Attorneys for Buck to ask for lower bond

The attorneys for accused murderer Charles F. Buck will argue for a bond reduction this afternoon based on a Yale pathologist's opinion that Buck's wife, Leslie, died of a heart condition rather than a head injury.

The newest development represents yet another strange twist in the mysterious case of a popular Stonington schoolteacher who died two days after she had been kidnapped and assaulted by a friend of her husband.

The state asserts that Buck, a 63-year-old electrical contractor, inflicted a fatal blow to his wife's head on May 4, 2002, because he was infatuated with a young bartender.

Buck told police he had found his wife unresponsive at the bottom of a staircase at their Masons Island Road home. Police suspected him immediately, but autopsy results were inconclusive, and Buck was not charged until January 2009.

Buck has been held in lieu of $2.5 million bond since his arrest.

In a motion filed late Tuesday in New London Superior Court, attorneys Hubert Santos and Hope Seeley are seeking a reduction of Buck's bond based on the opinion of Steven Evans Downing, a Yale University doctor who specializes in cardiac pathology.

The state sent slides of Leslie Buck's heart to Downing in preparation for Buck's trial, which is scheduled to begin this month. Downing opined that Mrs. Buck most likely died of lymphocytic myocarditis, a condition that had been noted during her autopsy. The state disclosed the report to the defense last week.

"This supports what were were saying at the probable cause hearing," Seeley said Tuesday.

At the June 2009 hearing, Santos suggested Leslie Buck, who had been kidnapped two days before her death, was weakened from that incident and suffered a heart attack that caused her fatal fall.

Two days before her death, handyman Russell Kirby kidnapped Leslie Buck from her garage after using a stun gun to subdue her. She escaped from him and was taken to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital after complaining of chest pains. Kirby is now serving a 21-year prison sentence.

"The hospital record reveals that little was done to address her complaint of chest pains," says the bond motion. "The day after her release from the hospital, she died."

The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had opined that Leslie Buck died of head injuries, though her death was not ruled a homicide. The state alleges Buck clubbed his wife with a heavy length of electrical wire because he was infatuated with the bartender and wanted his wife out of the picture.

"In light of this newly disclosed opinion, there are reasonable grounds to believe that this case does not involve a homicide," the motion states.

The defense attorneys had argued for a bond reduction following the probable cause hearing, at which Judge Susan B. Handy found the state had enough evidence to continue prosecuting Buck but noted the standard for finding "probable cause" is lower than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" that would be required of a jury. Handy denied the bond reduction, and the state Appellate Court upheld her decision.

The defense attorneys contend that Buck, who had no criminal record, knew he was a suspect but did not flee the area in the seven years following his wife's death.

Prosecutors Lawrence J. Tytla and Paul J. Narducci could not immediately be reached to comment Tuesday evening.

k.florin@theday.com