PITTSFIELD — The attorney representing Laura Reilly said Friday that the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office is handing over notes and a recording of Reilly’s interview with police investigating the disappearance of Joanne “Jo” Ringer.
Reilly, 42, of Easthampton, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of misleading police in the investigation. Police questioned her initially after learning from Ringer’s friends that Reilly was a former girlfriend of Ringer’s husband, Chad Reidy, of Clarksburg.
Her attorney, Jesse Adams of Northampton, has said his client had nothing to do with Ringer’s disappearance last March. Ringer’s remains were found in the woods in Hatfield last month. Authorities said Reidy, who killed himself in April, was the only suspect in her disappearance and death.
Investigators have not released Ringer’s cause of death or said whether any additional evidence was recovered from the area where her remains were found.
Ringer’s car was found days after her disappearance in Easthampton, where investigators believe Reidy disposed of it in an effort to misdirect authorities.
Adams has been seeking key pieces of discovery evidence in the case since November. He filed a motion in Berkshire Superior Court last month seeking any notes taken by police during Reilly’s four interviews, as well as a recording of Reilly’s March 6, 2017, interview with investigators.
“This interview and its disclosure is of the utmost importance and is vitally essential in mounting a defense in this case,” Adams wrote in his motion seeking the additional evidence. “The recorded interview of March 6, 2017 has never been provided to defense counsel.”
Police allege that Reilly made misleading statements to police in the days after Ringer’s disappearance.
Adams said Friday that he and newly appointed Berkshire District Attorney Paul Caccaviello spoke earlier that day and the remainder of the state’s discovery was being provided to him.
“We’ve had an open dialogue,” Adams said of the communication between himself and Caccaviello.
Adams said he and his partner were still reviewing the evidence and, once that’s complete, a determination will be made whether to file any motions to suppress evidence or dismiss the case altogether.
During four interviews with police — March 6 and 7, April 5 and April 13, 2017 — Reilly allegedly made inconsistent statements about where she and Reidy were in the days after Ringer’s disappearance. She also told police that Reidy had asked her to lie to them, according to court records.
Reilly was arraigned April 21 in Northern Berkshire District Court, where the Berkshire district attorney announced at a news conference that he believed Reidy had killed Ringer. She was later indicted by a Berkshire grand jury, and her case was transferred to Berkshire Superior Court.
Reilly is scheduled for a final pretrial hearing Aug. 14, with a tentative trial date in September.