Jury convicts addict in deadly Waterford carjacking

An Oakland County jury deliberated about two hours Thursday before finding a Walled Lake woman guilty of felony murder in the death of a retiree she ran over during a botched carjacking in a Burger King parking lot last January.

Ruth Pozdol, 39, a mother of two and a long-term heroin addict, admitted during the trial that she was responsible for the death of 76-year-old Clifford Van Haywald, but said she did not intend to hurt him — she just wanted to take his truck.

Pozdol showed little emotion when the eight women and four men announced their verdict in Oakland Circuit Court. She will be sentenced to life in prison on Oct. 21. The jurors also convicted her of carjacking.

The family of her victim sat quietly in the courtroom as the verdict was read, then patted each other. Some appeared to wipe away tears.

Following the verdict, Assistant Prosecutor John Skrzynski spoke with the family. "I'm sorry we can't bring him back," Skrzynski said. "But at least you know she is getting what she deserved."

The jury may have been considering convicting her of a lesser charge because they sent a note out asking if they could find her guilty of both second-degree murder and carjacking. The judge told them to rely on the instructions they had been given.

Her attorney, Michael McCarthy, had argued that she had not intended harm, but had panicked and was trying to merely escape when Haywald was killed.

Haywald, a retired General Motors worker from Walled Lake, died of massive injuries Jan. 18 after he was hit by his own pickup truck while trying to stop Pozdol from driving away in the parking lot of a Waterford Burger King.

"There were tears," McCarthy said of Pozdol's reaction to the verdict. Pozdol testifed this morning in her own defense. "I thought she acquitted herself well," McCarthy said. "She is disappointed."

Pozdol, a heroin addict, had walked away from a nearby rehab clinic that morning, was desperate for a fix and needed a way to get to Detroit and her drug dealer.

"I wanted to get high," she told jurors in testimony. "I was dope-sick. I didn't think things through."

She testified that she talked to Haywald, a regular at the restaurant on M-59, then followed him out to his truck. She said she told him, "I don't want to hurt you, I just want to borrow your car."

Related: Shattered routine: Great-grandfather dies in carjacking

She managed to grab the keys and climbed into the cab. Haywald was at the open driver's side door, with his hand on the steering wheel, as she slammed the truck in reverse, then forward, then backward again.

"I was scared. It was not what I was expecting," she said under questioning by her attorney, Michael McCarthy. "I was just trying to get away."

Nevertheless, she said, she caused Haywald's death.

"It was me," she said. "I'm responsible."

Related:State of mind the issue in deadly Waterford carjacking

Assistant Prosecutor Robert VanWert accused Pozdol of putting her need for heroin above her concern for Haywald's safety as she slammed the car back and forth in the parking lot at a high rate of speed.

"Clifford was the only thing between you and your dope," VanWert said. "You slammed on the gas again, and Cliff was still hanging on. You were trying to shake him from the truck."

Pozdol replied, "I did not think I would hurt him. I wasn't thinking about hurting anyone."

Pozdol admitted that in the hours after the carjacking, she drove to Detroit, sold the truck for $200, then purchased $120 worth of heroin. A fellow addict dropped her off at a bus station, and she took the bus back to Oakland County where her husband, who had been in contact with police, picked her up and drove her to a nearby park, where she turned herself in to police.

The trial, which began Monday, was before Oakland County Circuit Judge James Alexander.

Contact L.L. Brasier: 248-858-2262 or lbrasier@freepress.com