Trial begins for Butte berry farm killing

PALMER — A homeless man’s involvement in a Butte raspberry farmer’s May 2014 death isn’t in dispute, attorneys said Tuesday during opening statements in the murder trial of Mike Cottam Jr. in Palmer court.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree on most of circumstances leading up to Steven Garcia’s death. What they don’t agree on is whether or not Garcia, 81, attacked Thomas Michael “Mike” Cottam Jr., 24, with a machete before he died May 18, 2014. If Garcia attacked Cottam — who told Alaska State Troopers he blacked out and came to standing over the body of a man who had recently taken him in and allowed him to sleep on his couch — Cottam could be acquitted of charges of first-degree murder and second-degree murder.

Acquitting Cottam would require jurors to believe that an elderly man suffering from numerous medical conditions was well enough to attack a much younger, stronger man with a machete, said District Attorney Roman Kalytiak.

“You don’t hear the term ‘octogenarian’ that much,” Kalytiak said. “I don’t know if any of you have ever uttered that term, and I’m not sure I even ever said that word before saying it in the State’s opening statement here.”

Garcia was known throughout the Butte community as a charitable soul, willing to let people feast on the berries they picked from his farm when they appeared in genuine need, Kalytiak said. He would sometimes bring apple pies from McDonald’s to the people from the Alzheimer’s Resource Center in Palmer. And charity and the need for labor led him to pick up a hitchhiking Cottam along the road about two weeks before his death, attorneys for both sides said. Cottam eventually ended up sleeping on Garcia’s couch.

Kalytiak opened his argument with a series of picture slides showing the berry farm’s grounds and location snug against the base of Pioneer Peak, and pointing out a long driveway that posed a navigational hazard.

“If Mr. Garcia was here today, the first thing he’d probably want to do is show you his farm,” Kalytiak said.

Garcia wore a back brace, dealt with circulation issues, and suffered from a reduction in stamina and strength brought on by old age, Kalytiak said. Garcia was never diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, but did suffer from memory lapses, Kalytiak told the jury. Those conditions made working at the farm difficult, which may be what led him to pick up Cottam.

“He likely had some regrets about decisions he’d made during his lifetime, but most definitely Steven Garcia was not a man who was giving up just because he was 81 years old,” he said.

Midway through his presentation, Kalytiak showed a photo taken by Cottam of his silhouette cast across the ground of the farm, with a machete in his right hand. Garcia’s murder was a thrill kill, perpetrated in part to gain notoriety, Kalytiak said. Among the items collected as evidence: a copy of the Jon Krakauer book “Into the Wild” with Cottam’s notes in the margins, notes which the prosecutor read aloud:

“’Steven of Palmer AK, told me to make a name for myself this summer. That I will,’” Kalytiak read from the notes. “And that is underlined. Fourteen days later, the defendant made that name for himself. And that name was murder.”

Kalytiak described the day the murder took place as ordinary and calm — until Cottam used a butterfly knife to cut Garcia’s throat and stab him repeatedly in the chest and arms, then a machete to repeatedly “whack” him, until the elderly berry farmer bled to death. Medical evidence showed a cut across Garcia’s eyes and at least one blow penetrated into his brain.

“Mr. Garcia suffered greatly through this attack,” Kalytiak said.

He argued any suggestion of a blackout was “a lame story.”

However, public defender Elizabeth Varela argued that the events leading up to an attack by Garcia were intense and psychologically complex. Cottam had gone to Walmart the day before the killing with another farm worker, which made Garcia very upset about being excluded. Garcia was possessive, and expected workers to be on the farm all the time. The night before the attack, Cottam had even left the house to sleep outdoors to avoid Garcia’s ire over the Walmart trip. When Cottam returned home on May 18, he was ambushed, Varela said.

“To his surprise, as he rounds the corner from the kitchen into the living area, Mr. Garcia comes into the living area with a raised machete,” she said.

A struggle ensued, evidence of which was found in the house, Varela said. Afterward, Cottam was in shock when he took Garcia’s wallet, dog, and truck and called a friend for advice, Varela said

“This case is a tragedy,” she said. “There was a life lost.”

The trial was expected to continue through next week.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.