The body of the head caddie at the ultra-exclusive Maidstone Club in East Hampton was found lying on the porch of a co-worker's home after he was choked to death by during an argument over a golf tournament. Kevin Somers, 45, the "caddy master" at the popular Long Island club, was at fellow employee Marc Dern's home on Feb 5, after which he was found dead.
This week, police arrested Dern, 34, for allegedly choking Somers to death following an argument. According to police, both Somers and Dern were drinking during a golf tournament when they got into an argument, with the former eventually getting killed.
Tragic Death
During Dern's arraignment in Southampton on Friday, prosecutors said that the two were watching a golf tournament on television while enjoying drinks. The altercation started after the show ended.
According to the Southampton Post, authorities claim that Dern first punched Somers in the face and then put him in a chokehold, breaking a little bone in the victim's throat, which caused him to asphyxiate. He then shifted Somers' body on to the porch and left it there before calling 911. He reportedly told cops that he felt his friend's body go limp while he was choking him.
Cops tried to revive Somers but he was already dead by that time. According to police, Dern has left Somers' body on the porch unattended for at least three hours before calling 911. It is not known if Somers could have been saved had police been informed earlier.
Somers was immediately transported to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Dern was arrested and charged on Thursday with one count of manslaughter in the first degree.
In Defense
John Ray, Dern's lawyer, refuted the prosecutor's claim that Somers was left on the porch, claiming that emergency responders informed police his corpse was still warm when they arrived. "If a man was lying from 7:30 to 10:30 dead, his skin would not be warm," Ray said during the hearing. "That's just common sense."
According to prosecutor Keliann Kelly, the postmortem report confirmed that Dern had broken Somers' hyoid bone in his throat, causing him to asphyxiate.
In response, Dern's lawyer, John Ray, contended that Kelly had no accurate time frame for when the fight took place because the altercation might have taken place closer to the time the 911 call was made at 10.40 p.m.
He also stated that there was no proof that Somers was asked to leave the house after the tournament. Furthermore, when Somers was discovered at the site, one of the first responders remarked that his skin was still warm to the touch.
"If a man was lying from 7.30 to 10.30 dead, his skin would not be warm," Ray noted. "That's just common sense."
Kelly rebutted Ray's claims by pointing out that an Uber ride to pick up Somers had been cancelled, and Dern had requested his wife to turn down the security cameras. She further claimed that a second Uber was dispatched to pick up Dern, who was reportedly carrying a backpack at the time.
When Kelly mentioned the problem with the Uber, Dern muttered 'no' to Ray. Ray then said that he did not believe his client to be a "evil man" because he had cared for his dying mother and was a caring father to his two children.
He also stated that Dern and Somers were "close friends" since they got along so well. However, a $500,000 cash bail was still set for Dern by Southampton Town Justice Karen Sartain.
