Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas E. Gregory and Joel L.
Violanti, who handled the prosecution of the case, stated that on August12,
2003 at approximately 9:45 a.m., the defendant walked into Xerox Federal Credit
Union (XFCU), located on the Xerox Corporation campus at 800 Phillips Road in
Webster, NY. Wilbern was wearing a dark blue nylon jacket with the letters
“FBI” written in yellow on the back of the jacket, sunglasses and a poorly
fitting wig. The defendant was also carrying a large briefcase, a green and
gray-colored umbrella and had what appeared to be a United States Marshals
badge hanging on a chain around his neck.
Wilbern went into the cubicle of a female employee and told
the employee that he was there to conduct a security assessment and to “stage”
a robbery. The defendant subsequently removed two firearms from the briefcase,
one described as a handgun, the other a sawed-off shot gun or sawed-off rifle.
Wilbern also removed a bag and instructed the employee to fill the bag with
money from behind the teller counter. The employee complied with the
demands.
Shortly after, the defendant ordered employees and customers
to lay down on the floor. While doing so, Wilbern confronted a customer Raymond
Batzel who had just finished a banking transaction with the teller. After a
very brief verbal altercation, the defendant shot Batzel in the neck which
resulted in his death. As Wilbern shot Batzel, a second customer, Joseph Doud,
entered the credit union and attempted to turn and run back outside after
witnessing the shooting. The defendant shot and wounded the customer in the
back as he fled. After shooting the two customers, Wilbern returned to the teller
counter area and, while holding the firearm in the air, told credit union
employees to fill the bag with cash.
The defendant then took the money and fled the credit union leaving
behind the umbrella.
In the aftermath of the robbery/homicide at the Xerox
Federal Credit Union, the Monroe County Public Safety Laboratory attempted to
obtain DNA samples from the green and gray umbrella which was left behind by
Wilbern. Two sets of swabs were taken from various locations on the umbrella,
including the “external wrap around closure and button”, the “lower latch
mechanism”, the “metal shaft and upper latch mechanism” and an “internal
strap.” One set of swabs was tested for
the presence of DNA while the second set was allowed to dry, packaged and
appropriately stored at the lab for future testing. Based upon the technology
available at the time, insufficient amounts of DNA were located on the first
set of swabs and therefore no conclusions could be drawn.
On November 15, 2011, Webster Police investigators
transferred the second set of swabs from the Monroe County Public Safety
Building to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in New York City. OCME
had developed the expertise and facilities necessary to perform a DNA testing
technique that enables testing to be performed on trace amounts of evidence.
This testing technique is referred to as High Sensitivity DNA testing, also
referred to as Low Template testing.
On December 28, 2011, OCME issued a report advising that
they were able to recover human DNA from each of submitted swabs from the
umbrella, and that two of the submitted swabs contained sufficient levels of
human DNA to conduct High Sensitivity PCR DNA testing and comparison. Regarding
DNA taken from the “umbrella closure wrap around”, the Medical Examiner
concluded that DNA from at least two people was located, but included one major
male contributor, referred to as “Male Donor A.” The DNA profile of “Male Donor
A”, based on a 15 loci result, is expected to be found in only 1 in 6.80
trillion people. As for the second sample, which was taken from the “umbrella
latch mechanism (lower)” of the umbrella, based on a 10 loci result, is
expected to be found in in one in 138 million people. The DNA profile was
placed in a local and state data base with no positive hits.
In March 2016, a press conference was held to seek new leads
in the investigation. Details of the crime were released as well as photographs
of Wilbern committing the robbery. Anyone with information was asked to call a
dedicated hotline.
On March 27, 2016, a concerned citizen contacted the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and indicated that the person who committed the crime
was likely a former Xerox employee named Richard Wilbern. The citizen indicated
that the defendant worked for Xerox prior to the robbery but had been fired.
The citizen also stated that they recognized Wilbern’s face from the
photos.
In July 20016, FBI agents met with Wilbern regarding a
complaint he had made to the FBI regarding an alleged real estate scam. During
one of their meetings, agents obtained a DNA sample from Wilbern after he
licked and sealed an envelope. That
envelope was sent to OCME, and after comparing the DNA profile from the
envelope to the DNA profile previously developed from the umbrella, determined
there was a positive match.
Wilbern was employed by Xerox between September 1996 and
February 23, 2001 as which time he was terminated for repeated employment related
infractions. In 2001, Wilbern filed a lawsuit against Xerox alleging that the
company unlawfully discriminated against him with respect to the terms and
conditions of his employment, subjected him to a hostile work environment,
failed to hire him fora position for which he applied because of his race, and
retaliated against him for complaining about Xerox’s discriminatory
treatment. Wilbern also maintained a
checking and savings accounts at the Xerox Federal Credit Union. Evidence at trial demonstrated that Wilbern
was in significant financial distress from roughly 2000 – 2003, including
filing for bankruptcy.
The verdict is the culmination of an investigation by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agentin Charge
Gary Loeffert; the Webster Police Department, under the direction of Chief
Joseph P. Rieger, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Eric
Laughton, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Todd
Baxter, the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief La’Ron
Singletary, the United States Marshals Service, under the direction of Charles
Salina, and the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction
of Sandra Doorley.
Sentencing is scheduled for February 11, 2020, before U.S.
District Judge Charles J. Siragusa who presided over the trial.
