Detective: Suspect in Blue Top robbery brought out alternate personality after arrest (with video)
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Defense attorney Jerod Barkley, left, questions a Wisconsin Department of Revenue investigator, Mark Jurgella, about cigarettes connected to the Blue Top Shell robbery in July. / B.C. Kowalski/Stevens Point Journal Media
STEVENS POINT — The suspect in a robbery trial that continues to take bizarre twists will not testify on his own behalf.
Vincent Belthem, 28, of Stevens Point told Portage County Circuit Judge John Finn on Wednesday that he would not present evidence or testify during the trial that started Tuesday and is set to conclude this week.
Belthem is accused of robbing the Blue Top Shell gas station on the city’s south side July 28, with the assistance of his girlfriend, Kianna Nelson, who fled to Arizona.
Defense attorney Jerod Barkley told Finn on Wednesday that Belthem would not testify because testimony he gave during a motion hearing Friday could be used in the trial. Belthem petitioned the court to throw out statements made to police after the robbery because he said he was high on LSD.
A defendant in a criminal trial can’t be required to testify, but can choose to do so.
Lawrynk said Wednesday under questioning from Portage County Assistant District Attorney Cass Cousins that police arrested Belthem after he returned to the police station two days after the robbery took place and asked detectives for his phone back. Police consulted with prosecutors and decided they had enough evidence to arrest Belthem in connection with the crime.
Belthem barked on the way to jail, Lawrynk said, and refused to talk to police after he was read his rights, instead trying to stare down the detective.
After police were ready to leave the jail, Belthem requested to speak to detectives, telling him that he was Sam and that he had committed the crime, Lawrynk said. After confessing to the robbery, Sam once again became Belthem, and told police that he couldn’t summon Sam at will. When police started leaving, Sam returned, Lawrynk said.
Vincent Belthem, 28, of Stevens Point told Portage County Circuit Judge John Finn on Wednesday that he would not present evidence or testify during the trial that started Tuesday and is set to conclude this week.
Belthem is accused of robbing the Blue Top Shell gas station on the city’s south side July 28, with the assistance of his girlfriend, Kianna Nelson, who fled to Arizona.
Defense attorney Jerod Barkley told Finn on Wednesday that Belthem would not testify because testimony he gave during a motion hearing Friday could be used in the trial. Belthem petitioned the court to throw out statements made to police after the robbery because he said he was high on LSD.
A defendant in a criminal trial can’t be required to testify, but can choose to do so.
Twists and turns
The decision not to testify came after a series of bizarre revelations during testimony from Stevens Point Police Detectuve John Lawrynk, who said Belthem’s changing stories to police included a claim that he had been in Wisconsin Rapids at the time of the robbery in a burgundy Lexus with a woman he’d just met, and that the crime was committed by his alternate personality. Belthem also barked like a dog after being arrested, Lawrynk said.Lawrynk said Wednesday under questioning from Portage County Assistant District Attorney Cass Cousins that police arrested Belthem after he returned to the police station two days after the robbery took place and asked detectives for his phone back. Police consulted with prosecutors and decided they had enough evidence to arrest Belthem in connection with the crime.
Belthem barked on the way to jail, Lawrynk said, and refused to talk to police after he was read his rights, instead trying to stare down the detective.
After police were ready to leave the jail, Belthem requested to speak to detectives, telling him that he was Sam and that he had committed the crime, Lawrynk said. After confessing to the robbery, Sam once again became Belthem, and told police that he couldn’t summon Sam at will. When police started leaving, Sam returned, Lawrynk said.
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State Crime Lab DNA forensic scientist Rebecca Ciske also testified Wednesday, saying evidence from a pair of gloves and a mask from the robbery had DNA that matched a sample provided of Belthem’s.
Ciske said there was evidence of other DNA, as well, and under questioning from Barkley said the Crime Lab did not determine who those samples matched.
Cousins on Tuesday played video of the robbery from two different angles, showing a man in a flannel jacket, white mask and gloves matching the clothes they found at Koziczkowski Park after the robbery. The video shows the man enter the store, force the cashier back toward the register, take money and cigarettes, and exit the store.
Closing arguments
Belthem remains in custody at the Portage County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond. If convicted of the robbery, he could face as much as 15 years in prison and $50,000 in fines.Both Cousins and Barkley will make closing arguments today, after which the jury will discuss its decision. The trial is scheduled to conclude Friday but is ahead of schedule and could wrap up earlier.
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