Prosecutors begin trial against stepfather of missing girl Madalina Cojocari

For 23 days, Christopher Palmiter did not know the whereabouts of his stepdaughter, Madalina Cojocari, a Mecklenburg County prosecutor said Friday during opening arguments to a jury.

“When this is over, you won't have any answers about what happened to Madalina,” Assistant District Attorney Austin Butler said. “But you will only have one answer: and that is that the accused is guilty of failing to report Madalina’s disappearance.”

The girl Cornelius, then 11 years old, mysteriously disappeared in 2022 after her school's Thanksgiving break.

In December 2022, mother Diana Cojocari and Palmiter were charged with failing to report her disappearance. The couple gave police conflicting information, with both insinuating that the other had “hid” Madalina somewhere and that each suddenly had a large bag of cash following her disappearance.

Madalina's whereabouts are unknown.

Diana Cojocari pleaded guilty Monday and was released from prison after spending about 17 months there.

Butler and Palmiter's attorney, Brandon Roseman, both made opening arguments to the jury Friday in the case against Palmiter, 61. Jurors also heard from the state's first two witnesses.

The jury in the trial in Mecklenburg Superior Court consists of 11 men and one woman. Two alternate jurors, both women, were also selected Friday.

Next week, jurors will hear testimony from Cornelius police detectives.

Roseman told jurors that prosecutors made many assumptions about Palmiter and that it was their duty to consider all of the information and context presented in order to return a fair verdict.

First State Witness

Tina Rorie, Madalina's bus driver before her disappearance, testified that she remembered Madalina because their names rhymed and Madalina always thanked the driver before getting off the bus.

Rorie said that when she was dropping her off after school, she saw Madalina running towards her house and going inside. When asked if she had seen Madalina with adults, Rorie said she had once seen her walking with a man she assumed was her father.

The jury was shown footage from the last time Madalina took the bus, on November 21, 2022. Rorie was asked to identify Madalina in the video, and as she did so, she began to cry.

Second State Witness

Bailey Middle School school counselor Danice Lampkin made multiple attempts to contact Palmiter and Diana Cojocari after noticing Madalina had numerous absences in 2022.

She said she didn't know Madalina personally but kept track of students' attendance. As a general rule, she made sure to contact families when students had two absences.

Butler presented several documents from Madalina's school records that contained items such as her birth certificate, student registration form and emergency contact form as well as her class schedule.

Lampkin said Madalina was doing well academically, but the absences prompted Lampkin to try to contact Diana Cojocari by phone and email. Unable to reach her, she tried Palmiter, who was listed in Madalina's school documents as having permission to pick her up from school.

But she also couldn't reach him, she said, despite leaving several voicemails in November and December 2022 and sending emails.

Butler played these five voicemails for the jury.

In the last two voicemails, Lampkin informed the family that she would visit the home if they did not respond, to check on Madalina's well-being and drop off what is called a truancy packet, which contained items like her. attendance register.

Lampkin said she was able to make contact with a third person identified as “Sandy” on Madalina's emergency contact form, who was not authorized to pick her up from school. Lampkin spoke with that person twice, she said. The person said Madalina was sick.

After speaking with that person, the school received notification through a contact form on the school's website that Madalina was ill. The form said it was submitted by Diana Cojocari, but Lampkin said there was no way of knowing whether it was actually her who submitted it or not.

Lampkin attempted to go to Madalina's home to drop off the package, but no one answered, so she left the package at the door.

The day after dropping the package, in December, Lampkin said, she finally heard back from Diana Cojocari who said she wanted to meet with him. Lampkin said she stressed that she had to bring Madalina, but Diana never confirmed the request.

And the day after the phone call, Diana showed up at school without Madalina. She told Lampkin that her daughter was missing. Lampkin went to the school resource officer. Palmiter later showed up to speak with the school resource officer.

Madalina was never reported missing from school before the meeting, she said.

Cross-examination of defense attorney

Roseman, Palmiter's attorney, asked Lampkin about school documents in the case that were presented to the jury.

Roseman said the documents showed Diana Cojocari was listed as Madalina's legal guardian, not Palmiter. Palmiter did not sign on a line designating legal guardians.

The paternal line on Madalina's birth certificate was blank, Roseman said, showing the document.

Roseman asked Lampkin if she knew if Palmiter had parental rights to Madalina, and she said she didn't know.

He also noted that Lampkin could not be sure that Palmiter lived at the address listed in Madalina's school records. He asked her if she knew whether or not he was receiving the voicemails and emails, and she said she didn't know. He said that because she did not know his life or his work schedule, she could not be certain whether he ever received these communications.

Butler, however, showed the jury a deed to a house that was co-owned by Diana Cojocari and Palmiter. The address on the deed matched the address on Madalina’s school documents.

The trial will resume at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 28.