The capital murder trial of James Tench, the Brunswick man accused of killing his mother in 2013, entered its fourth week with Tench taking the witness stand.
Tench, 30, is charged with aggravated murder, murder, aggravated robbery and evidence tampering in the Nov. 13, 2013, death of Mary Tench, 55. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
ASHLEY FOX / GAZETTE
James Tench takes the stand on Monday in the murder trial of his mother, Mary Tench of Brunswick. James was arrested in connection with his mother’s death.
The jury is expected to begin deliberations when court resumes at 9 a.m. today before Common Pleas Judge Joyce V. Kimbler.
Tench already is serving a five-year prison sentence at the Richland Correctional Institute in Mansfield for a restaurant robbery in Strongsville.
Defense lawyers Kerry O’Brien and Rhonda Kotnik attempted to show the jury Monday that Tench had explanations for personal difficulties in his life that were occurring in late 2013.
The line of questioning covered events in the days leading up to when Mary Tench’s body was found Nov. 12, 2013, in her SUV about a half mile from the Brunswick home she shared with her son.
Tench answered questions from defense and prosecution lawyers for more than three hours in the morning and afternoon sessions.
In testimony about his relationship with ex-girlfriend Christina Kyker, Tench said he supplied her with a debit card linked to his bank account. He testified he would spend only what money he made, but when she had access to his account, she spent what he made and more, causing his account to become overdrawn multiple times.
Tench was asked why he didn’t close his account or stop Kyker from using the debit card. Tench replied that Kyker had convinced him not to take the card away from her, but he was going to do so eventually anyway.
Tench said he saw his mother writing checks to pay bills prior to her disappearance. He said he was forging checks belonging to her without her knowledge, which is why he robbed the restaurant in Strongsville. He said he wanted to replenish some money to her account.
He also was asked why he didn’t go to his mother right away about the money issues, but instead tried to cover everything up.
Tench replied his mother died not know that he had robbed the restaurant and he didn’t know why he didn’t speak to her about finances.
County Prosecutor Dean Holman asked Tench whether he had rehearsed the answers he gave to questions from his lawyers.
“Yes, a little,” Tench replied.
The morning lineup of defense witnesses included a friend of Mary Tench; James’ deceased father’s brother, Gregory Tench; a childhood friend and her mother; and a clergyman affiliated with the Cuyahoga County Jail.
Gregory Tench testified he was hunting in Arkansas when he found out from his nephew James that Mary Tench was missing. He said he packed up as soon as he could and headed to Ohio. Gregory Tench said he thought James sounded distraught because his mother was missing.
Cheryl Turner, a friend of Mary Tench, testified that holidays at the Tench home on Camden Lane in Brunswick weren’t anything out of the ordinary and that family members talked with one another “like normal.”
Also Monday, the subject of Mary Tench’s health was brought up.
Mary Tench was scheduled to have a procedure to remove a cyst from her ovary, which James Tench said doctors initially were unsure was cancerous. He said tests later showed the cyst was benign.
Tench said he called his sister, Jennifer Swain, to try to convince their mother to go to the doctor right away. But Mary declined, saying she would have the doctor look at a different problem involving her nose when she went in for her procedure.
According to James Tench, Mary “banged up her face” when she fell going to get the newspaper in the driveway of their Brunswick home. She put on her deceased husband’s boots, a men’s size 11, went outside and fell in the driveway, injuring her nose the day before the gynecological procedure.
Turner, Mary Tench’s best friend since college, told the jury she agreed to take Mary to her procedure. Under questioning from defense lawyers, she said she noticed a scab on Mary’s nose in 2013, but it could have been a few months before the procedure took place.
James Tench’s childhood friend, Felicia Fedarko, formerly of Brunswick and now from Olmsted Falls, testified they were “best friends since sixth or seventh grade.” She said she and James “hung out” on a daily basis growing up.
Fedarko said she never observed Tench criticizing or acting mean to his mother during their friendship.
In July 2013, however, they lost contact because of Kyker. Fedarko said she and Kyker never met.
Fedarko said she heard through mutual friends in November 2013 about Tench being arrested, so she reached out to him. She testified she wrote him letters “when it all started,” also communicating by phone at times.
Fedarko’s mother, Diane Fedarko of Brunswick, also took the stand Monday.
Diane Fedarko said James Tench had babysat her grandchild, Felicia’s son, when the child was 4 or 5 years old.
She explained that when she found out Mary Tench was missing, it was through her daughter’s friends.
When the Fedarkos were able to contact James Tench, Diane Fedarko said he was upset and scared, echoing Gregory Tench’s comments about how James acted during visits and phone calls.
Diane Fedarko and Mary Tench never met during their children’s friendship, she said.
Earlier in the morning, the Rev. Neil Walters, a chaplain at the Cuyahoga County Jail, testified.
In the time he’s known James Tench, Walters said he observed that Tench “was friendly and stressed … and we had nice chats. He didn’t scare me away.”
He added that he and Tench met regularly, about every week. Tench, being Catholic, received sacraments and Walters said they would pray together.
The chaplain said inmates “don’t have to be a card-carrying Catholic” to pray with or perform religious acts.