 78. Ladies and gentlemen, there has been a great deal of testimony about this particular gun. Suffice it to say, * the gun is not on trial. We are not here to prove that that's the gun that was used to kill Jenifer McCrady, although, there is a lot of evidence that indicates it probably was. {{ Perhaps the gun wasn't 'on trial' as Mr. Rings stated, but if it wasn't the murder weapon, then perhaps they shouldn't have had McCrady on trial either, because if that wasn't the murder weapon, then he 'probably' wasn't the one that killed her!}}
79. First and foremost, there is the alteration of the gun barrel. You heard testimony from all of the ballistics experts in this case that the only reason to alter the gun barrel in the manner it was altered is to destroy its ballistics capabilities so it couldn't be matched with a shell that had been fired from it.{{ If altering the gun could prevent the state from proving it was McCrady that killed his wife with that gun; altering the gun could also prevent McCrady from proving it wasn't him that murdered his wife with that gun! }}
80. Now, the fact that this gun was found in a locked box * in the defendant's bedroom in that condition certainly leads strongly to the inference that this is the murder weapon. {{ The gun was in a locked box - the box it came in - however it was not found in the bedroom. It was stored in the attic, along with other items that the family were not using. It was not 'hidden' in the attic, simply stored there.}}
81. Here is another little detail to keep in mind when considering that. Here are the things that were found with the gun. We have one, two, three, four live rounds and * one empty casing. A total of five. That's a six shot revolver. There are six cylinders in this weapon, and here we have five cartridges or shell casings. *Where is the sixth? I can tell you that. The defendant shot her. He is not totally stupid. Takes that shell, boom, it's gone. {{ Why would McCrady have thrown away the casing, and then altered the gun? Why not toss it into the box with the rest of the casings? The bullet was what was important, not the shell casing. One would expect the casing to match the gun, right? Still, after altering the gun, the bullet itself could not be matched to the gun, so why worry about the casing? } continuing} We have never argued that this must be the empty casing that held the round that killed Jenifer McCrady. In fact, * I'm pretty sure it's not. {{Okay, so we 'probably' have the murder weapon, but since the gun isn't on trial, it really doesn't matter if it's the actual murder weapon -- but, we're pretty sure we don't have the shell casing from the bullet that killed Jenifer -- however, that's irrelevant also because we KNOW that Jackie McCrady is the killer -- with or without the correct weapon or bullets, he's the killer! Okay.... let's move along in this display of insanity}}
I think the empty casing that shot the fatal bullet is * long gone and we'll never find it. {{ If my theory is correct, I can tell them where the other bullet and casing is. It's down there where Jenifer was found. There is a person who heard {2} shots fired in that area, in the early morning hours, while Jenifer was missing. Whoever killed Jenifer, put the bullet in her just before he put her into the grave he'd dug for her. Also, in my little theory, Jenifer was already dead when the bullet was shot into her head. That's why there was 'no blood' from a head wound. And since there were two shots heard, I contend that the first one missed -- well, it was dark, ya know -- and he had to re-fire. The other bullet could probably still be found. I believe it is buried in the ground somewhere between the top of the hill on the access road and the place where Jenifer was found -- probably closer to the spot that she was found than to the top of the hill. }} Look how big this is. Wouldn't this be hard to dispose of something like this? Why not dispose of the rest of them? Because * they really have nothing to do with the death of Jenifer McCrady except that there are only five of them and there should be six. {{ Mr. Rings is neglecting to mention the fact that the empty shell casing, found in that box, along with the gun that 'probably' killed Jenifer, was NOT fired by the gun that wasn't on trial, but that 'probably' killed Jenifer!! So what gun was it fired from? Well, no one ever knew, because no one cared enough to test any guns other than the ones McCrady had access to. }}
82. Ladies and gentlemen, there has also been a lot of testimony in this case concerning the time of Jenifer McCrady's death. There is testimony from four witnesses concerning that issue; Dr. Bass, Dr. Lehman, Dr. Perper and Tom Fuller.
83. Dr. Bass testified that based on his observations and studies Jenifer McCrady had been killed sometime between * 10 and 14 days before her body was discovered. {{Correct, and according to my calculations, she was tied up and kept alive for 24 to 30 hours before she was smothered to death with a plastic bag. The killer wore gloves. There was a glove print found on the plastic trash bag over Jenifer's head, and it did NOT match McCrady's gloves! But, there wouldn't be much talk about that .... or anything else that didn't add up to McCrady being the killer.}}
84. October 1 is 12 days after Jenifer was murdered, and that fits right in with Dr. Bass' time frame.
85. Dr. Bass issued a written opinion setting forth his observations, the basis for his conclusion and his conclusion -- set this forward, and you are going to have a copy of this. Take it back there. You will be able to review that.
86. Part of the bases for his opinion was his observation of skin slippage and marbling that he observed on the body.
87. Now, keep in mind when deciding how much weight to give Dr. Bass' testimony, keep in mind that he runs that little thing called the Body Farm in the hills of Tennessee.{{ And I would think that someone would have wondered about the [14] days. Everyone knew she had been missing for 12 days, so how could she have been dead 14 days? And -- are we to believe that there are no changes, no further decomposition in the body between 10 and 14 days? So nothing happens on day 11 - day 12 - day 13, but on day 14 there are additional changes? I believe Jenifer had been dead a total of 11 days, but had only been buried for 9 days.}} You'll recall his description of that. What he does, he takes dead bodies and he puts them in all different kinds of situations; buries them above the ground, under water, wherever, and he does a scientific study of observing how human bodies decompose in different and varying environments and situations.
88. He testified based upon his training and experience and his work at the Body Farm -- he actually gets to watch this process take place -- that this is the length of time that Jenifer McCrady's body had been in the ground. He said: The estimation of the time since death for the body of Jenifer McCrady on the basis of putrefaction is consistent with skin slippage and supports a time of death of 10 to 14 days prior to her discovery.
89. The observation Dr. Bass made concerning skin slippage and marbling were supported first by Tom Fuller, the defense witness who described and showed you, circled on the photographs, evidence of slippage and marbling, and then there was the slide demonstration yesterday from Dr. Lehman. He pointed out a number of photographs and a number of areas where there was both slippage and marbling.
90. The bases upon which Dr. Bass issued his opinion are sound.
91. Let's talk a little bit about Dr. Perper. He came down here basically as a hatchet man to attack the opinions of Dr. Lehman and Dr. Bass. Recall his testimony. He claimed to see things that nobody else saw, scratch marks on the back. And yet he couldn't see things that everyone else saw, skin slippage and marbling.
92. Dr. Perper offered a number of theories about the condition of Jenifer's body based only on his review of some photographs, yet, there was no testimony at all that he ever picked up the phone and called Dr. Lehman and said, hey, I have got some concerns here, let's talk about this, this is what I think I see in the photographs, can you help me out, can you clear me out on this, am I right, did you see something different because after all you spent a better part of the day with the body without looking at photographs, let's talk about these concerns. He didn't testify to that. {{ What? How was Perper supposed to know what Lehman saw or was going to testify to? Did Lehman and Bass discuss their testimony and what they saw 'before' the trial?? If Perper had called one or both of these doctors to 'discuss the case' before it came into the court room, would Rings have been screaming about collusion, or witness tampering? Besides that, did either Bass or Lehman pick up their phone and call Perper? No, of course they didn't, and only a nut case would expect such a thing.
93. Ladies and gentlemen, it was his job to come down here and give an opinion somehow different from Lehman and Bass, and that's what he did. It wasn't his job to search for the truth but to get a contrary opinion, and he did it based just on photographs.
94. If he truly had been concerned about finding out what really happened to the body of Jenifer McCrady, he would have made those phone calls and checked with a firsthand source. He would have cleared up his concerns about a bite mark on the chin, which Dr. Lehman says that's ridiculous, it doesn't exist. He would have cleared up those concerns about scratches on the back. He didn't want to do that. He was far more interested in coming down here and just saying that coroner did a lousy job, he didn't do his job, he missed all this stuff.
95. Ladies and gentlemen, in considering the opinion of Dr. Perper, please consider how he arrived at his conclusion, please consider the bases of his conclusion -- no slippage, no marbling. Those are just not true. There was slippage and there was marbling. And * if you take the bases for his opinion out, then his opinion, likewise, has no validity in this case. {{The jury should have considered that Dr. Bass arrived at his conclusion based on photographs and a little help from Mr. Garvey! }}
96. In the opening statement, Mr. Kiger spoke of Tom Fuller, told you that he would have some very interesting things to say about this case, and he asked you to pay real close attention to Mr. Fuller's testimony, and I hope you did that.
97. Tom Fuller described the injury to Jenifer's right wrist. He said that based upon his observations, his measurements, that that injury was made by a flexi-cuff just like this or something else exactly like it.
98. Now, there has been some testimony that, well, you can buy things like this from an electrical supply place, and I have no doubt that you can find in an electrical supply outfit a plastic strip that has something that you can feed through the hook at the end, pull it tight and it will hold things in place. Sure you can get things like that, but do you think you can get something exactly this shape, size and dimension * from an electrical supply outfit? I don't know, maybe you can. But I will tell you what, you don't see one put in evidence before you, do you? {{Yes, you can get them at Wal*Mart, Odd Lots, Home Depot, Lowes and any hardware store in the nation. }} I suggest to you if there had been an electrical supply outfitter that could sell things exactly like this, you would have seen it, but you didn't. Instead, the only thing that matches exactly is State Exhibit #41, and remember where those came from -- Lieutenant Dunn at the Ohio Highway Patrol. That's what matches the wound on her wrist exactly. And the width of the band was consistent with the mark on her lower leg.
99. Ladies and gentlemen, you also heard some testimony that steroids were discovered at the defendant's residence again in the area Ms. R.'s described as Jackie's place.{{ The steroids were supposedly found hidden in the garage ceiling.}}
100. You heard testimony from Dr. Leopold concerning * a steroid rage. Was the defendant on a steroid rage when he killed his wife that evening or during those early morning hours? Don't know. He may have been. He may not have been. Ladies and gentlemen, there is simply no way to tell. {{ This is not correct. There is a very simple way 'to tell,' and that's a simple blood test. Jackie McCrady had a stroke in July. He was hospitalized. There were no steroids in his system at that time. Jenifer disappeared in mid September, and Jackie was arrested within a day or so after she was found on October 1st. There were no steroids in his system at that time. The type of steroids that the state contended that he took will remain in the system, and can be detected in the system for up to 4 months after taking them. There was NEVER any steroids found in Jackie McCrady's system. // He may have been, he may not have been: It may have been the murder weapon, it may not have been: It may have been the empty casing, it may not have been: It may have been flexi-cuffs, it may not have been. What a circus!}}
101. The evidence in this case showed strongly that the defendant *gained a significant amount of weight and upper body mass during the first three weeks of September 1996. {{Absolutely not correct. McCrady weighed 198 pounds when he went into the hospital in July, and he weighed 195 pounds when he was arrested for his wife's murder.}}
102. He was described by a number of witnesses as being frail at the post's Labor Day picnic. {September 6th}
103. At riot training on the 18th, a number of officers noted how much weight he had put on and he appeared to be solid and muscular.
104. Lieutenant Dunn said he was surprised at the solid muscle mass the defendant had on October 1 when he disarmed him. {{ McCrady weighed 198 pounds when he had the stroke on July 4th; He weighed 195 pounds when he went back to work on September 18th, and he weighed 195 pounds when he was arrested on October 4th.}}
105. Defense witness Lieutenant Bennington said that he had visited the defendant at home sometime *late August, early September 1996 and he looked frail and sickly {{ What does 'frail and sickly' mean? The man felt good enough to attend the Labor Day picnic. Could they simply be talking about the difference in appearance between street clothing and a uniform with duty belt and all the junk they carry around their waist? Surely these people are smart enough to know that they look a lot bigger in their uniforms -- of course they know that, that's why they carry all that junk. It makes them intimidating.} back to the bs } but then on the 18th when he (Bennington) saw him up there at Cambridge, he had put on between 15 to 20 pounds, and he appeared to be healthy.
106. Was this the result of Jenifer's good nursing and chicken soup? Well, I sort of doubt that you can put on 15 to 20 pounds of muscle in that short a period of time unless you have got some real help, and that help would come from * abuse of anabolic steroids.{{ This man had to be a genus. He can take steroids but none ever show up in his system. He can murder his wife and leave not a trace of evidence. He can dig not one, but two graves and never get dirty. He can walk in the rain and mud and muck and never get wet or muddy. He can drive through the weeds and mud and not get either on his vehicle. What a guy!}}
107. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to bring you back on this point. The real evidentiary value of these pills is not to prove that Jack McCrady used steroids. The fact is the evidence shows that he *probably used steroids and steroids were found in that part of the garage right beside the purse. It was in *Jackie's place. That's where the purse was found, in Jackie's place, where he wanted to keep things that he didn't want anyone else to see, and the purse was right in there with it. {{ Okay, so we are now 'probably' sure he used steroids, although NOTHING, absolutely nothing ever showed, proved or even gave strong indication that the man was using steroids, or had ever used them in his life. // The purse was NOT the blue and gray one that McCrady said was missing. That purse was never found, and neither was Jenifer's wrist watch, the house keys, or her gold nugget necklace. (And I wonder if it was a silver wrist watch!) As far as "Jackie's place" is concerned, it was a hole in the ceiling. Funny thing is, nothing else was up there except this so called evidence. So what other kind of 'stuff' did Jackie McCrady store in the ceiling of the garage? If he hadn't murdered his wife and hid her purse and shoes up there, there would have been nothing in "Jackie's place." That's a little odd, don't you think? }}
108. Why then would he save that purse? Why not -- you can fling away an empty shell casing and hide other evidence, why is he so concerned about that purse? Ladies and gentlemen, the purse was an insurance policy because his story was going to be that she run away. After awhile if people were buying that story, wonderful. If they weren't, all you had to do is take that purse to someplace like Columbus, Cincinnati, some other town, and just toss it out the window where someone is going to find it. * If somebody reports that purse as being found in that location, * boom, that's your proof, she is alive and happy, we found her purse, she ran away. * That's why he kept that purse, but it * misfired badly when it was discovered there in the home. {{ This is 'probably' the biggest pack of bs Rings has perpetrated thus far!! First, {if} the purse was 'found' in another town, chances are pretty good it would be emptied of its contents and tossed away again. People steal credit cards, money, etc. all the time, and the chances of the purse being turned in to law enforcement were actually pretty slim. However, let's assume it was turned in to law enforcement ..... the purse of a missing woman has been found in another town, where it has been tossed out of a moving vehicle, possibly along an interstate highway, and this is proof she ran away?? My, my. I'd think the first thing a person might think in that case is that the woman had been abducted and taken away by force. That's what people thought about Alice Donovan and Samantha Burns ..... and you know what, they were right. The two women had been abducted by Fulks and Basham ...... both of which admitted killing the women and are now awaiting execution. Donovan and Burns remain missing to this day. // Rings' use of the words 'boom' and 'misfired badly' was nothing more than a ploy to divert attention back to the murder, and away from the theory he was putting forth. I recall when this was presented that my mind went to the shoes -- the tennis shoes that were found along with the purse and the steroids. Why did he put her shoes up there, I wondered. What was that supposed to prove -- that she ran away barefooted? Why did he hide one pair of shoes up there? Why didn't he just leave them sitting wherever they were (remember, she was supposedly in bed when he killed her, so I'm assuming she didn't sleep in her shoes) Why didn't he just toss the shoes in the closet with the other dozen or more pairs that Jenifer owned? And prey tell, what did the man do with the luggage that was missing from the house? Why didn't he just add the purse and the shoes to the luggage and do whatever with all of it at the same time? And where, oh where are the keys to the garage and house, the necklace and that wrist watch? }}
109. Finally, I want to mention the defense argument that the officers in this case * rushed to judgment and wrongly charged the defendant with the crime in ignoring other evidence. {{ This is exactly what was done.... check out number 72 on the first page of Closing Arguments
110. You have now heard all the evidence the state gathered in this case. * You have got to decide whether the officers rushed to a judgment against the defendant or whether they simply drew the only logical conclusion that can be drawn from all of the evidence that was collected. That conclusion they drew was simple, the defendant shot his wife at home, killed her, wrapped her up, took her to a shallow grave on an oil well lease road off of 298 and buried her during the early morning hours of Thursday, September 19, 1996. {{ Keep in mind, the officers were planning on how to deal with McCrady 'BEFORE' any of the so called EVIDENCE was found! He was attacked by his commanding officer, gotten in a choke hold, his chair pulled over backward with him, he was kicked and called a dirty son-of-a-bitch, and told to shut the fuck up, when he tried to ask what was happening ...... all the while the building where he was being attacked was surrounded by a SWAT team with orders to shoot to kill if he emerged from the building!!! Neah, there wasn't any rush to judgment here -- no violation of the man's rights either. // As far as Ring's statement 'You have to decide if there was a rush to judgment' is concerned ..... I thought the jury's duty was to determine if the man was guilty of murder, not to determine if there was a rush to judgment! }}
111. In considering the claim that there was a rush to judgment by these officers, put yourself in the position of those officers. If they wrongly charged the defendant and the real killer, quote, the real killer is out there, that means * there is somebody walking around who kills police officers wives. You think these guys want to go to bed at night thinking there is somebody out there who has a practice of killing officer's wives and they haven't gotten him? * That's got to scare them.{{ Oh really? Well, let's just see how scared we really are. Ray Clark was gunned down in his own home in 1981. He was a Deputy Sheriff with the Washington County Sheriff's Department. This is 2008, as I write this page up, and Clark's case remains unsolved, with no one actively working the case: Then there's Janet Miller in 1986, she dated a cop // and Marie Blough in 1986. She was related to a Belpre cop. Oh yeah, there's Jill Bohl, who was a cop......a U.S. Military cop // and Charlotte Russell who was the sister-in-law of a cop // and Sammy Lyons who was the brother of a cop .... yeah, it would take an idiot to think there was someone out here picking on relatives of cops. Funny thing is, 2 years before Jenifer McCrady was murdered the real killer tried to rape the girlfriend of one of their Marietta cops, and I handed him to them on a silver platter. Didn't do any good. I also warned them 10 days BEFORE Jenifer McCrady was murdered that another murder was fast approaching; that it would be a Belpre woman who was connected to a cop, and that the killer would come into Little Hocking this time. Sure enough, he brought Jenifer to Little Hocking and buried her 2.2 miles from my home. // So yes, there was someone else that 'they' should have looked at very closely, but they didn't. Kevin Rings and Dave Garvey made up their minds long before the trial ever began, and I was shunned, ignored and made fun of. So be it. The real killer continues to walk our streets, and kill our people. Jenifer McCrady certainly was NOT his last victim.}}
112. Ladies and gentlemen, the defendant was one of them. He was part of the tight fraternity of law enforcement officers. Those guys stick together. They are buddies. You saw * the emotion displayed by Lieutenant Dunn when he had to come in here to testify. He could barely get through it. {{He was the only one who broke down in tears. But then -- it was the picture of Dunn's vehicle that the witness selected as the one he'd seen at the Marathon Station the morning that Jenifer supposedly died!}}
113. You saw the same emotion out of Brian Schuck. Two of the defendant's friends, they had to come in here and tell about what they saw. They weren't taking any pleasure or joy out of saying these things. Think about Tony Amos. He and Brian were in the wedding together. Think how difficult it was for them to come in here and say the things that they had to say. Would these men rush to condemn the defendant or would they give him every reasonable doubt before they made their charge? {{All I know is Brian Schuck had McCrady's gun for four or more hours before it was added to the evidence pool, and the gun was altered. McCrady swore he didn't do it .... still swears he didn't do it. By the way, McCrady volunteered to take a lie detector test, the state refused!}}
114. Ladies and gentlemen, the evidence in this case shows that these officers did not rush to judgment against the defendant but simply performed their duties conscientiously, and the evidence in this case led them to absolutely the only conclusion that could be reached, and that is that the defendant, Jackie D. McCrady, II, murdered his wife Jenifer.
115. I ask you to find him guilty of the offense with which he has been charged.
116. Thank you.
THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, at this point in the proceedings we are going to go ahead and go into recess for lunch rather than proceed with the balance of closing arguments. We will continue at that point after lunch.
{{ The court reminded everyone not to discuss the case with anyone, etc. etc. and said court would resume at 1:00 p.m.}}
Closing Arguments Continued, Page Three
|
