A convert to Catholicism, Bob put his two sons through parochial school while coaching their soccer and baseball teams and helping with class projects. Sean was a Boy Scout in the troop sponsored by the parish, and Bob, himself an Eagle Scout, managed its finances, his wife and lawyers said in court papers.
The Stewarts stayed close, Gallagher said. Months after Bob and Sean’s arrest last year, they came together for the baptism of Sean’s younger brother’s child. Weeks later, they buried Sean’s grandmother. A message left at the Stewart home wasn’t returned.
It’s unclear whether prosecutors will focus on the family relationship. But Sean might do so as part of his claim that his father learned what he was doing at work and then used the information to trade, according to the person, who declined to publicly discuss details of the case.
Defense lawyers are also taking aim at the 70-minute coffee-shop recording. They point to the lunchtime clattering of plates and chatter of diners, saying many of Bob’s words can’t be deciphered. It’s “a garbled, vague and largely inaudible recording,” they said in court papers, adding that the silver-platter remark is innocent, or at least impossible to interpret.
The defense may highlight another recorded meeting between Cunniffe and the older Stewart in which Bob said he never told Sean he had used the information. Prosecutors say Bob “clammed up” after becoming suspicious that Cunniffe was cooperating.
The $15,000 payment was settling up for a loan, Sean’s lawyers argued. And the wedding photographer? That, they say, is just what a father does for his son.