LIVE UPDATES | Day 4: Murder trial for Brad Compher, man accused of killing Nori Jones in 2004
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Day four of the trial for Brad Compher is underway in Bannock County. Compher is charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon enhancement for the 2004 stabbing death of 25-year-old Nori Jones. EastIdahoNews.com reporter Kalama Hines is in the courtroom and will update this story with the latest developments all afternoon.
UPDATES
5:02 p.m. Gabiola is cutting off the reading of the transcript. Proctor announced that he is on line five of page 309. Evening recess. We will be back tomorrow at 9 a.m.
5 p.m. “Cushman” can’t “necessarily” determine the age of a print he lifted.
4:55 p.m. Some of these prints in question are from Nori Jones. At this point (in 2005) Compher was excluded as a possible donor for some of these prints.
4:53 p.m. Prints in question were compared to known persons of interest in 2004 and did not have a match. Reminder: Compher was not a suspect or person of interest yet.
4:51 p.m. Proctor going through fingerprint lifts one at a time and asking “Cushman” to eliminate Compher.
“Cushman” responds to a question — Gabiola interrupts: “Excuse me, sir, that was my line.”
4:44 p.m. One of the jurors has been turning their chair to face the witness. They began this testimony in the same position but are facing straight forward.
4:41 p.m. “Cushman” says he walked across the house and left bloody shoeprints in the kitchen. This was on the 28th or 29th, he believed the blood would be dry.
4:39 p.m. Proctor is reading the defense’s side. I do not believe it is Dave Martinez — Bannock County Chief Public Defender — as, I think, Andrew will be reading his part. Proctor was not part of this case when the prelim this transcript is from was held.
4:35 p.m. “Cushman” describes how he believes Compher would have put his print on the door. He asks for permission to stand and show the court, but remains seated and reading the transcript. Some jurors not looking anymore.
4:32 p.m. Price and “Cushman” are referencing evidence exhibits that have not been published to the jury.
4:28 p.m. “Cushman” says he matched the latents prints lifted at the scene to Compher’s knowns. Again, he has separate listings — under Ralph Roy Compher, then Brad Scott Compher. Compher changed his name in Nov. 2008.
4:19 p.m. Again, a piece of evidence brought to the witness, who does not open the evidence.
Price apologies for interrupting the witness after not interrupting the witness.
4:16 p.m. Sounds like a portion of the transcript will not be read. “Cushman” turned the page and continued reading but was quickly stopped and told to skip to line 23.
4:08 p.m. After having the funeral home bring Jones’ body temp to 72 degrees, “Cushman” processed it for latent prints.
4:06 p.m. As we approach one hour of transcript testimony, “Cushman” says he lifted a partial print from the window officers believe was the murder’s entry point.
3:54 p.m. It has been nearly 40 minutes of people reading from transcripts without actually publishing evidence being admitted.
3:51 p.m. The readings continue. A side note: Bannock County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Herzog made his first appearance at this trial. He was here this morning but is not here now. Defense attorney Rilie Fry has stepped out during this reading — not sure when.
3:39 p.m. Someone took photos of the latent fingerprints lifted from the scene — “Cushman” does not know who took the photos. Those photos have been admitted. Following objection from someone, each photo will now be identified. Without presenting (publishing) the photos, this is not compelling and the jury is starting to zone out.
3:38 p.m. He does not open the envelop.
3:38 p.m. Bailiff does finally provide some evidence to “Cushman.”
3:32 p.m. Evidence continues to be admitted without it being presented. These are all latent lifts taken by Cushman and are being confirmed by “Cushman.”
3:30 p.m. Good news: the jury does not seem to be affected by this strange performance. Based on their answers to questionnaires and voir dire, they are not familiar with this testimony or the info presented.
3:26 p.m. “Cushman” does not have an explanation for why there would be multiple dates on the document.
3:23 p.m. “Cushman” says lifts were taken in either 2007 or 2009. Says he cannot read his own handwriting due to limited lighting.
Now says it may be Dec. 2004.
He does not know, for sure, why there are multiple dates.
3:23 p.m. Waiting for a real objection…
3:17 p.m. “Cushman” says he powders most non-porous surfaces while searching for prints. This is still very strange.
3:14 p.m. Cushman was assigned to search the scene for prints. NOTE: This is so weird. Court is very much a choreographed dance — attorney and the judge seem to always know what’s coming. It’s like the opposite now with them ACTUALLY knowing exactly what is coming.
3:11 p.m. Cushman was a latent fingerprint examiner — who followed up on Eguren’s match. Someone I do not know was sworn in as Cushman, who died in 2022. Price reading her part of Cushman’s previous testimony. Defense team has others to read their part. Very strange.
3:09 p.m. State calls Gary Cushman, former latent print examiner. He is dead, but his testimony from a prelim is being read from court records.
2:52 p.m. We will apparently have some amateur theater when we come back — attorneys will be reading a transcript of an interview and they are deciding the cast before we leave the courtroom.
2:44 p.m. Fry asks for Eguren to mark on the evidence exhibit the area of the print they have discussed. Price objects to that. Fry says he has a copy of the exhibit, but that his copy has notes. We will take a recess, so defense can make a copy of the exhibit and have it marked. Back in 15.
2:41 p.m. Eguren says, as we all know, fingerprints are all different. She adds, even identical twins don’t have the exact same.
2:40 p.m. Eguren explains that part of her job is rotating the fingerprints provided to line them up and see how they fit. Sounds like the world’s toughest puzzle.
2:38 p.m. I’m not going to lie, Fry’s questions have confused me a bit. Looking at the jury, I don’t think I’m alone.
2:34 p.m. Fry now showing Eguren a picture of a latent taken from the scene and another of the “known.” He asks Eguren to count the number of points in the latent he’s provided.
She says, 8.
2:31 p.m. Seems there was an AFIS match for this murder scene in 2004. Eguren does not have a way to identify that candidate.
2:28 p.m. Eguren says an AFIS “match” produces 30 candidates. 29 random candidates and one it match. She says there have been times when she has found matching characteristics from multiple candidates.
2:27 p.m. Eguren says a single fingerprint will have hundreds of points. She examines 10-15. That is the accepted science for this.
2:25 p.m. Eguren says she was not a “certified fingerprint examiner.” Her position was “senior latent technicians.”
2:24 p.m. Once she confirmed a “possible match” and passed it along, she her part of the investigation done. Andrew on cross.
2:21 p.m. match was a “latent loop” from Compher right middle finger. After comparing her characteristics checkpoint, Eguren confirmed it as a “possible match” and passed it along to the forensic examiner.
2:20 p.m. Eguren now confirms what everyone in the courtroom was waiting for. AFIS hit linked Brad Scott Compher — and Ralph Roy Compher — to the latents taken from the Nori Jones murder scene.
2:18 p.m. Price working her way through the process Eguren went through when she got an AFIS hit linking a “hit” fingerprint to the murder scene.
2:12 p.m. Attorneys meet with Gabiola to discuss evidence that is about to be presented.
2:09 p.m. Eguren explains: AFIS matches connect a latent print to 30 known prints potentially matching. She then compares those 30 knowns to the latent by looking at 10-15 different characteristics.
2:06 p.m. Defense now questioning Eguren as part of an objection. Andrew confirms through Eguren that the “hits” she is describing while examining fingerprints is not a confirmed match. Eguren says the only one who can make a certain match is the forensic examiner.
2:04 p.m. If she found enough matching characteristics between the potential matches, she would forward that info to the forensic examiners.
2:03 p.m. Eguren says that her job involved confirming possible matches between fingerprints taken from scenes and known fingerprint samples.
2 p.m. Defense objects to the State’s request to have the court recognize Eguren as a fingerprint expert. Gabiola overrules the objection. Eguren, acknowledged as an expert, will now be asked about her part in linking Compher’s fingerprints to the Nori Jones murder scene.
1:56 p.m. Eguren explains how fingerprint techs look through the different features of a fingerprint. She says it’s a laborious process — but new technology has made things much easier.
1:50 p.m. State’s next witness is Maria Eguren, ISP senior fingerprint technician at the time of Nori Jones’ murder.
11:36 a.m. State is waiting for the arrival of their next witness. Sounds like we will be taking an early and extended lunch. We’ll be back at 1:30 p.m.
11:34 a.m. During redirect, Radford asks about Compher’s weight. Seems Radford is prepared for the defense to argue that, with his 200-pound frame, Compher would not have fit through the window.
11:33 a.m. Collins says the cut was vetted. Spillett received the cut while working on his car — that was corroborated by family members.
11:31 a.m. During Cross, Collins says Spillett did have a cut on his hand — “in a state of healing” — when he was interviewed shortly after the discovery of Nori’s body. Collins describes it as “deeper.”
11:30 a.m. Proctor asks about the physical differences in Compher between 2011 and now. Compher, he said, was close to 200 pounds then — he is probably around 170 now.
11:28 a.m. Proctor asking about Reo — about defensive wounds. Collins says again that he did not see any injuries that would be recognized as defense wounds.
11:27 a.m. Proctor, during cross, asking about anti-contamination measures. This is important to the defense. Collins says that everyone he saw enter the home was wearing tyvek, booties and gloves.
11:25 a.m. Compher was voluntarily interviewed by police and denied knowing Nori or being at her home. He identifies Compher as the person who interviewed.
11:22 a.m. Early on, Compher was not a suspect. Robert Spillett was a person of interest and provided DNA samples.
11:20 a.m. Detectives Kelly and Collins were lead on this investigation. Kelly testified last week but has not been released from his subpoena — meaning he may be recalled.
11:19 a.m. Collins describing Nori’s left hand. Says all fingers except for ring finger were curled toward the palm. He says there was a blood wipe on the ring finger — as if a ring had been removed.
11:17 a.m. After interviewing Reo, Collins interviewed Nori’s co-workers who found her body. Then returned to the scene.
11:16 a.m. Collins says latent print smaples were taken from Reo. In the weeks following the murder, Reo also submitted hair and blood samples.
11:14 a.m. Jury has now been shown pictures of Reo’s chest, back and arms. Collins confirmed the images were of Reo and said that Reo showed no signs of defensive wounds. Seems the State is worried defense may suggest Reo was involved. Reo was a suspect very early — as the partner of the victim — but was cleared after extensive investigation.
11:11 a.m. Collins has reviewed photos of Reo’s torso. Those pictures have been shown to the jury — “published.”
11:06 a.m. During interviews, detectives questioned Reo and his father, Lawrence Wilde. Both were checked for defensive wounds and photographed. Collins is now reviewing images — I believe of Reo and Lawrence.
11:05 a.m. Collins was a detective involved in the investigation. His immediate job was to interview Reo Wilde — Jones’ boyfriend at the time of her murder.
11:04 a.m. State now calls Pocatello PD detective Capt. Bill Collins.
11:03 a.m. Defense clarifies that the arrest was made 10 years after Jones’ murder — which is when Howe saw the scars.
11 a.m. State has recalled Kirk Howe, former Pocatello PD. He is testifying about scars on Compher’s arms. He believes the scars were defensive wounds acquired during an attack on Nori Jones.
9:40 a.m. Trial will be back on the record at 10:45 a.m. with some DNA and forensics experts expected to testify for the following State.