Victim in New Kensington witness intimidation trial says she fears for her life

A New Kensington woman testified Tuesday she fears for her safety after her cooperation with investigators was publicly disclosed during the prosecution of a man sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer.

Tasha Williams, 39, told a Westmoreland County jury her life may still be in jeopardy from Gregory Paul Baucum, who prosecutors say made threats against her ahead of his son’s murder trial last year.

“I didn’t know if one day I would walk out my door and be dead or someone would kick in my door,” Williams testified.

Baucum, 49, formerly of Arnold, is on trial for witness intimidation. He is accused of outing Williams as a potential witness against Rahmael Holt at his trial for the Nov. 17, 2017, fatal shooting of New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw, who was gunned down following an attempted traffic stop.

Prosecutors said Baucum posted to Facebook details of a police report that revealed Williams told detectives about a jailhouse conversation she had in 2018 with a woman investigators said helped Holt avoid police capture following the shooting. Baucum also messaged Williams a series of threats, police said.

“He was telling me I was a cheese-eating rat snitch,” said Williams, who testified Baucum also sent her emojis of a block of cheese and a casket. “He kept dragging my name through the streets. Where we are from, that can get you killed.”

Williams was not called as a witnesses during Holt’s trial last November, when a Westmoreland County jury convicted him of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death by lethal injection.

The current case against Baucum is the second time prosecutors have charged him in connection with his actions during the investigation of Shaw’s murder. A jury, following a trial in November 2018, found Baucum not guilty of witness intimidation and assault charges. In that case, prosecutors alleged Baucum strangled his then-girlfriend, who he believed cooperated with police in the days after Shaw’s murder to help identify and capture Holt.

Prosecutors contend police reports that detailed Williams cooperation during the Holt investigation were given to Baucum as part of a routine exchange of evidence prior to his first trial.

In court on Tuesday, defense attorney Matt Schimizzi in his opening statement to jurors suggested there is not enough evidence to convict Baucum. During his questioning of Williams, he challenged her credibility. Prosecutors conceded that Williams has a prior conviction in Westmoreland County for forgery and a pending case in Allegheny County for driving while under the influence of drugs.

Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli told jurors Baucum’s effort to intimidate a potential witness against his son could have had major consequences.

“This case goes to the underpinning of our criminal justice system,” Iannamorelli said.

Baucum’s defense is expected to present its case when the trial continues Wednesday.

The trial is the first in Westmoreland County since March following the onset of coronavirus pandemic. Several jurors were seated in the jury box. Others occupied chairs behind prosecutors and were spaced out in four rows of benches on the left side of the courtroom as part of social distancing rules put in place for the trial. Everyone in the courtroom wore masks, although lawyers and witnesses were allowed to remove face coverings while speaking.