“Not if the killer took them by surprise and attacked them from behind. And neither of these victims was very big. Hayley was petite, just one hundred and three pounds. Brian was a slender boy as well. I wouldn’t think it would be that hard for a fully grown adult who had the element of surprise to overcome them-particularly if he was able to attack them one at a time.”
“But can you say with certainty that they were attacked at separate times, Doctor?”
“No, but I do know they were found in very different places. One buried on the mountain, and one in the trunk of a car parked at the airport.”
“But if they weren’t separated, wouldn’t it be very difficult for a single killer to get behind each of them and do the killings as you describe?”
“If I must assume they were together, yes. But that doesn’t jibe with the manner of death shown here. This was not a rage or impulse style of attack. It was a single slice across the neck of each victim-no overkill. This killer was, for lack of a better word, efficient. I say efficient because it allowed him to immobilize the victims, and it allowed him to avoid most of the blood spatter. I don’t see someone who kills in this manner attempting to overcome two victims at once.”
“But you can’t say for sure that they were killed at separate times or places?”
“No. The only way I could say that for sure is if I had been there, and I wasn’t.”
Wagmeister decided to cut his losses and end with that unimpressive concession.
“Thank you,” he said. “I have nothing further.”
Terry’s expression was guarded, but I could see her hands were clenched under counsel table and knew she was seething. What a cheery sight. As Dr. Vendi stepped down off the witness stand, I stole a glance at the jury: they looked solemn; some even looked teary.
“It’s five minutes to noon,” the judge said. “So let’s take our lunch break. I’ll see everyone back here at one thirty.”
66
Bailey and Declan and I hunkered down in my office. Melia had offered to pick up lunch from the cafeteria, a semi-step up from the snack bar, and I’d happily accepted. In the meantime, I opened my refrigerator and offered what I had: bottled water and a couple of diet sodas. They both opted for water. I opened one for myself and consulted my witness list. “I’m thinking we pile on more of the solid stuff now. The texts between Brian and Hayley on the mountain-”
“An especially nice move after Wagmeister’s genius cross,” Declan said.
“Exactly.” If the kids were texting, they weren’t standing together. The more often I could show the defense was throwing out theories that were easily disproved by the evidence, the better.
“That won’t take long,” Bailey said. “I bet Terry puts Wagmeister on a very short leash from now on.”
“Yeah, and that’s too bad,” I said. Worse, she might even do the cross herself. Which meant we’d be moving through the testimony pretty quickly. “We’re going to need more witnesses to fill up the day. Let’s put on Steven Diamond next.” The coroner’s criminalist, who’d testify about the knife, would be a great follow-up to Dr. Vendi.
“Good idea,” Bailey said. “But he won’t take long, and I’d guess the cell records witness won’t either.”
Court wouldn’t recess until five, and Judge Osterman had been adamant about our filling up every minute of court time. I wanted to save the best, most reliable witnesses for last so we could end the day on a strong note. “How about the body finders? Do we have Rostoni?”
Officer Bander, the airport cop who’d found Hayley, would be a great witness, and we could get him in at a moment’s notice. But our neo-Nazi was a different story. He’d been ducking subpoenas for days.
Bailey had a glint in her eye. “Oh yeah, we have him,” she said proudly. “I served the jerkweed myself. One day while you guys were playing around picking a jury, I sat on his pad. Caught him when he came out to walk the dogs.” Bailey shook her head and chuckled. “Big guy walking these tiny little dachshunds. But, man, small as they were, they were evil. One of ’em almost bit me.”
“Too bad they didn’t-you could’ve sued.” Rostoni was well heeled for a Nazi, thanks to his custom motorcycle business. “Do you have a line on him right now?”
“I’ve got someone sitting on his compound, and I hate wasting the manpower. I’d be really grateful if we could get done with him.”
“Get him on the road. I’ll put him on as soon as he gets here, even if I have to interrupt someone else’s testimony.” But Rostoni and the airport cop would only take me to three or three thirty at best. I had at least an hour and a half to fill. “Let’s put on Dorian.” Our criminalist would probably be crossed by Terry-Dorian had collected the most incriminating evidence. But Terry didn’t worry me in this instance. Dorian could’ve handled the McCarthy hearings.
“Nice, strong ending for the day,” Bailey said approvingly. “I’ll call and get her ready.”
Coroner’s criminalist Steven Diamond was one of my favorite experts. Careful, thorough, smart, and charming-and as neutral as they come, which of course earned him enormous credibility with juries. Steve was soft-spoken and had a gentle demeanor and an unusually delicate, respectful manner with regard to the dead. Most in the murder business, cops and coroners alike, find refuge in jocularity. Not Steve. When he spoke of a murder victim’s wounds, his tone was reverential. That compassion for the victims was sorely needed in this case.
Steve had examined the wounds on Brian and Hayley and had been able to pin down the brand of knife that was likely used.
“So, Mr. Diamond,” I said, “you can’t tell us whether any one particular weapon to the exclusion of all other weapons caused a wound, correct? It’s not like a gun?”
“Correct. With a gun, we have striae and lands and grooves that we can use to make a microscopic comparison between a possible murder weapon and the bullets or casings found at the scene of a homicide. But when a homicide is perpetrated with a knife, we cannot be that precise.”
I’d use this point later on to show how carefully these murders were planned. Ian Powers had a gun-a much easier way to kill, but he chose not to use it. Why? Because he was likely smart enough to know guns leave this kind of evidence.
“In this case, can you tell whether one knife was used or two different knives?”
“Based on the high degree of similarity between the wounds, I feel relatively certain that one knife was used.”
“And what brand of knife do you believe was used?”
“Most likely a Smith and Wesson, third series. The first and second series are no longer in production and haven’t been for some time.”
I put a photograph of a Smith and Wesson knife on the monitor. It was a vicious-looking thing, with serrated teeth on the bottom two inches closest to the handle.
“Can you describe the dimensions of that knife?”
“The knife is measured at just over eleven inches overall, with a seven-inch blade that is stainless steel.”
“I notice that there’s a handle guard separating the blade from the handle of the knife. Is that to keep one’s hand from slipping up onto the blade?”
“Yes.”
“Have you nevertheless found in your case studies that defendants who wielded such a knife have cut themselves during the homicidal attack?”
“Many times, yes. In the heat of struggle, hands do slip and victims can move about, all of which can, and frequently does, cause the perpetrator to get wounded in some manner.”
Dr. Vendi and Steven Diamond-a nice one-two punch to show how Ian could have cut himself during the murders and therefore left his own blood on the trunk of Brian’s car.
“Nothing further.”