CATE, Garry
Source: FOUNTAIN COUNTY STAR NEWSPAPER Covington, Indiana Thursday, March 25, 1982
A Fountain County Circuit Court jury has found 33-year-old Judy Cate guilty of manslaughter in the Nov. 20, 1981 death of her husband, Garry Cate.
Mrs. Cate told the jury earlier this week that she shot her husband in self-defense after he had threatened to kill her, pointed a muzzle-loading rifle at her and pulled the trigger.
In describing the scene before she shot her husband, Mrs. Cate said there had been an argument over a girlfriend of her husband’s who had supposedly been at the house that day. Mrs. Cate said she had gone to work as usual, but came home after trying to call the house and finding the line busy.
She said her husband told her he had been seeing the woman about two months. Mrs. Cate testified that she knocked her husband down and hit him with a coal bucket. The two then decided to get a divorce, she said, and went to a lawyer’s office. Later, they both went to her husband’s girlfriend’s house to talk to her.
After Kenneth Freed, president of Harrison Steel Casting Company, the victim’s employer and friend, stopped by the Cate house, she said her husband went into a rage and accused her of seeing another man.
After Cate went outside she testified that she took a .22 caliber pistol from the gun cabinet and inserted one shell in the chamber and laid it down in the kitchen. She said when her husband came back into the house she tried to call his doctor but he pointed a muzzleloader at her and pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire. She said she then shot him with the pistol.
After the shooting Mrs. Cate said she called the police, then applied a cold cloth to her husband’s wound. The victim was taken to a hospital where he died.
The prosecution in the case pictured Judy Cate as a domineering woman, called by Prosecutor James Bunch as “the man of the family in almost every sense of the word.” The defense wanted to convince the jury that Mrs. Cate’s husband had threatened her life on different occasions and that she shot him in self-defense.
Attica police officer Tim Quinn testified early in the trial that Mrs. Cate told him after he arrived at the scene that she and her husband had argued and she shot him because she was afraid of him shooting her with the rifle. He also said she told him they were getting a divorce, but she wouldn’t consent because there was another woman.
Source: The Martinsville Reporter=Times Mon Nov 23, 1981 p
3
Attica, Ind – Police today were holding Judy Lynn Cate, 33 on a preliminary charge of murder in the shooting death of her husband, Garry L. Cate, 37. Attica and Fountain County authorities said Mrs. Cate phoned police Friday afternoon to ask for an ambulance for her husband. They found him with a bullet wound in the chest from a .22 caliber pistol. They charged her after he died in a hospital at Williamsport about an hour after she reported the wounding. Authorities did not immediately release details of the circumstances or possible motive for the slaying but said they and state police were continuing to investigate the case.
Attica, Ind – Police today were holding Judy Lynn Cate, 33 on a preliminary charge of murder in the shooting death of her husband, Garry L. Cate, 37. Attica and Fountain County authorities said Mrs. Cate phoned police Friday afternoon to ask for an ambulance for her husband. They found him with a bullet wound in the chest from a .22 caliber pistol. They charged her after he died in a hospital at Williamsport about an hour after she reported the wounding. Authorities did not immediately release details of the circumstances or possible motive for the slaying but said they and state police were continuing to investigate the case.
Source: Lafayette Journal and Courier Thursday 18 March
1982 p 14
Covington – In the first full day of prosecution testimony Wednesday in the Judy Cate murder trial, law enforcement officers and family friends, including the president of Harrison Steel told of events surrounding the Nov 20 shooting of Garry Cate. Garry Cate, 37, died in his Attica home, purportedly as he sat at the dining room table. His wife Judy is charged with the shooting. Represented by Lafayette attorneys Carl J. Sandy and E. Kent Moore, Judy Cate claims to have shot her husband with a .22 caliber pistol in self-defense. Prosecutor James Bunch called Attica Police Officer Tim Quinn – first on the scene of the Friday afternoon shooting – as his first witness Wednesday. Quinn said that Judy Cate who called for police assistance at 3:12 pm was standing at a rear door of the house when he arrived and that “she appeared calm.” Quinn said he could find no pulse on Garry Cate who was lying unconscious in a doorway between the kitchen and dining room. “She said they had been arguing that he had a muzzle loader and she was afraid he was going to use it so she got a gun and shot him.” Quinn said. On Judy Cate’s direction, Quinn said he found a .22 caliber piston lying on a kitchen counter and then she handed him a spent shell. Quinn said the spent cartridge would have had to be taken deliberately from the gun by someone familiar with the operation of the pistol. He said the spent cartridge could not have been ejected automatically from that particular model. Quinn said Judy Cate also told him “she and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce and when she found out there was another woman there was no way she was going to give him a divorce. Under questioning from the defense attorney Sandy, Quinn said he saw the muzzle-loader leaning against the dining room wall but did not pick it up to examine it and could not say whether it was loaded. Quinn told Sandy that Judy Cate also said Garry “had been in Wabash Valley Mental Health Center at Lafayette and that she didn’t think he was ready to leave. The prosecution contends that Garry Cate was under tremendous emotional pressure because of domination by his wife and he sought psychiatric help because of that pressure. Quinn told Sandy that Judy Cate’s calmness after the shooting might have resulted from shock. He said he had seen people in shock exhibit characteristics similar to her behavior. Betty Holloway of Attica, a company driver at Harrison Steel and friend of the Cates testified that she had seen the police cars and ambulance at the Cate home Nov 20 and stopped to see what happened. She said she saw Judy Cate follow the cot holding Garry to the ambulance and went to her. She said something like, “I shot him, I shot him. I couldn’t take it anymore, I shot him. Holloway said she went inside the house with Judy who told her she wanted him (Garry) to go back to Wabash Valley but he told her she was the one that belonged there. Holloway said Judy then informed her that she thought she was going to be sick and Holloway said she accompanied her to the bathroom at the request of Attica Police Chief Marvin Osborne. She went back and sat down and I got her a cup of coffee Holloway said. After helping Judy arrange for someone to care for her son who had arrived home from school, Holloway said she was asked by Chief Osborn whether the Cate home was inside the city limits. I said I didn’t think so so he called the Sheriff. The case was found to be called the jurisdiction and was turned over to Sheriff Dale Conrad. Holloway said she also was present when Harrison Steel President Kenneth Freed arrived at the home about 3:30. Freed testified Wed that he was a close friend of Garry Cate and went to the home about 1 p.m. to talk with Garry about his marital problems. Freed said he left when he found no one home. Freed said he returned about 3 p.m. and found both Garry and Judy home. He said he sat at the dining room table and talked with Garry and Garry was cleaning a long gun at the time, Freed said. Freed said he didn’t bring up the couple’s marital problems since he had intended to talk with Garry alone. During the conversation, Freed said, Garry turned to a gun cabinet behind him and put the long bun inside, replaced a mesh screen that had fallen out of the cabinet door and closed the cabinet. The muzzle loader he said was leaned against the dining room wall. Freed said he left after about 10 minutes as he was leaving, Judy offered him a cup of coffee which he declined. About a half an hour later he found out Garry had been shot, Freed said. When he heard of the shooting, Freed said he returned to the Cate home. When he got there, Freed said Judy said she wished I had stayed and had a cup o coffee. I said I wish she’d have said something. Under cross-examination from Moore, Freed said Garry was a steelworker at Harrisons and that the job required “quite a bit” of physical strength. “It takes better than average strength to do that,” Freed told the jury. Although Freed testified under direct examination that he had never hear Garry Cate lose his temper he said under cross examination that Garry did have a reputation for having a temper – more off the job than on. The defense is refuting the prosecutions’s contention that Garry Cate was an abused husband. Under cross-examination by Sandy, Dr. Hugo Brenner of Attica testified he saw Garry Cate in a Nov 6 examination and found him to have an acute mental disorder. During the exam, Brenner said Judy held her husband head to keep him quiet. It appeared to me that she was helping him,” Brenner said. Brenner added that he made arrangements to tr4ansfer him into the care of Dr. Richard Rahdert at Wabash Valley Hospital. Questioned by Bunch, Brenner said Garry Cate “acted scared, he was frightened, during the Nov 6 session. He was abnormally nervous, very fearful. “A jury of six men and six women were selected Tuesday to decide the trial and Fountain Circuit Judge Vincent Gross is presiding. The trial is expected to continue into next week.
Covington – In the first full day of prosecution testimony Wednesday in the Judy Cate murder trial, law enforcement officers and family friends, including the president of Harrison Steel told of events surrounding the Nov 20 shooting of Garry Cate. Garry Cate, 37, died in his Attica home, purportedly as he sat at the dining room table. His wife Judy is charged with the shooting. Represented by Lafayette attorneys Carl J. Sandy and E. Kent Moore, Judy Cate claims to have shot her husband with a .22 caliber pistol in self-defense. Prosecutor James Bunch called Attica Police Officer Tim Quinn – first on the scene of the Friday afternoon shooting – as his first witness Wednesday. Quinn said that Judy Cate who called for police assistance at 3:12 pm was standing at a rear door of the house when he arrived and that “she appeared calm.” Quinn said he could find no pulse on Garry Cate who was lying unconscious in a doorway between the kitchen and dining room. “She said they had been arguing that he had a muzzle loader and she was afraid he was going to use it so she got a gun and shot him.” Quinn said. On Judy Cate’s direction, Quinn said he found a .22 caliber piston lying on a kitchen counter and then she handed him a spent shell. Quinn said the spent cartridge would have had to be taken deliberately from the gun by someone familiar with the operation of the pistol. He said the spent cartridge could not have been ejected automatically from that particular model. Quinn said Judy Cate also told him “she and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce and when she found out there was another woman there was no way she was going to give him a divorce. Under questioning from the defense attorney Sandy, Quinn said he saw the muzzle-loader leaning against the dining room wall but did not pick it up to examine it and could not say whether it was loaded. Quinn told Sandy that Judy Cate also said Garry “had been in Wabash Valley Mental Health Center at Lafayette and that she didn’t think he was ready to leave. The prosecution contends that Garry Cate was under tremendous emotional pressure because of domination by his wife and he sought psychiatric help because of that pressure. Quinn told Sandy that Judy Cate’s calmness after the shooting might have resulted from shock. He said he had seen people in shock exhibit characteristics similar to her behavior. Betty Holloway of Attica, a company driver at Harrison Steel and friend of the Cates testified that she had seen the police cars and ambulance at the Cate home Nov 20 and stopped to see what happened. She said she saw Judy Cate follow the cot holding Garry to the ambulance and went to her. She said something like, “I shot him, I shot him. I couldn’t take it anymore, I shot him. Holloway said she went inside the house with Judy who told her she wanted him (Garry) to go back to Wabash Valley but he told her she was the one that belonged there. Holloway said Judy then informed her that she thought she was going to be sick and Holloway said she accompanied her to the bathroom at the request of Attica Police Chief Marvin Osborne. She went back and sat down and I got her a cup of coffee Holloway said. After helping Judy arrange for someone to care for her son who had arrived home from school, Holloway said she was asked by Chief Osborn whether the Cate home was inside the city limits. I said I didn’t think so so he called the Sheriff. The case was found to be called the jurisdiction and was turned over to Sheriff Dale Conrad. Holloway said she also was present when Harrison Steel President Kenneth Freed arrived at the home about 3:30. Freed testified Wed that he was a close friend of Garry Cate and went to the home about 1 p.m. to talk with Garry about his marital problems. Freed said he left when he found no one home. Freed said he returned about 3 p.m. and found both Garry and Judy home. He said he sat at the dining room table and talked with Garry and Garry was cleaning a long gun at the time, Freed said. Freed said he didn’t bring up the couple’s marital problems since he had intended to talk with Garry alone. During the conversation, Freed said, Garry turned to a gun cabinet behind him and put the long bun inside, replaced a mesh screen that had fallen out of the cabinet door and closed the cabinet. The muzzle loader he said was leaned against the dining room wall. Freed said he left after about 10 minutes as he was leaving, Judy offered him a cup of coffee which he declined. About a half an hour later he found out Garry had been shot, Freed said. When he heard of the shooting, Freed said he returned to the Cate home. When he got there, Freed said Judy said she wished I had stayed and had a cup o coffee. I said I wish she’d have said something. Under cross-examination from Moore, Freed said Garry was a steelworker at Harrisons and that the job required “quite a bit” of physical strength. “It takes better than average strength to do that,” Freed told the jury. Although Freed testified under direct examination that he had never hear Garry Cate lose his temper he said under cross examination that Garry did have a reputation for having a temper – more off the job than on. The defense is refuting the prosecutions’s contention that Garry Cate was an abused husband. Under cross-examination by Sandy, Dr. Hugo Brenner of Attica testified he saw Garry Cate in a Nov 6 examination and found him to have an acute mental disorder. During the exam, Brenner said Judy held her husband head to keep him quiet. It appeared to me that she was helping him,” Brenner said. Brenner added that he made arrangements to tr4ansfer him into the care of Dr. Richard Rahdert at Wabash Valley Hospital. Questioned by Bunch, Brenner said Garry Cate “acted scared, he was frightened, during the Nov 6 session. He was abnormally nervous, very fearful. “A jury of six men and six women were selected Tuesday to decide the trial and Fountain Circuit Judge Vincent Gross is presiding. The trial is expected to continue into next week.
Source: Indianapolis Satar Fri March 26, 1982 p 21
Covington, Ind – A Fountain Circuit Court jury found Judy
Gate guilty late Tuesday of voluntary manslaughter in the death of her husband.
Mrs. Cate, 33, testified she shot Garry L. Cate, 37 with a .22 caliber pistol
at their Attica home on Nov 20. She said her husband who had been under
psychiatric care for several days before the shooting had threatened her with a
muzzle-loader during an argument about their pending divorce. Sentencing is
scheduled for April 23.
Source: Lafayette Journal and Courier Wed April 28, 1982 p
3
Covington – For the second time this month, the sentencing
of Judy Cate, 33 of Attica has been postponed in Fountain Circuit Court. It has
been rescheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday. Cate was convicted March 24 of
voluntary manslaughter – killing while acting under sudden heat – in the Nov 20
shooting of her husband, Garry, 37. Voluntary manslaughter carries a 10-year
prison term with not more than 10 years added or four years subtracted at the
discretion of the judge. The sentencing originally was set for April 23 but was
reschedule for Tues at the request of defense attorneys. Tuesday’s hearing was
continued again at the request of the defense by Fountain Judge Vincent
Grogg. Cate was found guilty of shooting
her husband with a .22 caliber revolver in the couple’s home at the south edge
of Attica.
Source: Muncie Evening Press Wed 5 May 1982 p 28
Covington, Ind – Judy Cate, 33, Attica was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for the slaying of her husband last November. Judge Vincent Grogg of Fountain Circuit Court pronounced sentence on Mrs. Cate who was convicted on a charge of voluntary manslaughter. Her husband, Garry was shot to death during a quarrel at their home.
Covington, Ind – Judy Cate, 33, Attica was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for the slaying of her husband last November. Judge Vincent Grogg of Fountain Circuit Court pronounced sentence on Mrs. Cate who was convicted on a charge of voluntary manslaughter. Her husband, Garry was shot to death during a quarrel at their home.
Attica attorney Steve Morrison testified that the couple had come to his office November 20 to file for divorce and had decided on a division of property, except for household goods. He said that they had agreed to give custody of the two children to Mr. Cate.
Dr. Richard Rahdert, a psychiatrist working with patients at Wabash Valley Hospital in West Lafayette, told the jury he had treated the victim and that Cate had told him he had marriage problems. Ron Knabel, director of the Fountain-Warren Mental Health Center in Attica, testified that Cate had told him he had been sexually involved with another woman and wanted a divorce. He also said Cate told him he was afraid his wife would kill him.
Pam Wilson admitted to the court that she was the “other woman” in the victim’s life. She said she had received a call from Cate the morning of the shooting, saying he wanted to see her. She later called back to the Cate house and said Mrs. Cate got on the extension and made “nasty comments”.
Later, Mrs. Wilson said the Cates came to her apartment, but that they mostly talked among themselves. She said at one point the victim asked her to marry him but she told him she would not. She said Cate left and his wife then talked to her about her first marriage, saying her husband had beaten her. Mrs. Wilson said Mrs. Cate told her she had once tied up her husband and beat him.
Judy McLin, fiancée of Cate’s brother Ernie, told the court Mrs. Cate told her she was tired of being a housewife and wanted a life of her own. But she also said Mrs. Cate had warned her husband against seeking a divorce last July. She testified that Mrs. Cate was domineering in the couple’s relationship and once told him she would “blow his head off” if he tried to divorce her.
An Attica physician, Dr. Hugo Brenner, testified that he had treated Cate on November 6 and he appeared scared and nervous, with childish behavior. The doctor said he felt the victim had an acute mental disorder. It was he who arranged for Cate to go to the mental health center.
Judge Vincent Grogg, presiding in the case, refused to allow a respiratory therapist from Williamsport Community Hospital to testify before the jury. With the jury out of the courtroom, Cindy Griesly said Cate had cried, “Help me, help me. Please help me. My wife shot me. She shot me. Murder…”
William Cate, a brother of the victim, was called to the stand by the defense. He said Mrs. Cate said she wanted to have sex with him. Another brother, Ernie, testified that Cate told him he carried a life insurance policy of over $150,000 to put his daughter through medical college. The two brothers filed for guardianship of the Cate’s children, April, 16, and Brian, 14. Defense attorneys said the children refused to sign the consent form, but instead chose their grandmother as guardian. The attorneys pointed out that the children would receive $857 a month in Social Security benefits. – thanks so much to “S”