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With a goal "to try to understand what happened," the Kosciusko County prosecutor enlisted the help of a scientific laboratory to recreate the fire that killed a 7-year-old Cromwell boy nearly two years ago.
Representatives of Barker-Herbert Laboratories of New Haven spent four days last week in the home of Richard and Sherrie Cusick hoping to determine various criteria important to the case, such as the levels of carbon monoxide and oxygen in the closet in which Anthony Cusick died, as well as the heat level. Police reports at the time of the incident indicated that a coat in the closet ignited and gave off toxic fumes and smoke that left the boy unconscious.
Sherrie Cusick was indicted in February by a grand jury and is charged with murder in connection with Anthony Cusick's death. She was the boy's stepmother and was left in charge of the child when a fire broke out in a closet of the home Nov. 23, 1996. She reportedly evacuated everyone from the home, but couldn't locate Anthony. A neighbor found the boy in the closet after Sherrie Cusick went to his house to call 911.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor David Kolbe said he came up with the idea of the recreation after questions remained unanswered despite an investigation that included building a replica of the closet in the Barker-Herbert lab.
The Cusick family was temporarily displaced from their home during the testing process, but were otherwise allowed to come and go as they pleased. Kolbe said that the Cusicks and defense attorneys cooperated with the investigation and agreed to the testing.
Whether that information is accepted in court, though, remains to be seen. Kolbe said the evidence will be admissible, but the defense doesn't have to agree with the opinions of the prosecution experts.
During the tests, computers and videotapes were used to help determine the toxic gas level and to record the scene from different parts of the house.
"This was phenomenal to do," Kolbe said. "It's a breakthrough forensically." He added that the expense of much of the testing was borne by those conducting the tests since they were interested in the matter as a learning experience.
Sherrie Cusick is scheduled to go on trial for four days in Kosciusko Circuit Court beginning Nov. 30. The next time she appears in court will be Oct. 8, when the prosecution argues against a defense motion to disallow evidence regarding the death of another Cusick child from being brought up during trial.
Four-year-old Kaelie Cusick also died while in Sherrie Cusick's care. The child suffered a broken neck in an Aug. 12, 1996, tumble down a flight of stairs in the Cusick home. The same grand jury that indicted Sherrie Cusick in Anthony Cusick's death voted not to return an indictment against her in Kaelie's death.
