🗣️ Witness

Heather Maxon

Witness who described an SUV and its occupants outside 34 Fairview Road.

Trial 1Trial 2

341 lines 6 proceedings 2 trials

About

Heather Maxon rode with Ryan Nagel in Ricky D’Antuono’s truck to pick up Nagel’s sister Julie. She testified that the truck yielded to an SUV turning onto Fairview Road and parked behind it. At the retrial, she described seeing a female driver and a male front-seat passenger as the SUV turned. While the truck was stopped, she saw Julie come out of the house but did not see anyone leave the SUV or cross the yard. As the truck left, Maxon saw the female driver but not the man. She acknowledged in her first testimony that he could still have been inside the SUV. Maxon said her attention during the stop was on Julie, and she did not study the SUV’s interior as the truck passed. She recalled no unusual condition at its rear and could not identify the driver as the person seated in court. Her first law-enforcement interview came 19 months after the events. At the retrial, she could not rule out having checked her phone and said she had not watched the SUV every second. On redirect, she could not recall which direction she had faced, though she did not think she had faced away from the house and SUV.

Trial Record (6)

Trial 1 First Criminal Trial Apr 29, 2024 – Jul 1, 2024 3 proceedings

Day 12 May 15, 2024

Direct Heather Maxon - Direct Examination Heather Maxon Adam Lally 3 highlights 146 lines spoken

Summary

Maxon described an SUV parked outside Julie's friend's house and said she later saw only a female driver inside as the group left.

Highlights (3)

Quote

“I noticed a male and a female in the car.”

Maxon described the SUV's occupants when it approached the street.

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Quote

“I did not see any other person. Just the female in the driver's seat.”

Maxon described what she observed inside the SUV as the truck departed.

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Key Moment

Maxon described seeing an SUV approach from the opposite direction, turn onto the same street, and park outside the house where the group stopped.

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Cross Heather Maxon Cross-Examination Heather Maxon Alan Jackson 2 highlights 69 lines spoken

Summary

Maxon described limits on her attention and recollection and said she saw only the female driver as the truck departed.

Highlights (2)

Quote

“He could have been in when it was parked. But the only person I saw as we were pulling away was the female driver.”

Maxon qualified her observation of the SUV's occupants, distinguishing what she saw as the truck departed from what she could rule out.

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Key Moment

Maxon said the male she had earlier seen in the SUV could have remained inside, while the only person she saw as the truck pulled away was the female driver.

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Redirect Heather Maxon - Redirect Heather Maxon Adam Lally 4 lines spoken

Summary

Maxon said she did not see a six-foot man walk from the SUV toward the house.

Trial 2 Retrial Apr 22, 2025 – Jun 18, 2025 3 proceedings

Day 9 May 5, 2025

Direct Heather Maxon - Direct Heather Maxon Hank Brennan 4 highlights 84 lines spoken

Summary

Heather Maxon testifies about seeing an SUV with a female driver and male passenger on Fairview Road the night of January 28-29, 2022, and observing no one exit the vehicle or walk across the yard.

Highlights (4)

Quote

“Most likely. Yes.”

Maxon agreed that alcohol most likely affected her perception and that she believed she was impaired, qualifying the certainty of her observations.

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Quote

“I saw a male and a female inside the car.”

Establishes two occupants in the SUV when it arrived on Fairview Road

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Quote

“I did not.”

In response to whether she saw anyone exit the SUV during their entire stop — central to the prosecution's timeline

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Quote

“I saw the female that I saw beforehand also still in the car.”

On departure, the female driver remained but the male passenger was no longer visible

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Cross Heather Maxon - Cross Heather Maxon David Yannetti 2 highlights 33 lines spoken

Summary

Defense attorney Yannetti cross-examines Heather Maxon, establishing she may have been distracted by her phone while parked near the SUV and was not actively monitoring the vehicle.

Highlights (2)

Quote

“Not with certainty. No.”

Maxon cannot say with certainty that she was not checking her phone while waiting, leaving phone use possible but not remembered.

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Quote

“Very much so. Yes.”

Maxon confirms she was tired, compounding the distraction factors — alcohol, phone use, fatigue, disinterest

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Redirect Heather Maxon - Redirect Heather Maxon Hank Brennan 2 highlights 5 lines spoken

Summary

Prosecutor Brennan's brief redirect sought to address the defense's suggestion that Maxon was not paying attention, while Maxon gave qualified answers about her orientation and attention.

Highlights (2)

Quote

“I don't think I was facing the opposite.”

Maxon's qualified response that she did not think she was facing the opposite direction; it does not establish that she was oriented toward the house and SUV or continuously observing them.

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Quote

“No.”

Final confirmation that no one other than Julie came in or out of the house while the truck was parked nearby.

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Locations Touched By This Testimony

34 Fairview Road 5 procs C.F. McCarthy's 2 procs