Jury views Langlois interview with police

11/18/2011
BY ERICA BLAKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Mark Langlois gets up to leave the courtroom during a lunch break at his trial.
Mark Langlois gets up to leave the courtroom during a lunch break at his trial.

Seated in a Toledo Police interview room within hours of his boss being shot to death, Mark Langlois acknowledged to a police detective that he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon and owned “a lot of” guns.

And included in his collection, he said, were “a couple” of 9mm pistols.

The nearly 12-minute interview recorded on Jan. 27 was shown for a Lucas County Common Pleas Court jury Thursday during the final day of testimony in the state’s case against Mr. Langlois. Charged with alternate counts of aggravated murder and murder, Mr. Langlois, 51, is accused of shooting James Schueler, Jr., found dead on the job at Forklifts of Toledo, Inc.

On the video, Mr. Langlois wore a long beard and knit cap while talking to Detective Jeff Clark about his whereabouts on the morning of the shooting and his ownership of guns. During the interview, he told the detective that he left Forklifts of Toledo, Inc. that morning and went directly to a job site.

Detective Clark testified that the GPS in the van that Mr. Langlois was driving showed that he actually went home first, and then to the customer where he was sent. The detective further testified that surveillance video at a nearby business show that Mr. Langlois left for the job at 8 a.m., about 15 minutes later than he said during the interview.

A total of 15 witnesses testified over three days during the trial. Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments Friday. According to testimony offered during the trial, Mr. Schueler, the vice president and general manager of Forklifts of Toledo, Inc., was found on the floor of his office with a single gunshot wound to his head. He died within seconds, a deputy Lucas County Coroner testified.

A spent shell casing and bullet were found near his body.

Thursday, two ballistic experts testified that the casing found at the scene “conclusively” matched casing test-fired from one of Mr. Langlois’ 9mm handguns, of which he turned over to police. Both experts testified that the comparison proved that Mr. Langlois’ gun fired the bullet that was used to kill Mr. Schueler.

What didn’t match was the bullet, testified David Cogan of the Toledo Police crime lab. Mr. Cogan said that the barrel on the gun on Mr. Langlois’ weapon did not create the markings found on the bullet.

Toledo police detectives testified that searches were done of both Mr. Langlois’ home and his computer. On his computer were discovered a voluminous amount of searches on gun Web sites, including “multiple, multiple times” when silencers and suppressors were searched, Detective Jim Dec of the Computer Crimes Office testified.

“It looks like all silencers, all the time,” the detective said of one site Mr. Langlois visited often.

When questioned by the defense, Detective Dec said that although he could see the sites that Mr. Langlois visited, he could not say when those sites were viewed.

Multiple handguns, gun parts, and ammunition were seized during a search of Mr. Langlois’ North Reynolds Road residence, witnesses have testified. Included in the evidence taken were spare gun barrels, scopes, and silencers, as well as tools necessary for gun repairs and to make ammunition.

Detectives further testified that a barrel can easily be changed in a gun.

When questioned Thursday by Mr. Langlois’ attorney, Dave Klucas, Detective Clark testified that a background check on each of the firearms seized from Mr. Langlois came back “clean.” He further noted that Mr. Langlois possessed all the guns and parts legally.

The jury of six men and six women will hear any defense witnesses before attorneys give closing arguments. Judge Dean Mandros told jurors to expect to begin deliberations Friday.

Contact Erica Blake at: eblake@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.