48 HOURS TO ENTERTAIN US WITH PORCO MURDER

Producers from “48 Hours Mystery” were in Delmar on Friday, Sept. 15, shooting footage and interviewing local officials in advance of a one-hour special on the Christopher Porco murder trial that will premiere on CBS Oct. 28.”They were at 36 Brockley Drive on Saturday filming inside the house,” said Det. Christopher Bowdish, the lead detective on the Porco murder case for the Bethlehem Police Department. The production crew also brought in a special effects team from Oklahoma to use high-tech equipment and even fog effects to recreate the scene of the crime the night of Nov. 15, 2004. The Brockley Drive home is no longer owned by the Porco family.Brockley Drive was closed to traffic for a brief period of time on Saturday evening while production crews worked through the night and neighbors watched. Scheduled guests for the news show include Bowdish, the defense team of Terence Kindlon and Laurie Shanks, and Michael McDermott and David Rossi from the Albany County District Attorney’s office.Christopher Porco was interviewed by CBS show producers at the Albany County jail on Aug. 30, at 9 a.m. for 45 minutes.“We received a letter from Mr. Kindlon on Aug. 28 confirming the 48 Hours show interview,” said Albany County Sheriff James Campbell. “The letter read please be advised this is the only interiew we are approving,” Campbell said. The only people allowed in the room with Porco were a correction officer, attorney Laurie Shanks, and the CBS TV crew. Producers would not reveal what Christopher Porco had to say during the 30-minute interview. Porco reportedly requested to be allowed to wear a suit jacket and even asked for hair gel for the interview but was denied both requests. Instead, he was interviewed in his yellow jailhouse clothes. Elaine LaForte of Bethlehem Veterinary Hospital was also interviewed for the show. Porco, who was an employee at the veterinary hospital, stayed at the home of John Kearney and LaForte after his indictment and throughout the trial proceedings. In August, Christopher Porco was convicted by an Orange County jury of murdering his father Peter Porco with an ax and attempting to murder his mother Joan Porco during the overnight hours of Nov. 14 and 15, 2004, at their Brockley Drive home.Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 25, three days before the CBS show’s air date. Christopher Porco faces a maximum of 50 years in a state maximum correctional facility.Authorities believe Christopher Porco drove from the University of Rochester campus to Delmar the night of Nov. 14, 2004, and attacked his parents while they were asleep in the early-morning hours of Nov. 15, before driving back to the University of Rochester campus, where he was seen around 8:30 a.m. the next morning. News of the murder shocked the community, and a year after the attacks, the Albany County District Attorney’s office handed an indictment against the Porcos’ younger son, Christopher, who was 22 at the time of the attacks. Pre-trial hearings were held in May, and the trial began in June and lasted eight weeks until a conviction has handed down in a little over six hours by a jury of eight women and four men.Porco’s attorney Kindlon is in the process of filing an appeal on the murder conviction. Peter Porco was the chief law clerk for 3RD Division State Appellate Court Judge Anthony Cardona in Albany when he was murdered. Joan Porco was working as a speech therapist at Schalmont School prior to the attack.Campbell said Porco has been a quiet prisoner so far.“He mostly reads and keeps to himself,” said Campbell. “He gets a lot of mail from young females from the Delmar area.” You can contact cuozzoj@spotlightnews.com with any questions.