Exit 23 instead of going back to 24?

 

[SheerLuck]

SheerLuck: The vet building you are referring to is Delmar Animal Hospital, but Chris did not work there. He works at the Bethlehem Animal Hospital on 9W in Glenmont. This, of course, is a tad farther away, but perhaps do-able in the time frame he had. I am not sure that the Bethlehem Animal Hospital has an incinerator or not though. Also, if he did go to the Bethlehem Animal Hospital to dispose of clothes or what not, why the heck wouldn't he have gotten on the Thruway at Exit 23 instead of going back to 24?

Oops; sorry; had my facts wrong there; I thought all along he worked at the vet's right near his house. The other one would work though; it's less than 5 minutes away.

 

[SheerLuck]

There are lots of ways to dispose of clothes; you don't need an incerator for a small bag of clothes; that was just one of many good ideas posted here. And remember too, someone here even suggested he could have done this naked and not even had any bloody clothes. In looking at the trial so far; here's what I think matters most at this point: the prosecutor is focusing on the timeline and I think this week they'll expand on the timeline to show Porco drove from Rochester to Delmar. We've been told that the jeep arrives at the Rochester toll booth and picks up the ticket at 10:45 p.m. and turns it in at 1:51 a.m. This is 3 hours and 6 minutes driving time, so about 200 miles of driving; which would be about 62 mph, which fits. Then about 15 minutes later the security alarm was disarmed. Exit 24 to Brockley Drive is about a 10 minute drive, which also fits. So I think so far the timeline presented by the prosecutor is very possible. This week, I think we'll hear about the security camera at Rochester that captures the jeep leaving campus and also arriving back, so we'll see if these times also fit. The prosecutor needs to be specific, with miles travelled and elapsed time. Maybe this week, the neighbor who saw the jeep in the driveway at 4:00 a.m. will also testify; plus some of the frat brothers who say Porco left and didn't come back. I think in particular; the neighbor and the DNA; are a strong combo; especialy when combined with video footage and the toll booth collectors testimony. Other relevant stuff I thought we heard so far was the neurologist who testified that despite Joan Porco's condition; she could have still been aware of her surroundings and the questions asked of her and that her head nod no to Jonathon and yes to Chris; has relevance. Kindlon disagreed with the neurologist's opinion; so the prosecutor has to remember to remind the jury that Kindlons an attorney and not a brain doctor. On a sidenote; I thought it was interesting to learn also that the only cameras at toll booths are in the EZ Pass lanes and that there are no cameras in the cash only lanes. I wonder if Porco knew this?