A cell phone found ringing in the center console of a truck helped investigators quickly connect Michael Poole's death to two familiar names.
In the second day of testimony in the murder trial of Edward A. Dunn, jurors heard from eight witnesses who detailed the discovery and investigation of the body of 59-year-old Michael Poole, found dead in the bed of his own truck on March 19, 2024.
According to Genesee County Sheriff’s Investigator Kevin Forsyth, surveillance footage from a March 17 laundromat burglary in Barker showed Dunn and Katherine Henry, both known to have ties to Poole, exiting Poole’s black Chevrolet Silverado at the crime scene. Investigators later matched cell phone data to that location and time, confirming that Poole’s phone was present during the burglary and later remained stationary in Alabama until it was recovered alongside Poole’s body two days later.
The footage and cell phone data formed an early link between Poole, Dunn, and Henry, Forsyth testified. He said this evidence helped investigators begin narrowing down suspects just one day after the vehicle was discovered.
Poole’s body was found in Alabama, Genesee County. According to Forsyth, when he arrived at the snowy scene, the truck was facing north and was covered by a tarp.
“The body was still buried under a good amount of stuff,” he said, “and it was frozen there, so it took a good amount of effort to get it off the bed of the truck.”
Forsyth testified that he found Poole’s phone in the center console after only ten minutes of being at the scene.
“As I was taking photos of the vehicle, I heard the cell phone ringing,” he said.
He also located Poole’s driver’s license inside a wallet found in his back pocket.
The case was initially referred to Genesee County by Niagara County authorities after a missing person report and investigation filed by Poole’s father, Gerald Poole, became a murder investigation. Forsyth said he was dispatched by then–Chief Deputy Joseph Graff and was the first Genesee County investigator to arrive on scene.
Investigators later traveled to Niagara County to learn more about Poole, who was from Olcott, and began canvassing the area to gather information from anyone who knew him.
“We were starting from zero,” Forsyth said. “We wanted to get as much information about him as possible.”
Interviews pointed repeatedly to Dunn and Henry, with Forsyth noting, “He would give Katherine Henry more rides than most people.”
A search warrant was later executed at a residence on Rochester Road in Middleport, where Dunn and Henry had been staying. Inside, officers found Norman Dubois, who was brought to the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office for questioning.
Henry was arrested earlier on March 19 at Lockport Hospital after overdosing. Investigator Forsyth testified that they feared she might overdose again before more evidence could be obtained, and opted to bring her into custody early.
The day the body was discovered, Niagara County Sheriff’s Captain Tracy Steen arrived at the scene after a vehicle linked to the missing person case pinged nearby. She described seeing blood in the front seat and a cluttered truck bed. About 20 minutes into the search, she received a call alerting her to the discovery of the body, which led to the case being handed off to Genesee County as a homicide.
Karen Lang, a certified legal medical investigator and coroner for Genesee County, testified that Poole’s body was mostly covered when she arrived. It had already been partially uncovered by a colleague, Don Newton Jr., but Lang helped remove the frozen body from the truck bed and turned it over to the Monroe County Medical Examiner.
Once the vehicle was towed to the Genesee County Sheriff’s garage, forensic analysis began. New York State Police Investigator Kyle Folts described using luminol to test the interior and exterior of the truck for traces of blood. The chemical glows blue when it reacts with hemoglobin.
“The glowing is presumptive evidence of blood,” Folts said during his testimony.
The chemical revealed glowing areas around the steering wheel, the driver’s seat, the bed liner, bed rail, and the fender, as well as in the bolts holding Folts noted that the chemical can react to all blood, not just human, and admitted he was unaware of whether any confirmatory tests were later performed. No blood was detected on the roof, doors, or windows.
Back at the garage, Investigator Howard Carlson of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the vehicle inventory. He testified that the truck was filled with more items than any vehicle he had previously processed.
“This is the one that has had the most property I’ve seen inside a vehicle,” Carlson said.
He explained that the rear seat area was so densely packed it had to be divided and processed in two sections—unlike typical cases where it could be inventoried as a single unit. Carlson followed the vehicle as it was transported on a flatbed and later assisted in moving items while another officer took photographs. According to Carlson, he had seen a Wegmans gift card holder wedged between the driver’s seat and the center console; when he picked it up, a shell casing fell out. No removable items were swabbed for DNA or fingerprint analysis.
