LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) On day five of the James Baldwin trial, prosecutors brought in the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) agent who investigated the case, and played two recorded interviews conducted between detectives and Baldwin as part of the investigation.
The state also called Josh Orr, Judy Orr Baldwin’s son, to the stand. Orr is Judy’s son from a pervious marriage. Orr says his mother was married to his father for more than 20 years before his dad died in a motorcycle accident.
Orr says both he and his brother were very close to their mom, talking every single day either by phone or in person.
Orr says on the night of his mom’s death, it was his wife that called him and told him that Judy was in the hospital. Orr says he didn’t hear from Baldwin until he saw him in person at the hospital.
“My mom would have called us. My brother lived right there,” testified Orr, saying it is unlike his mother to not call and tell her sons if she had fallen and was going to the hospital.
Orr says when he arrived at Piedmont Medical Center, the administrators couldn’t find his mom in the system, but they did direct him to Baldwin’s room.
“They showed me where his room was and I walked into his room and there was Jamie and Teri King in there,” said Orr on the witness stand.
Earlier in the week, allegations surfaced through testimonies that Baldwin was having an affair with Teri King. King was a member of the same motorcycle club the Baldwins were in. On Thursday, King testified that she did not have a sexual relationship with Baldwin, but confirmed that he moved in with her one and half months after Judy’s death.
In recorded interviews with SLED played in court, Baldwin said he was renting a room from King because he could not afford to keep a house.
Solicitor Candice Lively also played an interview between former Chester County deputy Chris Reynolds and James Baldwin, conducted just a day after Judy’s funeral service, where James says he did not have any problems in his marriage to Judy.
“It was about as perfect as it gets. We had a great relationship.” Baldwin said.
But Josh Orr said though it seemed James and Judy were happy when they got married in the spring of 2012, later on Orr says his mother seemed to be on edge, like she was walking on eggshells.
Orr also said his relationship with Baldwin deteriorated, and that whenever he would come over with his brother, Baldwin would go upstairs.
Baldwin’s attorney questioned Orr over the civil wrongful death lawsuit Orr filed to take over his mother’s estate. Baldwin’s team asked Orr why he signed papers which listed Judy’s death as the result of an automobile accident.
Orr said he was advised by his lawyer that filing the lawsuit was the best way to make sure claims were being paid, and that at the time he wasn’t getting answers from the Chester County Sheriff’s Office, then headed by Alex Underwood, on a different cause of death.
By Friday evening, the state rested. The defense will start on Monday morning.
