Witness statements are dragging on, but the questioning of a dead eyewitness remains a sticking point in the Fairbanks murder trial

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – On the second day of the second murder trial of 47-year-old Chad Zurlo, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Baldock called a number of police officers to testify.

The witnesses primarily described their initial reactions and the subsequent investigation into the May 8, 2014, shooting of Steven Corcoran in a home he shared with the defendant near Gold Claim Avenue.

Zurlo is charged with second-degree murder in the case – a charge for which a jury convicted him in 2016 before an appeals court overturned the verdict in 2022.

According to court documents, Corcoran rented a room to Zurlo and his then-girlfriend Serena Vallier starting May 1, 2014. Corcoran and Zurlo often argued about work and allegedly threatened Zurlo on several occasions.

On May 8, Corcoran allegedly yelled at the defendant and Vallier in their bedroom. Zurlo later told investigators he saw Corcoran put a hand behind his back, and the defendant said that was when he reached for his own gun on a nightstand and shot Corcoran in the face.

Photos shown at trial show a gunshot wound to the right of Corcoran’s eye.

According to public defender Eric Hedland, Zurlo then discharged his gun, placed it on the bed, told another roommate to call 911 and went outside to wait for officers to arrive.

Many of the events are undisputed, and Thursday’s testimony often repeated or reinforced the account of what happened that night, according to lawyers.

Investigators said they found the gun, a magazine, live ammunition and a few knives on the bed while Corcoran lay dead upright at the foot of the bed.

The fired bullet was found in the room by the landlord two days later and subsequently handed over to the investigating authorities.

On Thursday, Hedland occasionally sought to cast doubt on the handling of Zurlo and the crime scene itself, claiming that officers decided to charge Zurlo with premeditated murder before the crime scene had been fully examined.

The jury acquitted Zurlo of first-degree murder in 2016. Following that trial, he was found guilty of first-degree murder, and the new indictment lists only one count of first-degree murder.

The biggest sticking point remains the content of Vallier’s interview with the Alaska State Troopers after the incident.

Her words are the crux of the case so far and account for the greatest gap between the respective accounts of the defense and the prosecution, with the two parties focusing on different parts of the interview.

Baldock, who included on the witness stand former police officer Kirsten Hansen, who was present at the 2014 interrogation, asked Hansen to confirm that Vallier told investigators that Zurlo told her he “freaked out” immediately after the shooting.

Hansen confirmed this.

The defense, however, claimed that Corcoran cornered Zurlo and Vallier in the bedroom. Hedland asked Hansen to confirm that Vallier told investigators that Corcoran’s leg touched hers while he was yelling at Zurlo.

Hansen also answered this question in the affirmative.

Vallier testified in the original trial in 2016, but has since died. Besides the defendant, she was the only eyewitness to the shooting.

All rights reserved.