CLEARFIELD – On the sixth day of the Denny S. Bailey murder trial in Clearfield County, Bailey himself took the stand to tell his story.
Bailey, 41, Woodland, is charged with the murder of 19-year-old Chase Anderson of Curwensville in August of 2017.
Initially Anderson was reported missing by his mother, but the investigation turned into a murder case after it was reported that Bailey’s co-defendant, Kenja Kasheem Tew, 26, formerly of Clearfield, was telling people that Anderson was not coming back.
After being questioned, Tew took police to a remote area of Pike Township where they found Anderson’s body, which was partially burned.
Both Tew and Chantell Demi, Bailey’s ex-girlfriend had testified previously that it was Bailey, who plotted to take Anderson to the clearing in the woods to scare him, beat him and leave him to find his own way home.
Instead, Tew said after putting Anderson in a chokehold as Bailey asked him to, Anderson got loose and fought with Bailey, who stabbed him in the back several times. Tew admitted he also stabbed Anderson in the shoulder.
Various interviews Bailey had with police were played for the jury, each having a slightly different story.
On the stand Wednesday, Bailey stuck with his last version of events that had him home and not at the scene of the crime at all.
Instead, Bailey said it was Demi and Tew, who conspired to take Anderson to the remote location.
Bailey indicated he did not know what they were planning when the three left his home that evening. He said he knew Tew was angry with Anderson for him mentioning to police that they were both staying at an empty apartment.
Tew told Bailey it was the third time Anderson had snitched on him and Bailey thought Demi was taking them somewhere to fight, he testified.
When Demi and Tew returned, according to Bailey, they were both covered in blood and he helped clean them up. He also burned their clothes.
He also admitted to going back to the location “to clean up the scene” and destroy evidence Demi and Tew had left behind.
His earlier versions of his story detailed how he and Tew had taken Anderson to the woods instead of Demi.
On Wednesday, he explained this difference was his effort to protect Demi.
After he discovered she was cooperating with authorities, he changed his mind about her.
“It hurt me when she turned over the love letters as if they were evidence and they weren’t,” he said.
As for the thorns or splinters that Demi was taking out of his back according to previous testimony, Bailey claimed they were not from the bush at the murder scene but from another incident around that same time.
He stated that he was high on methamphetamine and paranoid so he put all his drugs and paraphernalia in a backpack.
A friend drove him to the DuBois Airport where he planned to put the pack in a locker but when he saw a security guard outside, he panicked and they drove away instead.
Later Demi picked him up. As they drove, he told her to just pull off the road. He then walked through a large bush to go through the woods, then along the railroad tracks to his home while Demi drove the rest of the way without him.
Bailey also talked about his health and having myasthenia gravis, which attacks white blood cells and makes muscles weak.
He received regular treatments of infusions of white blood cells. Anderson would drive him to and from medical appointments.
Defense attorney Joe Ryan showed the jury photos of Bailey with a woman he dated earlier in 2017 while they were at a hospital in April of that year. He was walking with a cane.
Bailey explained that he has attacks that leave his legs weak, one of which he had in March of 2017. He had to have physical therapy to strengthen his muscles.
During her cross-examination, First Assistant District Attorney Leanne Nedza, asked Bailey about his relationship with Anderson, who had been driving him out of town to pick up drugs.
When asked about Anderson’s honesty, Bailey agreed Anderson was honest, which he liked because he could trust him.
She pointed out that Bailey had a motive to kill Anderson because Anderson had to go to the police station on Monday, Aug. 14, 2017 to talk about the apartment situation or burglary charges would be filed against him and a warrant issued.
“Anderson was honest with police on Aug. 12, 2017 and then Demi was out buying duct tape and garbage bags on Aug. 13, 2017.”
(Demi had previously testified that these items were to be used in the kidnapping and assault of Anderson).
Bailey claimed he was not worried that Anderson was going to tell authorities anything about him or his drug business.
“He didn’t know anything really,” he stated.
Nedza also accused Bailey of listening to all the testimony during the trial and changing his story to fit what he had heard.
In response to the descriptions of Bailey’s health at the time of the murder, Nedza presented two short video clips of Bailey helping Demi up stairs and of Bailey quickly going down steps and running, which were taken that summer.
The trial will resume Thursday morning with closing arguments before the jury begins their deliberations.