Facebook messages at heart of evidence against Milton man accused in drug death

Gregory Collins of Milton looks toward the witness box as Peter Miltner, upper right, testifies about how he delivered drugs to Robert Rawson, below, right. (Rochester Voice photos; Rawson photo/Courtesy)

DOVER - When Peter Miltner dropped off a supply of fentanyl to the Rochester motel room of longtime friend and fellow heroin addict Robert Rawson II, he was told by Rawson he only had $20 toward the $40 worth he'd asked for.

"I only had 20 dollars on me so I threw in half," said Miltner during the second day of a trial that will determine whether Gregory Collins, 38, of Lord Lane, Milton, will spend up to life in prison for allegedly supplying the drug that killed Rawson.

Miltner, 28, of Rochester, said he then calmly divvied up the brown, powdery substance evenly on a round table and snorted his half with a straw.

Facebook Messages between a number purported to be that of alleged fentanyl supplier Gregory Collins and self-described drug transaction "facilitator" Peter Miltner.

He testified on Wednesday that Rawson, 28, then took a snort.

"Did you talk about anything?" Assistant County Attorney Katelyn Henmueller asked.

"We both admitted we were ----ed up for doing this," quipped Miltner, who is doing four to eight years in state prison for his part in Rawson's overdose death.

Almost immediately after snorting the fentanyl, Miltner said he left with Collins - who had stayed inside his red pickup truck - and was driven back to a residence in the Saks Trailer Park on Milton Road where the two parted ways. Miltner would never see Rawson alive again.

The trial against Collins represents the first time in Strafford County history that prosecutors have sought an acts prohibited, death resulting charge against two in connection with a single death.

Earlier in the day testimony by Rochester Police Detective Geoff Moore recalled his entry into the case.

Moore said when he arrived at the Greenwood Inn on Farmington Road on Feb. 15 the first thing he noticed inside Rawson's room was the drug paraphernalia on a round table near the door: a bottle cap, residue, needle. He said Rawson's fully clothed body was lying on the floor.

He said he also seized Rawson's cellphone on which he found several texts and Facebook messages.

Those Facebook messages were the bulk of evidence presented on Tuesday on an overhead projector onto a screen to the right of the defendant and his counsel.

Henmueller had Moore recount the several messages Rawson had sent to other local drug suppliers the afternoon of Feb. 14, all who said they had none, until Miltner agreed he could hook him up. Miltner is then alleged to have texted Collins to arrange the delivery to Rawson.

Moore said digital evidence like text messages and Facebook messages are often relied on in such cases and collectively they pointed to the fentanyl Rawson used that day as coming from Collins and through Miltner.

Miltner said when he was interviewed by police on March 12 he tried to evade answers, but after he believed police had more and more damning evidence against him, he began telling the truth. He also said he didn't want to be a "rat" because it could go bad for him in prison if he did that.

Defense counselors Michael J. Zaino and David Tencza, meanwhile, sought to establish that there were many names and numbers on Rawson's phone that investigators didn't probe fully and also argued the possibility of whether it was actually Collins' phone number Miltner was calling, since it wasn't identified by name.

Watching it all from the first row were Rawson's parents, who held onto each other tightly stifling sobs.

The trial continues today.