GUILTY NM - Paul, 34, & Tryone Posey, 44, Marilea Schmid, 13, slain, Hondo, 5 July 2004

[BillyGoatGruff]

According to the talking heads on CTTV the father had no legal right to take that boy after his mother's death. I'm assuming the dead mother's family wasn't very sophiscated legally or education-wise, so it never occured to them to try and question the father and get the boy back. Then again, they may have been frightened of this man, who sounds like an absolute ogre, at least as far as women and kids are concerned. This could have all been prevented, from the abuse on down to the killings and the trial. As far as I could tell, the only reason the father wanted the boy was as a source of slave labor and his mother's SSI checks.

 

[concernedperson]

According to the talking heads on CTTV the father had no legal right to take that boy after his mother's death. I'm assuming the dead mother's family wasn't very sophiscated legally or education-wise, so it never occured to them to try and question the father and get the boy back. Then again, they may have been frightened of this man, who sounds like an absolute ogre, at least as far as women and kids are concerned. This could have all been prevented, from the abuse on down to the killings and the trial. As far as I could tell, the only reason the father wanted the boy was as a source of slave labor and his mother's SSI checks.

That is the bottem line. He wanted Cody for those reasons. I certainly hope the jury sees what I have seen. I understand he needs some years of therapy but he deserves a chance at life too. I can only reiterate that he is lucky to be alive at all. His ordeal is one of the worst things I have seen that went on for such a long time.

 

[Lili]

I have been watching this trail. God Bless Cody, it's so heart breaking. He has my prayers.

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

The horrible thing is that the dead step-sister was probably already well on her way to turning into the type of woman, once she became an adult, who would marry an abusive creep like her step-father and stand by and allow him to abuse/torment/rape her own child. As for Cody, I'm reminded of the old saying, if you beat a dog every day of its life, you either kill it as a pup or it kills you once it's big enough to have a chance.

 

[jilly]

Is there a picture of these parents anywhere, does anyone know?

 

[Rachael]

Oh my.. I am a bit sorry I read this thread. It's so heartbreaking. I cannot even imagine. It breaks my heart hearing how he was abused as a 1 1/2 year old baby. He was just a baby. Sorry to say it but the father got what he deserved and I also hope he does not have to spend a long time in jail. It seems to me the boy needs treatment instead of jail.

 

[mysteriew]

Cody Posey says he felt overwhelmed and lost control of his emotions the day he shot and killed his family.

"I don't know what I was thinking. I couldn't tell you," the 16-year-old told jurors during his second day on the stand.

Posey is being tried on three counts of murder and tampering with evidence in the deaths of his father, Delbert Paul Posey, his stepmother, Tryone Posey, and his 13-year-old stepsister, Mary Lee Schmid, on July 5, 2004, on a southern New Mexico ranch owned by newsman Sam Donaldson. Paul Posey was Donaldson's ranch foreman.

The teen told jurors on Thursday about abuse he said he suffered at the hands of his father and his stepmother. He gave more details Friday under questioning by his attorney, Gary Mitchell.

Posey described his father burning him with a metal rod used for welding after he refused to have sex with his stepmother the night before the slayings.

"I felt dirty. I felt disgusted," he said.

Mitchell cited that night as the culmination of abuse.

"He gets called into the bedroom," Mitchell said in his opening statement. "There lying in the bed is his stepmother, naked, and he's told that he's going to have sex with her."

The teen, who was 14 when the killings occurred, said he bit his stepmother during the incident and then ran and crouched in a corner of his room.
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_4405711,00.html

 

[evelyn24]

Is there any testimony of sexual abuse?

I know the dad was a mean son of a %$^$, but Cody said he was sexually abused. Is there any proof of that so far?

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

Is there any testimony of sexual abuse?

I know the dad was a mean son of a %$^$, but Cody said he was sexually abused. Is there any proof of that so far?

I don't know if that's been covered, but there was testimony concerninc computer file labeled "incest" on his father's office computer that apparently contained a great deal of incest-based *advertiser censored* and included a "how-to" manual on getting kids involved. I would not be surprised that the father had been re-enacting his own childhood with this boy, seeing how his own father was shot and killed by (I assume) his mother after years of domestic abuse. This man clearly had a pathological hatred of his own flesh and blood dating back to the boy's infancy.

 

[mysteriew]

A former ranch hand who worked on newsman Sam Donaldson’s Hondo ranch testified Monday morning that a teen accused of killing his family was frequently abused by his father.

Cowboy Slim Brittan testified that he worked at the ranch for eight months and that Cody Posey was treated as an outcast and was frequently hit by his father.
http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=23895&cat=NMTOPSTORIES

 

[mysteriew]

The DA seemed to try and ignore the documented history of child abuse on the father's part, which isn't a terribly good ploy. Might as well come out and say "Yeah, he was a SOB, and I would have killed him too, but you didn't have to kill the others."

I don't know about those jurors. But I would have a real problem convicting in a trial where there has been witness statements testifying to the abuse, and the DA ignoring or denying it happened. Long before they got to trial, the pros. would have known who was being called to testify and likely knew what they were going to say. For the pros. to then stand up in the court room and deny the abuse, then I would wonder what else the pros. knew that he was refusing to look at or denying. I would have a big problem convicting.

 

[Bobbisangel]

The defense isn't going to be able to call the person to the stand that witnessed Cody being beat with a belt when he was 1 1/2 yrs old. They waited to long to file the paperwork or something and now they can't call the man to testify....darn it. I really wanted the jury to hear about that. To me it just sets the stage for the years of abuse.

That Prosecutor really got on my nerves today. I couldn't stand to listen to her snippy sharp questions. Sounded like she was trying to bite them off.

I thought the cowboy...farm hand was just excellant. The Pros didn't rattle his cage at all. Saw him interviewed on CTV after he testified and you can tell that he feels bad for not going to the authoritys. He said there were many other things that he wanted to tell but the Pros prevented it. I can't imagine treating a kid the way that whole family treated Cody.

Sunday school teacher said that the parents always came to the bible contests for the kids. They would hug Marilee, tell her how smart she was, how beautiful and say nothing to Cody. If Cody smiled, laughed, talked to anyone while there his father would stop him with just a look. One day he wore a T-shirt under his long sleeved shirt to school. When he got to school he took off the shirt and just wore his T-shirt...like the other kids. Marilee told and Cody was no longer allowed to be involved in the bible quizzes. He had to just sit and watch from then on.

Cody was never allowed to have anything to do with his best little friend from Kindergarden on after his mom died and he had to go back to his dads. The friend's mother even called and the stepmother said that Cody had made new friends and it would be best if her son moved on with his life too. She told the mother not to call again and hung up. The little friend had called, written, and Cody was not allowed to have anything to do with him. The stepmother picked up her husbands attitude towards Cody right from the beginning. The witch.

 

[fivekidz4me]

This may sound like I don't have empathy for this child (and I really do), but he needs some serious help. He killed 3 people. I don't agree with those who would let him out at 21, he's in need of some serious mental help. He crossed that line. Many of us have been in this type of abusive situation (if not worse)...and made the conscience choice NOT TO KILL. Once you have killed a human, you can't turn back. You will always see that as an option if you don't have the coping skills. Even if he wasn't raised to have those coping skills, doesn't mean he will learn them overnight or in years. Empathy and compassion is felt deeply for this boy, but he had options. Killing was the one he choose, and no matter how abusive his situation was, he choose to kill. He will never be OK with this, and mental hospital is a better place for him. Everytime I see situations like this, I ask myself...Is this someone I want to date my child in the future? His coping skills are damaged, and maybe even damaged forever. It's not his fault they are damaged, but darnit-they are, and it will take a long time to heal those wounds. It's not fair, but he had options. This may look like self defense, but he WANTED them ALL DEAD-even if justified. DEAD. And he did just that. Trust me, I wanted to do the very same thing to my father and step monster, but my brain didn't allow me to go there. It is WRONG TO KILL. There's a line that one crosses when they choose to kill. People have options, his option was to kill. Sorry if people may be offended, but from my personal experience, he made his choice. People who have a conscience choose other options. People without choose to kill. Is that what you want moving in next door, making moves on your teenage daughter?

 

[mysteriew]

Persons in long term, chronic, abuse situations, often become depressed, they have no self-esteem, they feel very alone and as if no one will help them. They suffer a lot of pain, both physical and emotional. Seeing no other options, except suicide or murder. And under those conditions, I guess I kind of see the murders as a type of self defense. In his mind, it was either kill them, or kill himself.
Yes, we all know that he could have gone to authorities. And maybe they would believe his abuse, and maybe they wouldn't. After all this was his dad, and I am sure that he had seen his dad as omnipotent. He probably felt that dad would talk his way out of the accusation, and that his dad would then kill him. And to be honest, he would probably be right. Dad would present it as disciplining his son, son exaggerated, son trying to fight against the discipline, and lacking any outstanding evidence to the contrary- CPS would probably close it as suspicious but unsubstantiated. And dad would make him pay for the report. So what were his options? He was 14, he could wait until he was 18 and leave the home. But it would be my guess that as he aged, the abuse would have progressed. He was bigger and stronger and inured to the abuse. So it would take more to keep him under dad's control. He could run away, but where would he run. He wasn't allowed to have friend's to talk it out with. Where would he go, and what would he live on?
No what he did was not right. And no I wouldn't want my teen daughter hooking up with him. But he was raised with uncontrolled rage, so I guess I can't blame him for responding in kind. I agree, this kid needs mental health care. But he won't get much of that in prison. And sadly, there aren't many options for kids like this in our system.

 

[concernedperson]

According to info from Beth Karas, Cody is being held in a juvie facility an hour away from the courthouse. Because of the distance no food is provided for him so the deputies that pick him up in the morning give him breakfast and the defense team buys his lunch. The State has no provisions for food.He has a couple of changes of clothes and the defense team washes them so he has clean clothes to wear to court. If not for the few people helping him now he would be hungry. Why can't the State feed this child? It just seems like the abuse and unrecognition goes on.This case just makes me so sad.

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

The weird thing about the prosecution's take on the case is it sounds as if they think the vast majority of people in new Mexico routinely beat/abuse their children and that what Cody underwent is no big whoop.

 

[concernedperson]

The weird thing about the prosecution's take on the case is it sounds as if they think the vast majority of people in new Mexico routinely beat/abuse their children and that what Cody underwent is no big whoop.

I have such a big problem with that. I don't believe that and the sheer number of witnesses would disprove that. It was stated that CPS was called at least 7 times for help. No one helped. And Cody continued to be beaten and slapped around and subjected to sexual abuse. I am sorry but this is the worst case of continued abuse that did not result in death that I have ever heard of. IMO, it was only a matter of time until they figured out a way to dispose of him forever.

 

[mysteriew]

The father of a 13-year-old girl who was shot and killed by her stepbrother said he harbored no ill will toward his daughter's killer, and even testified in the teen's defense at his first-degree murder trial Tuesday.

"You don't hold any animus toward him?" Gary Mitchell, a defense lawyer for 16-year-old Cody Posey asked the witness.

"No, I do not," said Jake Schmid, casting a sympathetic glance toward the teen sitting at the defense table.

Jake Schmid testified he suspected something was amiss between Paul and Cody the times he observed them together after his divorce from Tryone.

In an odd twist, Jake Schmid remarried Paul Posey's ex-wife, Sandy, after Sandy and Paul divorced. Under such circumstances, Sandy maintained visitation rights with Cody after her split from Paul, and Jake kept up his own with his daughter, Marilea.

Jake Schmid described the fear he said he saw on Cody's face when it was time for him to return to the home of his father and stepmother after a weekend visit.

"At times he seemed very nervous and sometimes downright scared," said Jake Schmid, who is still married to Paul's second wife, Sandy. "The only way I can describe it is if you've ever seen a dog that's been whipped."

Cody's first stepmother, Sandy Schmid (nee Paul), corroborated her husband's claims and described the emotional abuse she witnessed in the five years she was married to Paul Posey.

"I was the go-between. I would protect him from Paul," Sandy testified as jurors listened closely. "Paul really didn't like Cody and I was afraid sometimes if I wasn't there what he might do."
http://www.courttv.com/trials/posey/012406_ctv.html

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

The father of a 13-year-old girl who was shot and killed by her stepbrother said he harbored no ill will toward his daughter's killer, and even testified in the teen's defense at his first-degree murder trial Tuesday.

"You don't hold any animus toward him?" Gary Mitchell, a defense lawyer for 16-year-old Cody Posey asked the witness.

"No, I do not," said Jake Schmid, casting a sympathetic glance toward the teen sitting at the defense table.

Jake Schmid testified he suspected something was amiss between Paul and Cody the times he observed them together after his divorce from Tryone.

In an odd twist, Jake Schmid remarried Paul Posey's ex-wife, Sandy, after Sandy and Paul divorced. Under such circumstances, Sandy maintained visitation rights with Cody after her split from Paul, and Jake kept up his own with his daughter, Marilea.

Jake Schmid described the fear he said he saw on Cody's face when it was time for him to return to the home of his father and stepmother after a weekend visit.

"At times he seemed very nervous and sometimes downright scared," said Jake Schmid, who is still married to Paul's second wife, Sandy. "The only way I can describe it is if you've ever seen a dog that's been whipped."

Cody's first stepmother, Sandy Schmid (nee Paul), corroborated her husband's claims and described the emotional abuse she witnessed in the five years she was married to Paul Posey.

"I was the go-between. I would protect him from Paul," Sandy testified as jurors listened closely. "Paul really didn't like Cody and I was afraid sometimes if I wasn't there what he might do."
http://www.courttv.com/trials/posey/012406_ctv.html

When the murdered girl's father basically can't grudge the killer for his actions and basically states about his dead ex-wife: "I wouldn't put anything past her" (i.e. the attempted rape of the boy), what the hell can be the results except jury nullification?

 

[concernedperson]

When the murdered girl's father basically can't grudge the killer for his actions and basically states about his dead ex-wife: "I wouldn't put anything past her" (i.e. the attempted rape of the boy), what the hell can be the results except jury nullification?

I agree. Today they had computer experts that testified that 5000 internet searches were found on Paul's computer. Most were *advertiser censored*.....mother/son incest and father/daughter incest. It was also testified that Cody was at school when most of these searches took place also there were no internet connections in Cody's room or Marilea's.