BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

CANTON – A Lake Placid man charged with the murders of Ronald Durham, 72, Gouverneur, and William Freeman, 67, Rossie, will remain jailed without bail following a hearing in St. Lawrence County Court Thursday.

Adam Smith, 47, was recently indicted on charges of first and second degree murder, manslaughter, first degree robbery, and first degree assault for the Feb. 11 killing of Durham.

The indictment also charges Smith with the crimes of first and second degree murder, manslaughter, first degree robbery, and first degree assault, third and multiple accounts of fourth degree grand larceny for the March 1 killing of Freeman.

Freeman murder

Smith was officially charged with second-degree murder in the death of Freeman on March 7. At that time, St. Lawrence County Sheriff Brooks Bigwarfe reported that it’s alleged Smith stabbed Freeman to death on March 1 in Freeman’s trailer on County Route 10 in the town of Rossie.

Smith then stole Freeman’s 2018 Chevy Silverado and fled to Jefferson County where he was later apprehended by Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies.

It is unclear at this time what motivation Smith had for committing either crime. It was also confirmed by Bigwarfe that Smith did have a residence in town of Gouverneur.

Evidence gathered at the Freeman murder quickly led law enforcement to Smith. It was also noted that Smith had a criminal history and was on probation at the time of his arrest.

Durham murder

On Feb. 11 State Police responded to East Side Cemetery on Van Buren Road around 8:20 a.m. following a report of a deceased male.

When troopers arrived on the scene, they reportedly located Durham deceased under suspicious circumstances.

An autopsy has determined Durham died from sharp force injury to the neck.

In the early part of the investigation, Gouverneur Police Department wrongly charged Frederick A. Wing, 22, Gouverneur, with one count of murder in the second-degree.

Wing also appeared to have intimate knowledge of Durham’s murder on Feb. 11, leading law enforcement to make the initial arrest.

According to Pasqua, the arrest was “not made on a whim” and was only made after physical evidence at the scene gave law enforcement probable cause to arrest Wing.

The charge has since been dropped.

During a press conference held on the afternoon of March 7 said Smith was also involved in the killing of Durham. He was later formally charged with murder.

Smith is currently an inmate at the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility.