'Goldfinger' homicide moves toward Dec. trial

Nov. 1—Several issues were resolved as attorneys in the January 2018 homicide of Albin Von (Salvatore) Buechel, 71, kept on schedule for a Dec. 14-16 trial date. Billy Joe Wannyn, 50, is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder and armed robbery in the case.

Buechel — who referred to himself as "Goldfinger" on his Facebook account because of his gold-buying business — was found stabbed to death in his Arthur Seagraves Rd. home just west of Pleasant Hill.

Wannyn, of Depot St., Sparta has been held in jail in lieu of bond since his arrest shortly after Buechel's body was found inside his home in what investigators Thursday and at the time of the incident described as a very bloody scene.

The case has been delayed since Wannyn was indicted in March 2018 because of a change in attorneys more than once and because of the year-long ban on trials as a result of the COVID-19 ban issued by the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Wannyn is represented by attorneys Sam Hudson and Howard Upchurch while the state is represented by Assistant District Attorneys Philip Hatch and Amanda Worley.

Judge Wesley Bray presided over the hearing and will be the trial judge. Among the issues settled Thursday were:

—Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Andy Vallee will be allowed to testify as an expert in the area of radio frequency analysis as it assists law enforcement and jurors understand data from electronic means.

Defense attorneys attempted to ban Vallee's testimony as an expert based on his lack of certification or degree as a radio frequency engineer.

Vallee, who has attended numerous conferences and training in the area of expertise over the past 11 years, and whose writing(s) have been published on the topic, explained his job as "taking data from providers, conducting analysis and reducing the information to what common laymen can understand."

Under questioning from Hudson, Vallee testified weather, terrain, general location of the caller/receiver and location of towers are all taken into consideration when performing analysis.

Vallee's testimony is expected to relate to the examination of a cell phone seized when investigators made contact with Wannyn.

Hudson argued Vallee should not be allowed to testify because he does not hold the radio frequency engineering degree and would not qualify to work as such in the private sector.

Hatch countered that Vallee has done the same work as such for 11 years and has testified in state and federal court in other cases after being declared an expert in the field. Hatch said by knowledge, skill, training and education, Vallee qualified as an expert.

Bray ruled that having been certified in other courts in the field to testify, there was no compelling reason Vallee not be allowed to testify in the Buechel case.

—Motion to suppress a vehicle search warrant based on jurisdiction, and to suppress evidence taken from a cell phone searches was next on the list.

A defense motion attempted to suppress both searches — the vehicle search because it was claimed to have been taken place in Van Buren County — and the cell phone search challenged because of a claim the judicial commissioner issuing the search warrant was not qualified to do so.

Judicial Commissioner Supervisor Jennifer Cross testified that JC Steve Rezio was a qualified commissioner on Jan. 22, 2018, at 4:24 a.m. when the search warrant for the phone was issued.

Upchurch argued there was no reason the search warrant was not issued by a judge and also challenged the independence of judicial commissioners which is required by state law.

The judicial commissioner's office is located off the common lobby shared by the sheriff's office in the Justice Center and Upchurch argued the day-to-day contact between the two offices should have banned a JC from issuing the warrant.

"There is no mutual detachment" between the two offices, said Upchurch.

In relation to the search of the car near Spencer, Sheriff's Investigator Gary Green and District Attorney's Investigator Chris Ison both testified that Wannyn gave permission to search the 2000 Nissan Maxima belonging to Wannyn when contact was made with him in Van Buren County.

Green also testified the car was towed to the Cumberland County Justice Center after he observed looking into the passenger window a Japanese Yen note with what appeared to have blood on it and a foreign substance spot in the car.

That and because Wannyn had a bandaged hand with what appeared to be a cut wound, the vehicle was towed to Crossville where a search warrant was obtained and carried out.

Testimony showed Wannyn told investigators he cut his hand handling tin while working.

Bray said the issues were "well argued" but denied both motions to suppress.

—A motion to dismiss the indictment, based on the destruction of video and/or audio recordings, was denied because there was no proof such existed.

Hatch called Sheriff's Investigator Scott Griffin to the stand. Griffin, in addition to his investigative duties, serves as the IT person for the department. He testified there are three surveillance cameras in the Justice Center lobby at the sheriff's office. Only one has the capabilities of audio recording.

Griffin said he was asked by investigators to review recordings — audio and video — of Wannyn's appearance in the lobby just before investigators believe the homicide took place. He met with a bail bondsman to bail out of jail Wanda Parks, described as his girlfriend. When told by the bondsman how much it would cost, Wannyn left and returned a period of time later with the cash.

One video camera did not show Wannyn or any interaction with a bondsman or Parks and eventually the camera self-recycled over the recording of the date in question, which is normal, Griffin said.

Hatch argued Griffin did not have a duty "to preserve evidence that does not exist ... there is no evidence anything was destroyed."

Upchurch countered that defense attorneys do not know what was on that recording since it was not saved. He asked that if the indictment was not dismissed, at least all evidence gleaned from the video cameras be excluded from the jury.

"Without the defense being able to review the recording, we don't know what was on it ... we move to exclude all video."

Bray ruled Griffin testified he did not see Parks or Wannyn on the outside camera and there was no reason to preserve that recording.

A motion to suppress a statement Wannyn gave TBI Special Agent In Charge Dan Friel was the last motion heard Thursday.

Friel described what he found when he responded to the scene. He said he found a small crime scene that was "very bloody," and that blood was found on the door and the porch as well as inside the door and in the kitchen.

Lack of blood beneath the body suggested to investigators Buechel was stabbed in the kitchen and fell "five feet from the door.

He concluded that the stabbing was a surprise attack and gave Buechel no chance to defend himself.

The agent testified Wannyn became a person of interest early in the investigation and when contacted, agreed to come to Crossville for an interview that was conducted by Friel and CCSO Chief Deputy Jerry Jackson.

Wannyn waived his miranda rights to speak with the investigators and Friel described the questioning as non-confrontational.

The investigation lasted for up to three hours and

Under cross examination from Hudson, Friel testified he took two photos during the questioning — one of the wound on Wannyn's right hand and the other of blood droplets on his clothing.

Hatch argued Wannyn was read his rights twice and there was no evidence he was drugged or abused during questioning. The interaction between investigators and Wannyn was recorded.

Hudson said that during the questioning in Spencer and the Justice Center, Wannyn was not free to leave and was in custody during that time.

Bray denied the motion to suppress the statement.

Motions to suppress the number of photos and certain photos from being presented to the jury, the discovery of Oxycodone in a hotel room prior to the homicide and history of drug use and banning of prior bad acts will be heard on Nov. 23 after the hearing was continued.

Taken under advisement was admissibility of a portion of Wannyn's statement, admission for the jury of phone records and a defense request for individual questioning of potential jurors.

Michael Moser may be reached at mmoser@crossville-chronicle.com