Man Says Cellmate Admitted Killing Inmate Testifies At Hearing In Ax Murder Of Apartment Manager

Shackled in chains and dressed in an orange jail uniform, a convicted felon spoke in low tones Tuesday as he described how his former cellmate admitted killing an elderly Coeur d’Alene artist.

“He said he hit him, he said he hit him with an ax,” the man told a Kootenai County judge. “He thought the old man had killed his puppy.”

Gerald Barcella, the 37-year-old son of a Connecticut police commissioner, has been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly beating his apartment manager to death with an ax.

Tuesday was the first day of Barcella’s preliminary hearing, which is scheduled to continue on Feb. 27. Barcella’s former cellmate is just one of several people expected to testify that Barcella admitted killing William Smith, who was 69 years old.

Kootenai County prosecutors asked that the prisoner’s name not be released. The inmate, who remains behind bars serving a 10-year prison sentence for burglary and escape, has been labeled “a snitch” by other inmates for testifying against a fellow prisoner, said Deputy Prosecutor Joel Hazel.

The man has been threatened and assaulted, one injury requiring stitches. Authorities moved him from one jail to another because of the danger. The man is being kept in solitary confinement for his safety, Hazel said.

But during Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, Barcella’s attorney, Chief Public Defender John Adams, accused the inmate of lying and implied that the felon was making up the story to receive special treatment.

Smith was found dead on April 3, 1995, at the Harmony House boarding apartments he both managed and lived in on Indiana Avenue. Smith was renowned for his stained-glass artwork, one of only a few people in the country who continued in the old tradition of painting the colorful windows.

Barcella lived in the apartment across the hall from Smith, about 20 feet away. The night before Smith was found dead, the two men got into an argument, according to court documents. Apartment owner Peter Cooper testified Tuesday that he’d heard concerns about Barcella drinking and partying.

Cooper found Smith dead in his apartment. The elderly man apparently had been struck several times in the head with a pulaski - a firefighting tool with an ax on one side and a hoe on the other. The weapon was found under Smith’s bed, Capt. Carl Bergh testified.

Barcella, who has a history of committing violent crimes, first was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm after police found guns in his apartment.

While spending time behind bars in Moscow for the crime, he met another inmate also being held in the jail. The inmate testified he and Barcella were in the jail yard when Barcella admitted hitting the elderly man with an ax.

The inmate testified Barcella told him he was unhappy with Smith because the apartment manager had complained about Barcella drinking and bothering other tenants.

Prosecutors say they never have offered nor given the inmate anything for his testimony against Barcella. Instead, the inmate said he decided to talk for his own safety.

“I was very much concerned at what he told me because he said if there were any other witnesses he would take their lives,” he said.

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