The memories from that night appear in snapshots – sometimes incomplete and, in other instances, out of sequence.
More than two years after one of his best friend’s was fatally stabbed during a drug deal gone bad, Sam Chase is still sorting through the details and trying to make sense of them in his mind.
Under oath Wednesday in Merrimack County Superior Court, he said there are many things he simply doesn’t recall because of the trauma he endured while trying to comfort Sabrina Galusha, who was bleeding from a stab wound to her chest.
Public defender Caroline Smith pressed Chase during cross-examination Wednesday about whether accused murderer Daswan Jette had dropped a cellphone in the parking lot while attempting to flee with about a half-ounce of marijuana on the night of May 30, 2017. Chase had told police multiple times that Jette had dropped the phone, but before a jury, he said he couldn’t recall.
“Maybe I did see him drop his phone back then and I don’t remember,” Chase told Smith. “Or maybe something traumatic happened and I don’t remember.”
Chase said he had corresponded with Jette for a few days leading up to the drug deal, and that in a pinch he had asked Galusha for help in obtaining the marijuana. He had previously obtained a few grams of the drug but needed at least 12 more to ensure he had the half-ounce Jette wanted to buy.
Chase figured the marijuana was worth about $90 and he planned to sell it for $150 to get a $60 profit. He needed the money if he and his friends were going to secure an apartment they had been eyeing in Chichester.
As he rode into Penacook Place Apartments that evening with Galusha and two other friends, he recalled a sinking feeling in his stomach that something might not go as planned. He didn’t know Jette other than from their interactions by phone and on social media, and he didn’t typically like to sell to people he didn’t know.
“I thought about telling him I had a gun so if he was going to try anything he’d be deterred,” he told Smith as they reviewed interview transcripts.
During questioning from prosecutors Tuesday, Chase testified that Jette acted impaired and strange as he got partially into the car that night to buy the marijuana. Previously, Chase had told police that Jette might be cross-eyed but didn’t provide any details about his unusual motions or slow speech.
Smith asked him Wednesday why he hadn’t shared that information with police on the night of Galusha’s death or in conversations thereafter. She also said Chase had never disclosed to police that Jette had flashed him cash in the car before Chase pulled out the marijuana.
“I hadn’t really had time to reflect on the event when it took place,” Chase said of those early moments in the car. “That’s something I reflected on later.”
He said he never saw how much cash was actually in Jette’s hand.
Chase, Galusha and two friends – Annika Tidd Civetti and Madison Campbell – went to Penacook Place that night to meet Jette for a drug deal they thought would be quick and straightforward. But Galusha’s friends have testified over the past week that the plan unraveled when Jette grabbed the marijuana and ran.
Chase was the first in the group to pursue Jette into the lobby of an apartment building, with Galusha not far behind him. Campbell soon followed.
Jette maintains through his attorneys that he acted in self-defense when he pulled out a knife in the vestibule because it was a three-on-one situation and he was threatened. But Chase testified this week that he and Galusha were trying to keep the peace and simply get the marijuana back.
“I was trying to let him know I wasn’t trying to hurt him,” Chase said. “I was just trying to be cool. But then he pulled out a knife so I grabbed him.”
Chase said Jette laid the knife on Galusha’s arm and made threats but that he never believed Jette was going to act on those words.
While police later found small blood stains in the vestibule, Chase said he never saw Galusha get stabbed there. He said it was only after Jette followed them back to the car that Galusha showed signs of injury and couldn’t breathe.
Chase said he believes the the half-ounce of marijuana ended up back in his backpack, which was later found by police on the floor of the car. However, he said, he doesn’t recall ever putting it there. He said Galusha could have done so, but he wasn’t certain.
Jette is scheduled to stand trial through next week on charges of first- and second-degree murder. He is being held without bail.
(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319 or at adandrea@cmonitor.com.)