CLEARFIELD – The re-trial of Andrew Callahan continued this afternoon with testimony from former classmates and acquaintances.
Callahan is charged with shooting Micah Pollock in the back nearly 10 years ago and then placing his body in a Beccaria Township beaver dam.
Many who took the stand were friends or acquaintances of Callahan and Pollock. Those people testified that on Nov. 5, 1997, they were all to meet up and party at a predesignated area. When Pollock did not show up, they waited. Some questioned Callahan. According to those people, Callahan said he dropped Pollock off at home around.
Christopher McClellan was one of those witnesses. He said that he was on the phone with Pollock, before they were supposed to meet. He testified that Pollock told him he was with Callahan.
The next day, McClellan and others went looking for Callahan on Nov. 6 because Pollock had not been seen. McClellan said he and two other people drove to Pollock’s to see if he was home, and he was not. Sean Warsek testified that when Callahan was asked on Nov. 6 where Pollock was, he said he did not know.
Jennifer Ruffner testified that she called a trailer that Callahan was known to hang out at to find Pollock. While on the phone with her cousin who was at the trailer, Ruffner said that she overheard Callahan say that he killed Pollock and buried him. She said she did not take the comment seriously at the time.
She was not the only person to testify that Callahan made statements along those lines. James Daniel Pennington testified that he heard a similar statement during that phone call at his trailer, as did his brother, Seth Pennington, who also lived at the trailer.
Callahan’s peers were questioned as to his appearance and state of mind during this time period. They all testified that he appeared normal. He could drive well and did not appear intoxicated. James Pennington testified that Callahan smoked marijuana at his trailer. Others testified that they smoked Callahan on the evening of Nov. 5, 1997.
Both Pennington’s said that when after police questioned them about Pollock’s missing status, they informed police that Callahan was at their trailer around 6 or 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 5, 1997. They both testified that Callahan told them to tell police that he was there around 5 p.m. if they were questioned about it again.
One elderly woman testified that on Nov. 6, 1997 Callahan asked to borrow her four wheeler. An elderly man testified that on Nov. 6, 1997 Callahan asked him to unlock a gate to the man’s property because his car was behind the gate. The man said that he thought Callahan got in by driving it over a steep embankment. Linda Kutruff, who worked at the Dollar General at the time, testified that Callahan came in on Nov. 6 to buy a plastic garbage can.
Rochell Cossick, a friend of Kaylee McClellan, testified that after Kaylee and Callahan broke up Callahan was jealous. She testified that on one occasion Callahan followed she and Kaylee from Glasgow to a cemetery where they turned the car off in hopes that Callahan would not see them. Cossick was asked by defense council if it was unusual for a friend to follow another friend.
“Not riding their bumper,” replied Cossick.
The trial is scheduled to continue Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Keep reading GantDaily for updates on the trial.