The Undertaker's Widow (23 page)

“Did you determine how Mr. Jablonski was killed?”

“Yes, sir. The defendant told the investigating officers that she shot Mr. Jablonski twice with a Smith & Wesson .38 snubnose loaded with hollow point bullets. When Mr. Jablonski was autopsied, the medical examiner recovered two bullets that had lodged in the body. One was recovered from Mr. Jablonski's head and the other from his torso. They were the type of bullet that the defendant described. Ballistics tests confirmed that the defendant's gun, which was recovered at the scene, fired the two shots.”

“Why didn't the bullets exit the body?” Riker asked.

“Hollow point bullets are designed to stay inside the body so they can bounce around and cause more damage.”

“Did you see another body in the room?”

“Yes, sir. The body of Lamar Hoyt was sprawled on his back on the bed. I was told that he had been shot while in the bed, but that the defendant had been found holding him with his head in her lap. From blood spatter patterns on the headboard and bed, I concluded that Mr. Hoyt was probably sitting up on the east side of the bed when he was shot. Then he fell sideways onto the west side of the bed. The defendant pulled him even further sideways when she sat down and cradled his head.”

“Did ballistics tests identify the .45-caliber handgun found next to Mr. Jablonski as the weapon that was used to kill Lamar Hoyt?”

“Yes.”

“Now, Officer Yoshida, did the defendant explain what happened on the evening of the shooting?”

“Yes, sir. To Detective Anthony.”

“Please tell the Court how the shooting scenario was explained to you.”

“As I understood the defendant's version, she and Mr. Hoyt had engaged in sexual intercourse. The defendant has the side of the bed closest to the window. She stated that after they finished, she got up from the bed, went to the window in the west wall, then crossed in front of the bed and entered the bathroom, turned on the bathroom light and washed up.

“After finishing in the bathroom, she put on her nightgown, turned off the bathroom light and crossed back in front of the bed. She got back in the bed on her side and talked with Mr. Hoyt for a while. As they were talking, the door opened and Mr. Jablonski entered the
room. The defendant said she saw that Mr. Jablonski was armed, so she ducked over her side of the bed and secured the .38 that she keeps under it. She heard three shots and came up firing. Mr. Jablonski fell and she turned her attention to her husband, whom she determined to be dead.”

“Officer Yoshida, when you looked at the crime scene on the evening of the shootings, did you see anything that called the defendant's version of the shootings into question?”

Yoshida looked embarrassed.

“The evidence was there. I just didn't pick up on it.”

“What did you conclude on the evening of the crime?”

“That the defendant was telling the truth.”

Yoshida's embarrassment deepened. He looked up at Quinn and tried to explain his failure to correctly interpret the crime scene's story.

“Everyone thought we were dealing with a burglary that went wrong. I mean, Jablonski was dead, there was no question his gun fired the shots that killed Mr. Hoyt. I guess I just assumed there was nothing to look for.”

“Did something happen after the first crime scene investigation that caused you to question your first impression?” Riker asked.

“Yes, sir. I took a second look at the evidence while I was writing my report.”

“When you reexamined the evidence, did you discover something you'd missed the first time around?”

“I did.”

“What was that, Officer Yoshida?”

“I spotted a blood spatter pattern in two of the crime scene photographs that had not made an impression on me when I was at the scene. It made me question
the defendant's story of how the shooting of Martin Jablonski occurred.”

“Did you tell Detective Anthony that you had to visit the scene again?”

“Yes. I needed to see everything again in three dimensions to confirm my suspicions.”

“Did you feel time was of the essence?”

“I did. It was already a week since the shooting and I was afraid that the blood pattern would be destroyed or contaminated.”

“Can you explain to the judge what you can tell from blood spatter analysis that is relevant to this case?”

“Certainly,” Yoshida told Riker before addressing the judge. “If I asked you to tell me what shape a drop of blood takes when it falls straight down, you would probably tell me that it would look like a teardrop, but that is a popular misconception. Actually, falling drops of blood are shaped like a sphere. The type of surface the drop strikes and the angle at which it hits affect the pattern the drop makes when it strikes a surface.

“If a drop of blood falls straight down at a ninety-degree angle it should leave a pattern that looks like a circle. As the degree of the angle changes so that the drop is hitting the surface at an angle that is moving from the vertical to the horizontal, the pattern will become more and more elongated. There is an equation that will give you the angle of impact using measurements of the length and width of the bloodstain. This helps a forensic scientist determine if the victim was standing or sitting when his blood was spattered onto a surface. You can also tell the direction in which the blood was cast by examining the shape of the blood drop after it strikes a surface.”

Yoshida placed blowups of two crime scene photographs on the easel. The first had been taken from the west side of the room shooting back toward the hall. It
showed Martin Jablonski's body in front of the armoire. The second photograph was a close-up of the west-facing side of the armoire. Quinn could see a discoloration on the side of the armoire approximately six feet from the floor in the first photograph. In the close-up, the discoloration could clearly be seen as a fine spray of blood.

“When a person is struck with sufficient force to cause blood to spatter, the blood may spatter at low, medium or high velocity,” Yoshida instructed Quinn. “If I punched you in the nose, the spatter would likely be low-velocity and would not carry very far. If the force is stronger, say because I use an object like a club or a brick, the blow may result in a medium-velocity pattern. Gunshots create high-velocity spatter patterns with an extremely high percentage of very fine blood specks. The result is a mistlike dispersion similar to an aerosol spray. Because of their low mass, these particles seldom travel a horizontal distance of over three or four feet.”

Yoshida put the tip of the pointer on the spatter pattern in the first blowup.

“The first bullet that hit Mr. Jablonski struck him in the right temple. From the high-velocity spatter pattern on the side of the armoire, I conclude that Jablonski was struck by that bullet when he was standing with the right side of his head approximately one foot from the side of the armoire facing directly forward toward the bed. When the bullet struck Mr. Jablonski in the temple area on the right side of his head, his blood sprayed onto the west-facing side of the armoire. He had to be close to the armoire for the blood to spray onto it.

“Now, here is the problem,” Yoshida continued. “I've lined up the angles. For the bullet to enter Mr. Jablonski's right temple at an angle that would leave the spray pattern on the west-facing side of the armoire, the shot had to come from the bathroom, not the west side of the bed.”

Movement in the corridor outside the courtroom caught Quinn's eye. He turned pale and his breath caught in his chest. The woman who had passed by the door reminded him of Andrea Chapman.

Cedric Riker picked up a brown paper bag and turned to Yoshida. Quinn tried to calm down so he could pay attention to the testimony. The woman could not have been Andrea, Quinn told himself. Andrea Chapman was dead. The woman he saw simply resembled Andrea. She had passed by quickly, the distance between the bench and the corridor was considerable. The glass in the door must have distorted the woman's image. Quinn wrenched his attention back to the testimony.

“Officer Yoshida, I am handing you State's exhibit 113. What is that?”

Yoshida pulled a white nightgown out of the bag. The front was saturated with dried blood, but the back was only covered with a fine spray.

“This is the defendant's nightgown. Lab tests have determined that the blood on the front and back is her husband's.”

“According to the defendant, where was the nightgown when Lamar Hoyt was shot by Mr. Jablonski?”

“She said that she was wearing it.”

“Is the physical evidence consistent with the defendant's claim that she was wearing the nightgown when her husband was shot?”

“No.” Yoshida held up the nightgown and displayed the backside to Quinn. “This is also high-velocity spatter. If the defendant was wearing the nightgown when Mr. Hoyt was shot, the spray would have covered the front of the nightgown. It is my conclusion that this nightgown was not on the defendant when Mr. Hoyt was shot. I believe it was lying on the bed with the backside up.”

“What conclusions did you draw concerning the
way in which the shooting occurred from your analysis of the blood spatter evidence?”

“It is my conclusion that the defendant was not wearing the nightgown when the shooting occurred. I believe that she left the nightgown front-down on the bed after having intercourse. Then she went to the bathroom. She was in the bathroom when Mr. Jablonski was in front of the bed and to the left of the armoire. Mr. Jablonski fired the three shots that struck and killed Mr. Hoyt. Then the defendant fired her first shot into Mr. Jablonski's temple from the area near the bathroom door. This shot caused high-velocity blood spatter to spray onto the side of the armoire. As soon as he was shot, Mr. Jablonski turned toward the bathroom and was shot front to back. The second bullet left no blood spatter because Mr. Jablonski was wearing heavy clothing and the bullet stayed in the body. Mr. Jablonski then crumpled to the floor with his head toward the bed and his feet almost touching the armoire.”

“I have no further questions of Officer Yoshida,” Riker said.

Mary Garrett began her cross-examination, but Quinn had trouble paying attention to it. Yoshida's testimony stunned him. Quinn had reached a tentative conclusion about how he would deal with the blackmailer's demand that he assure the conviction of Ellen Crease, but that decision had been based in part on a belief that Ellen Crease was an innocent person who was being framed by her enemies. Yoshida's testimony changed everything. He had to know if there was a flaw in Yoshida's interpretation of the blood spatter evidence.

“We have no further witnesses,” Riker said when the examination of Yoshida was concluded. Quinn glanced at the clock. It was almost noon.

“Let's break for the day and I'll hear the legal arguments
tomorrow. We'll reconvene at two. I have some matters I need to attend to in the morning.”

Quinn turned to his court reporter.

“Miss Chan, please see me in chambers.”

Quinn left the bench. He took off his robes as soon as he was through the door to his chambers. An idea had occurred to him as Garrett was questioning Yoshida. He buzzed Fran Stuart just as Margaret Chan walked in.

“Fran,” Quinn said over the intercom as he motioned for Chan to sit down, “get me the file in
State v. Schwartz
, please.”

Quinn released the intercom button and addressed the court reporter.

“Can you get me a transcript of Gary Yoshida's testimony today?”

“Sure. I should be able to finish it before five.”

“Please drop it by when you're done.”

Chan left just as Fran Stuart put the
Schwartz
file on his desk. Quinn thanked her and she returned to the outer office. Court-appointed counsel had represented the defendant in
Schwartz
. Quinn remembered signing an order authorizing payment of indigent defense funds for a court-appointed defense witness who was an expert in blood spatter. Quinn had been impressed by the testimony. The man's name, address and phone number were on the form on which the request for payment was made. Quinn jotted down the information and picked up the phone.

“Paul Baylor?” Quinn asked when the phone was answered.

“Yes.”

“This is Judge Richard Quinn of the Multnomah County Circuit Court. You testified before me in
State v. Schwartz.
”

“Oh, yes, Your Honor. What can I do for you?”

“I'd like to consult with you privately. The matter
is confidential. Would you have time to meet with me tomorrow morning?”

“Do you want me to come to the courthouse?”

“No. I thought I could come to your office.”

“Sure.”

“Is eight
A.M
. too early?”

“No, that's fine. Uh, what is this about?”

“I'm looking for an opinion on an issue involving blood spatter evidence. I'll be bringing some pictures and a transcript.”

“Fine. See you tomorrow.”

“One more thing. Please don't mention this conversation or our meeting to anyone.”

Quinn hung up and buzzed his secretary.

“Fran, please bring all of the evidence in the
Crease
hearing into my chambers. I want to study it.”

A few minutes later, Fran Stuart placed a large cardboard box on the floor next to Quinn's desk.

“I'm going to get my lunch, Judge. Can I get you anything?”

“I brought my lunch. Thanks, Fran.”

“I'll lock the front door to give you some privacy. I won't be long.”

Fran Stuart closed the door to Quinn's chambers. A moment later, Quinn heard the door between the corridor and the reception area close. There was a small refrigerator in Quinn's private bathroom. Quinn took out a can of Coke and a brown bag with a ham and cheese sandwich and a bag of potato chips. He had made the sandwich that morning, but he had no appetite now. Still, he forced himself to take a bite. He knew it would be a mistake to skip lunch. He needed all his energy to cope with the crisis he was facing.