Witness testifies she sold Graham gun

CATSKILL — The woman police connected to a drug ring and multiple shootings in Hudson in 2017 sold Carlos Graham the weapon he used to kill Brandyn Dayne Foster, she said in Greene County Court on Friday.

Bryce “Bruce” Hallback, 33, who is in federal police custody and is facing a life sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Hudson, testified in the prosecution’s third day of testimony that she sold Graham the black .357 magnum revolver that he used to kill and pistol whip Foster.

Carlos Graham, 31, of Catskill, was charged Feb. 15, 2018, with second-degree murder, a class A-I felony. He has pleaded not guilty.

Graham was additionally charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class C felony; third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree grand larceny, both class D felonies; concealment of a corpse and two counts of tampering with physical evidence, both class E felonies, Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione said in May.

Foster was shot in a bedroom of his ex-girlfriend’s Catskill home at 124 Tool House Road in January 2017, police said. Graham, Sade Knox and Ashton Adams lifted the floor up to hide Foster’s body in a crawl space, Stanzione said.

When Hallback sold Graham the gun in 2017, he told her what he was going to use the weapon for: To shoot and kill Foster.

Hallback, originally of Hudson, has known Graham for 16 years, she said. In January 2017, Graham asked Hallback to meet because he didn’t want to discuss what he needed over the phone.

The two met at 8 Hotel Lane in Stuyvesant. There, Graham asked for a gun and Hallback gave him the magnum revolver, she said.

Afterward, she asked Graham what he was going to use it for.

“He [Graham] said he needed a gun — that Sade’s boyfriend would kill him if he found out he was sleeping around with Sade,” Hallback said.

Graham also talked about Knox rocking Foster to sleep and shooting him while he slept, Hallback said.

“He said after he killed him, he would rob him for weed, guns and anything of value in his house,” Hallback said.

Knox and another friend of Graham’s were present for the conversation, Hallback said.

More than a month later, Hallback asked Graham for the gun back, she said. Graham replied that he did not have it.

“He said he had used it,” Hallback said. “He said, “You don’t want it back anyway. I used it. I beat the n****r with it.”

During his cross examination, defense attorney Shane Zoni, of Albany, questioned Hallback about her extensive criminal background that started when she shot at two people when she was 16.

On redirect questioning, Chief Assistant District Attorney David Constanza asked Hallback if she was telling the truth.

Hallback turned to the jury and replied: “The whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Roger Chapman, 29, an inmate at Albany County Jail for violating parole, took the stand for the prosecution Friday in shackles and an orange jumpsuit in day three of testimony against Graham.

Chapman mumbled at times and kept his head bowed, but recounted specific details of the story Graham told him about the night Foster died.

While together in jail, Graham asked Chapman for help to access information on his criminal charges in the jail’s library. After he agreed, Graham talked about killing Foster, Chapman said.

Graham and Foster’s ex-girlfriend, Sade Knox, were having an affair. Foster found out about the affair while overhearing Knox talking to Graham about a new tongue ring and attacked them, Chapman said.

Foster, who had a gun, started to beat Knox, Chapman said.

Graham allegedly went to Knox’s bedroom and took out two guns — a .357 Ruger magnum revolver and a 10-gauge sawed-off shotgun — and went into the bedroom where Foster was.

Foster raised his gun, but Graham shot him before Foster could fire, Chapman said.

Knox, Graham and Adams agreed not to tell the police and disposed of Foster’s body in the crawl space and filled it with cement, Chapman said.

The prosecution presented jurros with a diagram that Graham drew for Chapman showing where the crawl space was below 124 Tool House Road. Chapman kept the diagram.

During his cross examination, Zoni questioned Chapman’s credibility because he has been in and out jail for most of the past 11 years.

Most recently, Chapman was arrested on a parole violation for riding in a car with three other passengers that had a gun in it, he said. The gun did not belong to Chapman, he said.

“So, what, you’re doing this [testifying] out of the goodness of your heart?” Zoni asked the inmate.

That was the only reason, Chapman replied, because the district attorney’s office did not offer a deal in exchange for the testimony.

Chapman expects to be released for the parole violation in about four days, he said.

To reach reporter Amanda Purcell, call 518-828-1616 ext. 2500, or send an email to apurcell@thedailymail.net, or tweet to @amandajpurcell.