Prosecutors: Cash from Forestville pot slayings never found

Up to $250,000 in cash that was stolen from victims of a 2013 triple homicide in Forestville was hidden at a Denver-area ranch and never recovered, prosecutors said Monday.

The revelation came during opening statements in the trial of Mark William Cappello, 49, of Central City, Colo., who is charged with three counts of murder in what’s been called a pot deal gone bad.

Prosecutor Spencer Brady said Cappello - known to friends by the nickname Cowboy - shot his would-be business partners each once in the head when they met at a Ross Station Road cabin to complete the deal.

Cappello gave up to 80 pounds of stolen pot to two co-defendants before fleeing across the country with a Brazilian passport, Brady said. He kept the money for himself, hiding it at his brother Michael’s ranch, the prosecutor said.

Brady showed the nine-woman, three-man jury a picture of the bundled bills taken by one of the victims, Todd Klarkowski, 43, of Boulder, Colo., a week before he was slain. Cappello, who was hired to drive the pot from California to the East Coast, also killed former Sebastopol resident Raleigh Butler, 24, who brokered the deal, and stock broker and investor Richard Lewin, 46, of Huntington, N.Y., Brady said.

“That money and any other money involved in the purchase has not been found,” Brady said in his opening statement.

Cappello, who listened in court with his lawyer, Joe Stogner, showed little reaction as the prosecutor spoke. Brady drew gasps from the packed audience when he showed a close-up photo of the crime scene with the bloody bodies lying on the floor.

“This is a case about intentional, premeditated murder, betrayal and greed,” Brady told jurors.

In his opening, Stogner said his client couldn’t have committed the murders because he wasn’t at the scene. He pointed to accomplices Francis Raymond Dwyer, 68, of Truth or Consequences, N.M., and his son, Odin Leonard Dwyer, 41, of Black Hawk, Colo. , who were enlisted by Cappello to help transport the drugs.

At the time of the Feb. 5, 2013, slayings, a Ford Ranger similar to one owned by Francis Dwyer was seen driving in the area, while cell phone records indicate Cappello was at his Santa Rosa Avenue hotel room, Stogner said.

The defense’s theory relies on a discrepancy about the exact time of the shooting. Two defense witnesses suggest it happened at noon, while prosecutors believe it was an hour earlier at 11 a.m.

Stogner accused detectives of ignoring evidence that could free his client, while relying on “untrustworthy” accounts from the Dwyers. The father and son were at first charged with murder but admitted lesser charges in a deal to testify against Cappello.

“The claims of Francis and Odin Dwyer will be shown to you to be suspect,” Stogner told jurors.

The trial got underway almost three years to the day after the brutal killings that raised concerns about marijuana-related violence. It was delayed by a change in defense lawyers and indecision by prosecutors about whether to seek the death penalty. Jill Ravitch, Sonoma County’s district attorney, said in October she will seek life in prison.

On Monday, Brady, assisted by deputy prosecutor Robert Maddock, told jurors the evidence would prove Cappello is responsible. He described the defendant as a man who intimidated the Dwyers, liked guns and was a good shot.

“You’ll hear from the detectives it’s not easy to hit three men in succession, in the head, one after another,” Brady said.

The prosecutor said Cappello hooked up with Lewin, a New York City stockbroker who wanted to buy pot in California and sell it in his home state for a substantial profit. Lewin contacted Butler, a former Analy High School student he knew through a mutual friend, and asked him to arrange the purchase of up to 100 pounds.

Lewin met the Colorado-based Klarkowski, who Brady said had a history of “putting deals together,” and the two planned the transaction.

Cappello was hired as the driver, prosecutors said. He asked Francis and Odin Dwyer to follow him in his white Ford Bronco to California.

To get past airport security, Cappello was entrusted to carry the money to Sonoma County, where he arrived Feb. 4, according to prosecutors.

The night before the slaying, Cappello met the three victims at Sebastopol’s Hopmonk Tavern. The next day, they met in the restaurant’s parking lot before driving in separate cars to a one-room cabin on Ross Station Road.

As the victims packaged the pot for transport, Cappello pulled a .45-caliber pistol and shot each man once in the head, prosecutors allege. The crime scene photo showed them laying facedown over large plastic bags. A close-up of Butler’s jacket showed a folded wad of $50 bills protruding from a blood-stained pocket. He was paid an $8,600 broker fee, Brady said.

Odin Dwyer later told police he looked up in time to see Cappello’s outstretched arm with a gun in his hand. He feared he was next to die, Brady said.

“The defendant said, ‘Don’t worry about it … It had to be done,’” Brady told jurors.

The suspects loaded the pot into Cappello’s Bronco and drove to his hotel, Brady said. Cappello changed his clothes, shaved off his beard and instructed the Dwyers to dispose of the gun, he said.

Later, detectives would find the gun and ammunition in Hinebaugh Creek near Sonoma State University, he said.

Cappello also ditched his Bronco’s black hood bra and running board steps, along with the nitrile gloves he had been wearing, Brady said. Odin Dwyer would lead detectives to recover all the items.

The men drove to their respective homes, Brady said. It wasn’t clear when, but Cappello’s girlfriend told police she saw him carrying stacks of bills into his brother’s garage. According to online information, Michael Cappello runs a cattle ranch in Golden, Colo. He did not return a call Monday for comment.

Mark Cappello changed his Bronco’s tires, switched his black spare tire cover for a white one and bought new cowboy boots before fleeing east, Brady said. He was stopped on Interstate 10 in Mobile, Ala., on Feb. 14 after detectives tracked him to the area by a Valentine’s Day text message he sent to his girlfriend, Brady said.

The Dwyers were arrested 12 days later.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.