SUNBURY -- It was Richard C. Curran's strange behavior just hours after allegedly shooting to death his former wife that tipped off a Canadian border patrol officer that something was amiss.
Border patrol officer Tamara Holmes said Curran was acting strangely the evening of Aug. 24, 2005, when he attempted to cross the Canadian border at Niagara Falls, N.Y.
"He wasn't making eye contact with me," Holmes said from the witness stand during the second day of testimony at Curran's homicide trial.
Curran, 34, of Shamokin, could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the Aug. 24, 2005, fatal shooting of Tina Curran, 31, of Mount Carmel, who died after being shot seven times in the parking lot at Shamokin Community Hospital, where she worked as a nurse. Curran was captured while attempting to cross into Canada.
When Curran attempted to cross the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls, Holmes asked him a series of questions regarding his citizenship, residency, identification and destination.
When prompted, Curran told Holmes he was a police officer.
"He was looking straight ahead and when he'd answer he'd turn his head slowly to the left," Holmes remembered. "I've dealt with police officers before and I've never had a police officer stare straight ahead."
Curran told Holmes that he had one handgun under the driver's seat of his Ford Focus, but customs officials found much more.
Inside Curran's car were two handguns, a bayonet and 785 rounds of ammunition.
Also seized from Curran's car were a bulletproof vest, pepper spray, a gun holster, two empty duffle bags and $2,626 in cash.
Curran's defense attorney, Karl Rominger, of Carlisle, asked retired Coal Township Police Chief Richard Higgins if it was unusual for a police officer such as Curran, who was employed as a police officer in Bernville, Berks County, at the time of the shooting, to have such items in his personal vehicle.
"I would never condone the concept of carrying this amount of ammunition or a weapon in a car. Never," Higgins said. "And I've been in law enforcement 34 years."
In comparing the volume of ammunition to that used in sport shooting, Rominger said: "Large amounts of ammunition are not unusual per se."
"I think in police work you have to be extra careful," Higgins said.
"I'm not saying he's the world's best police officer," Rominger responded.
Geisinger Medical Center emergency room Dr. Timothy Vollmer said there was nothing he or his staff could do for Tina Curran when she arrived at the hospital the morning of Aug. 24, 2005; she already had lost too much blood from the seven gunshot wounds she suffered to her neck, chest, buttocks, leg and hand.
"When she arrived with us, there were basically no signs of life at all," Vollmer said. "Had the accident happened outside our ER doors I don't think the outcome would have been different."
Curran's trial continues this morning in front of Northumberland County President Judge Robert B. Sacavage.
News
Related Photos
-
Wayne Laepple/The Daily Item
Discussion
Curran flubbed getaway at border
Officer: 'He wasn't making eye contact"
- News
-
-
Memorial Day Observances
Here is a listing of Memorial Day events this weekend in the Central Susquehanna Valley.
-
Man pleads guilty in 2006 Penn State student death
STATE COLLEGE — A man whose murder conviction was previously thrown out in the fatal beating of a Penn State student six years ago has pleaded guilty in the killing under a deal with prosecutors.
-
10 Things to Know Today
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today (times EDT):
-
Privately-operated Dragon capsule arrives at space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space station astronauts have captured the Dragon. The privately bankrolled Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station today, making history as the first commercial delivery truck in orbit
-
Streaker at Phillies-Cardinals game last night lost a bet
ST. LOUIS — The streaker who ran naked onto the field during a Cardinals game says he did so because he lost a bet.
-
Jokester cop tased intern at station
NORTHUMBERLAND — A Northumberland police detective claims in a lawsuit filed Wednesday he was wrongly blamed after an officer shot an intern with a Taser gun while fooling around at the police station in December.
-
Midd-West taxpayers face increase of $109
MIDDLEBURG — The Midd-West School District on Thursday night announced an average property tax increase of $109 to help offset its $1.8 million budget deficit for the 2012-13 school year.
Midd-West will also close two elementary schools, consolidate two middle schools, cut programs and furlough seven teachers and 23 other staff members. -
LARA: Charred bridge sound
LEWISBURG — The fire-damaged railroad bridge crossing the Susquehanna River at Lewisburg is structurally sound following the March fire that discolored steel and charred roughly 400 ties, the Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority said at its meeting Thursday.
-
Stat of the Day: $2.6 million
Stat of the Day: $2.6 million.
That's what President Barack Obama has spent on advertising in Iowa, which may be a battleground state in November's election against presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
-
Northampton County jury sentences man to death in officer killing
EASTON — Jurors in eastern Pennsylvania have sentenced a man to death for fatally shooting a police officer last summer.
-
'To Do': Ambulance Anniversary
DANVILLE - The Danville Ambulance Service will celebrate its 60th anniversary with a free pig roast open to the public starting at noon May 25 at the service on A Street.
-
Judge denies convicted teen's request to attend vocational school
MIDDLEBURG — The teen convicted of causing a March 2010 car crash that killed two classmates will not be allowed to leave jail to attend a vocational school.
- More News Headlines
-
