DA commemorates one of the longest trials in local history
Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan commemorates one of the longest trials in local history
The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office commemorated the conclusion of one of the longest trials in local history –- the 30th anniversary, on May 30, of the conviction of Emilian Paszko in the first degree murder of Easthampton pharmacist Leslie Zive.
The seven-week-long trial in April-May 1981 marked the beginning of increased cooperation among state and local police. It also launched a new era in the district’s victim-witness advocacy program, the role of which in protecting victims’ rights has steadily grown since then.
Zive’s widow, Edith Zive, Attorney William St. James, a former prosecutor who tried the case and investigating officers attended the commemorative May 27 event at the Northampton DA’s office at One Gleason Plaza in Northampton.
Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan presented flowers to a tearful Zive and plaques to investigators, St. James and to former prosecutor David Ross, now an Orange District Court judge, who was unable to attend.
St. James called it the most significant case of long career. Zive said she has remained in touch with St. James and Ross ever since.
“As a result of the tireless work of police investigators and prosecutors, a murderer was convicted and justice was served in this case,” Sullivan said.
Zive, 35, the father of three young sons and owner of the former Merrigan’s Pharmacy, on Union Street, in Easthampton was hard at work on a Sunday, June 8, 1980, when Paszko, then 29 and living in Chicopee, shot him in the head during a robbery.
A prescription drug addict, Paszko confessed the crime to fellow prisoners while going through withdrawal symptoms in a Chautauqua County jail in New York State, after police stopped him there following a high speed chase on June 19. But his sister-in-law provided the most significant information leading to his conviction, when she led police to a wooded area near the Brattleboro/Guilford, Vt. town line where she had seen Paszko leave a gun fitting the description of the murder weapon wrapped in plastic bag.
Jurors spent more than 15 hours on Friday and a Saturday morning deliberating before returning the guilty verdict. Judge William Simons imposed the mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Over the years, St. James and Ross stayed in close touch with Zive, going to her three sons’ bar mitzvahs and weddings. In 2000, Ross presided over Zive’s wedding to Michael Baillargeon with St. James as the witness.