Top 5 takeaways through the first 5 days of Compher trial
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POCATELLO — The prosecution informed District Judge Javier Gabiola Tuesday that it expects to rest its case Wednesday following the day’s witness testimonies.
This means Wednesday — the trial’s sixth day — is when the prosecution will tie together the many loose ends it has created. So far, through five days of testimony, the only physical evidence that has been presented in court is a fingerprint match connecting Brad Compher to Nori Jones’ home, while the prosecution teams has built the groundwork for other potential evidence.
Compher is charged with first-degree murder, with a deadly weapon enhancement, for allegedly stabbing Jones numerous times. Jones’ body was found, by co-workers, in her home the morning of Sept. 28, 2004.
After 10 years, and the case being moved into the “cold case” classification, DNA collected from a cigarette butt was used to tie Compher to the murder in 2014. After years of delays, the trial began Feb. 20.
Here are EastIdahoNews.com’s top five takeaways from the first five days of the trial.
One in 93 trillion
During opening statements, prosecuting attorney Brian Trammell told the jury that DNA evidence collected at the scene had a one-in-93 trillion chance of belonging to a donor other than Compher.
One-in-93 trillion — that’s with 12 zeroes — is a number that brings a lot of shock value and no doubt caught the ear of all 14 jurors. However, through five days of trial, the State has not yet called a witness who has testified to that number.
There have been DNA experts who testified to testing known DNA compared to DNA found at the scene, but no one who has said, from the witness stand, that the DNA belonged to Compher.
Five potentially fatal wounds
While testifying Friday, during the third day of the trial, Dr. Steven Skoumal, who performed Jones’ forensic autopsy, testified that of the dozens of stab and cut wounds, he considered five to be “potentially fatal.”
Skoumal said he couldn’t determine the order in which the wounds were suffered, but said that any of the five could have been fatal had they been the only injuries.
Among those wounds were two cuts to the throat, one stab to the left of the chest and two stabs to the right of the chest.
During his testimony, Skoumal explained stab wounds are categorized as being deeper than they are wide, while cut wounds are wider than they are deep.
The window, the entry point and the fingerprint
Pocatello police detectives responsible for investigating the murder scene identified a window on the side of Jones’ home as the point used by the murderer to gain entry into the home.
As part of that determination, detectives reported finding the window screen cut and the glass window opened. There was dust in the window sill, on a microwave near the window and the seat of a bicycle that was also near the window, all of which was “disturbed.”
Following objections from the defense, detectives’ referencing this window as the entry point is information that has not been given to the jury. The reasoning behind this decision was not revealed in open court.
While examining the window, forensic analysts found touch DNA that they tested. A match, Compher or otherwise, has not yet been testified to.
There is one match that has been testified to, however.
According to Randy Parker, a forensic analyst for Idaho State Police, a latent print lifted from Jones’ porch door matched Compher’s right middle finger.
While on the stand, Parker explained to the jury that he matched the latent print to Compher’s known print using a scar on the finger.
The ring
A ring worn by Jones has been a central piece of the trial. Nearly every witness present either in Jones’ life or at the scene has been asked about the ring.
According to Jennifer Heisler, Jones’ co-worker and close friend, Jones wore the ring at all times. Heisler said Jones bought the ring herself, to deter unwanted advances from men.
That ring was not on Jones’ left ring finger, where she wore it, when she was found. However, while her body was being transported, the ring fell from her body to the ground in the kitchen.
The prosecution has shown pictures and asked numerous witnesses to describe Jones’ left hand. Among the witnesses was Pocatello PD Capt. Bill Collins, who described Jones’ left ring finger as having a blood wipe — as if the ring was removed after she had been bleeding.
In viewing photos of the hand, it can only be described as having four of the fingers curled back toward the palm with the ring finger straightened out. Heisler, who found Jones’ body, described the position of Jones’ hand as “awkward.”
Robert Spillett
The defense has been focused on a man who was considered a suspect in the murder early on. Robert Spillett was, according to Heisler, among the reasons Jones purchased the ring.
Perhaps the most interesting detail of Tuesday’s proceedings involved Spillett.
Pocatello PD detective Matt Harris was assigned to the Jones investigation after it had been moved into cold case designation. He was among those responsible for collecting DNA once Compher had emerged as a suspect, which he had not been early on.
During cross-examination, pro hac vice attorney Gary Proctor asked about the DNA collection and transfer to a forensics lab. Harris said that among the items sent to the lab was a DNA sample from Spillett.
“Ten years after Nori Jones was killed, Robert Spillett was still a suspect?” Proctor asked the detective, to which he responded that Spillett was still a person of interest in the case.
Proctor then asked about other evidence collected from Spillett. He asked if Harris was aware of a cut on Spillett’s hand — which had been discussed earlier in the trial as a potential defensive wound. Collins said the wound was described by Spillett and his family as something sustained while working on his car.
Harris, though, said he was not aware of any wounds on Spillett’s hand.
And when Proctor asked is he was aware of a bloody towel found on the route between Jones’ and Spillett’s home, Harris said he was not.
Over the last five days, the prosecution has built the foundation of its case, and Wednesday will be a big day to tie everything together.
Evidence collected from under the fingernails of Jones at the time of her death has not yet been linked to Compher on the witness stand and neither has touch DNA from the entry point window. It remains to be seen how the prosecution will connect this and other DNA evidence to Compher.
Once the prosecution has wrapped up, the defense will begin its arguments.
RELATED | LIVE UPDATES | Day 5: Murder trial for Brad Compher, man accused of killing Nori Jones