Patrick McFarlane, 24, was arrested along with Roderik Armstrong, 25, in November 2008 and charged with the murder of Richard Mason.
Patrick McFarlane TRENTON — The trial of a Trenton man who allegedly killed a construction worker over a game of dice in May 2008 will begin Monday after jury selection finished today, prosecutors said.
Patrick McFarlane, 24, was arrested along with Roderik Armstrong, 25, in November 2008 and charged with the murder of Richard Mason, a 44-year-old Bordentown father and husband. They also were charged with weapons possession and armed robbery.
The two men chased down and shot Mason three times on the corner of New Willow and Kirkbridge Streets after a dice game went bad, authorities said at the time of the arrest. Mason was transported to Capital Health Systems but did not survive the wounds.
More than five years after Mason’s murder, McFarlane will begin his trial in Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier’s courtroom next week, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said yesterday. Mason’s wife, Tammy, has said previously that she thought it was unlikely that Mason was playing dice, because she had never seen him play dice in their long relationship.
McFarlane’s trial may yield more light on the exact circumstances that led to Mason’s death, and the role the dice game played. Richard Mason called his wife the night of the shooting to tell her he was on his way home from a pool hall, but he didn’t arrive. Tammy Mason found out that her husband had been shot to death just over an hour later when her mother-in-law called to tell her.
“He was a good man, a good person — good-hearted. He helped anybody,” Tammy Mason told The Times the day after her husband’s slaying.
The Masons, who were married by former Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer in a special Valentine’s Day ceremony at City Hall in 2007, were very close.
“I just knew when I met him. I knew he was the one for me,” Tammy told The Times that day. “I’ve never experienced anything like this.”
Contact Brendan McGrath at (609)989-5731 or at bmcgrath@njtimes.com.
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