Life Sentence Affirmed of Man Who Killed a CU Member in 2003 Branch Robbery
Robert Wilbern raised DNA, counsel, juror, and witness issues, but his arguments were rejected.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York affirmed the conviction and life sentence last week of Richard Wilbern who fatally shot a credit union member during a 2003 branch robbery in Webster, N.Y.
In November 2019, a jury found Wilbern guilty of the crime after hearing testimony that included key DNA evidence taken from the robbery scene at the former Xerox Federal Credit Union branch. During the robbery, Wilbern shot and killed Raymond Batzel, who was a member of Xerox FCU. Another member, Joseph Doud, was shot and injured, but he survived.
In his appeal, Wilbern raised DNA, counsel, juror, and witness issues, but his arguments were rejected by the appeals court, U. S. Attorney Trini E. Ross in Rochester, said in a prepared statement.
The fatal robbery case that shocked the credit union industry and the Rochester community went cold for 13 years, but it was never forgotten.
In March 2016, law enforcement authorities held a press conference to generate new leads for their stalled investigation. Details of the crime were released as well as photographs of a suspect committing the robbery. Soon after the press conference, a concerned citizen contacted the FBI and identified Wilbern as the likely suspect, who was a former Xerox employee.
By July 2016, 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. His DNA was compared to DNA taken from an umbrella left behind by Wilbern at the branch on the day of the robbery, and it was a positive match.
Two months later, the FBI and federal prosecutors announced they solved the cold case and arrested Wilbern.
During his trial, Wilbern’s defense attorneys argued that the government’s case was circumstantial and that the specific DNA testing the feds conducted to charge their client was unreliable.
Xerox FCU transitioned to Xceed Financial Credit Union in 2008. It merged into the $6.6 billion Kinecta Federal Credit Union in Manhattan Beach, Calif., last year.