Dan guided him through a review of his experience, including nearly twenty years with the Duluth Police and nearly ten in charge of the Detective Bureau. Stride talked about his background in felony investigations, including dozens of homicide cases. It was all prologue.
‘Lieutenant, were you called to the home of the defendant on the evening of January 28 of this year?’ Dan asked finally.
‘Yes, I was.’
‘Is this house located in the city of Duluth in St. Louis County?’
‘Yes, it is.’ Stride gave the specific address and described the location of the house. Dan introduced a map of the area enlarged on foam core, and Stride pointed out the residence and described the access in and out — specifically, that Janine’s home was located on a dead-end street at the summit of a sharp hill.
‘What did you find inside the house?’ Dan asked.
‘We found the body of Jay Ferris,’ Stride said. ‘He had a single gunshot wound to the forehead.’
‘Can you tell us exactly where the body was located?’
‘There’s a large marble foyer inside the front door that leads to the living room. The body of Mr. Ferris was located in the living room, approximately ten feet from the edge of the foyer.’
Dan introduced photographs of the crime scene and an enlarged floor plan of the house. Stride identified the photos and matched them with positions on the floor plan for the jury. He also pointed out the wine glass found near Jay’s body and the other lipstick-smeared wine glass on the coffee table. He noted a pair of stiletto heels belonging to Janine that had been left on the floor of the foyer.
‘Did you find a gun near the body or in the house?’
‘No, we conducted a search of the area but did not locate the murder weapon.’
‘During your investigation, did you determine whether the victim, Jay Ferris, held a Minnesota permit to carry a handgun?’
‘Yes, he did.’
‘Did the defendant make a statement to you about whether her husband in fact owned a handgun?’
‘She claimed that Mr. Ferris used to own a handgun but that she made him get rid of it when they got married,’ Stride said.
‘Did you nonetheless uncover physical evidence during your investigation that Mr. Ferris continued to own a handgun long after his marriage to the defendant?’
‘Yes, Mr. Ferris’s brother provided us with a photograph that showed a gun in his possession.’ Dan introduced the photo of Jay and Clyde Ferris, and an enlargement showed a close-up of the portion of the gun visible in the holster.
‘Were you able to confirm when this photograph was taken?’
‘Yes, it was taken last October 27, three months prior to the murder.’
‘Were you able to locate this gun during your investigation?’ Dan asked.
‘No, we weren’t.’
‘Thank you, Lieutenant. Now when you arrived at the house that night, was the defendant present?’
‘Yes, Dr. Snow was there, along with her counsel, Mr. Gale.’
‘And did Dr. Snow make a statement to you with her counsel present?’
‘She did. Dr. Snow told us that she was dropped off at her house that evening by my wife. This was about 9:45 p.m. She told us that she had some wine with her husband, and they argued. She said she then left her husband to take a shower. Her bathroom is adjacent to her bedroom, two floors down from the living room. She was in the shower for a long time, she said, but she couldn’t tell us exactly how long. When she got out of the shower, she said she noticed that two drawers in a jewelry box in her bedroom were open, and several expensive items were missing. She told us that she went back upstairs and found her husband’s body.’
‘At that point, did the defendant tell you that she called 911?’ Dan asked.
‘No, she said that some time passed before she called the police.’
‘What did the defendant claim to be doing during this time?’
‘She said that she simply stared at her husband’s body,’ Stride said.
‘How much time passed between Dr. Snow’s arrival at her house that evening and the call to police?’
‘Approximately one hour. The actual 911 call was received at 10:47 p.m. A patrol car was at the scene within ten minutes.’
‘And do we have any way of knowing exactly when during that hour the shooting occurred?’
‘No.’
‘Lieutenant, based on the evidence gathered in this investigation, and based on your extensive experience in these kinds of crimes, did you form an opinion about the truthfulness of the defendant’s statement?’
‘Yes, I concluded that her statement was not supported by the evidence.’
‘Please explain how you reached that conclusion,’ Dan said.
Stride took a pointer and referred to the floor plans of Janine Snow’s house. ‘Dr. Snow alleged that her husband was killed as part of a home invasion and robbery. However, there was no sign of forced entry, and the door between the garage and the house was locked. So Mr. Ferris would have had to let an intruder inside voluntarily. Then the shooter would have needed to murder Mr. Ferris, proceed down two flights of stairs and along a hallway to the defendant’s bedroom, remove jewelry from her jewelry box, and return upstairs and escape.’
‘And this all would have had to happen in the time the defendant was in the shower?’
‘According to her statement, yes.’
‘Did you find other evidence to discredit the theory that an intruder came into the house?’ Dan asked.
‘Yes, there was no evidence of a fight or of defensive actions by Mr. Ferris. In addition, there was no physical evidence of an intruder in the house. The walkway to the front door was wet and dusted with dirt and gravel. Traces of snowmelt, dirt, and gravel were found in the marble foyer, but we didn’t find any “tracked” dirt on the living room carpet, on the stairs, or in the defendant’s bedroom.’
‘In your experience, Lieutenant, are persons who commit homicide and armed robbery typically gracious enough to remove their shoes before invading a house?’
Stride suppressed a smile. ‘No.’
‘Lieutenant, let’s look at other possible explanations for the events that night. Did you run any chemical tests to determine whether the defendant fired a gun on the night of the murder?’
Stride shook his head. ‘No. That would be standard procedure, but in this case, the defendant told us that she had taken a shower, which would have erased reliable evidence of chemical residue on her hands, body, and hair. She also washed the clothes she was wearing, which would have accomplished the same thing. In light of that, running gunshot residue tests would have been unrevealing.’
‘You didn’t find the murder weapon, Lieutenant,’ Dan went on, ‘so it must have been removed from the house?’
‘That’s correct.’
‘Did the defendant have time to hide a gun and jewelry outside the house before she contacted the police?’
‘Yes, she did,’ Stride said. ‘We conducted exercises in which a policewoman put clothes in the washing machine, showered, and then drove from the defendant’s house to separate locations to secrete evidence and then drove back to the house. We ran that exercise several times, and in no instance did it take longer than thirty minutes. Sometimes, it took less than twenty minutes. So yes, she had time.’
‘Now did you tell us that the defendant admitted to arguing with Mr. Ferris on the night of the murder?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did she say what the argument was about?’
‘No, but she said they argued about everything.’
‘Did she give other indications of trouble in their marriage?’
‘Yes, in a later statement, she admitted to an affair with a former police officer named Nathan Skinner.’