Page 47 of The Best Lawyer
Once Detective DePaul had been on the stand for just over an hour and a half, Quick got to her case disposition and ultimate arrest of Katy.
“Detective, what did the physical evidence in this case reveal?”
Sharon opened the buttons of her jacket. “This was a particularly bloody crime scene. Quite a bit of physical evidence was collected. Most importantly, we recovered the murder weapon at the scene. A buck knife with a wooden handle and a retractable three-and-three-quarter-inch blade.”
Quick brought the actual knife itself. He slipped on latex gloves and held the knife up for the jury to see. The bloodstains on both the blade and handle were still prominent.
“Was there anything unique about this blade?”
“Not really,” she said. “It’s a pretty standard hunting knife. It looked fairly well worn but the blade was razor sharp. It wouldn’t have taken very much force to inflict a wound like the one Mr. Loomis had.”
“Objection,” I said. “The witness is not a forensic pathologist. She isn’t qualified to testify about how the wound was inflicted.”
“Sustained,” Judge Castor said.
“Let’s limit this to what you could actually observe about the weapon,” Quick redirected.
“Sure,” Sharon continued. “No. While I didn’t find anything particularly unique about this knife, it did have unusual markings on it. There are three letters carved into the handle. XYZ.”
“What did the analysis of this weapon show?”
“We found four latent fingerprints, three on the handle and one partial print on the blade. All matched the defendant, Katy Loomis.”
“Any other prints on the knife itself?”
“No, sir,” she said. “Mrs. Loomis’s were the only prints on the knife.”
“What else?”
“Blood recovered from the knife was consistent with Mr. Loomis. Forensic testing also identified DNA on the handle consistent with the defendant, Katy Loomis. That included what’s commonly referred to as touch DNA—skin cells deposited through contact. And as I said, latent prints recovered from the knife were also identified as belonging to Mrs. Loomis. No other identifiable DNA or prints were found.”
“Got it,” Quick said. “What else did the blood evidence reveal?”
“As I visually observed, Mrs. Loomis had blood on her face and staining her clothes and all over her hands. The blood was matched to the victim’s. None of it was hers. There were no signs of a struggle in the home. No sign of forced entry. Nothing appeared to have been stolen. Mr. Loomis had two rolls of cash in a cigar box in his nightstand. A thousand dollars. A jewelry box on the dresser contained several diamond rings along with two gold bands. So, based on the evidence collected at the scene alone, I felt I had probable cause to arrest Mrs. Loomis.”
“You said based on the crime scene alone. Was there anything else that drew your suspicion?”
“Yes.”
“What was that?”
Katy gripped my arm. “Cass,” she whispered. “She’s making it sound like it was unusual that I had Tom’s blood on me. I never denied holding that knife. He was stabbed in my bed while I was right next to him.”
I patted her hand. “Shh. Just be patient.”
“I interviewed Mr. Loomis’s attorney. Her name is Marcia Murphy. Ms. Murphy provided documents that she had drafted for Mr. Loomis within thirty days of his death.”
I knew the documents would come in. I had no legal basis for preventing it like I did Katy’s statement to DePaul that morning. Quick wouldn’t get into the detailed contents of those documents until he put Marcia Murphy on the stand. But what Sharon DePaul could say about them now was damning enough.
“What was the nature of those documents?” Quick asked.
“Ms. Murphy had drafted a divorce complaint on Tom Loomis’s behalf. Additionally, he provided copies of a new draft will and trust. Mr. Loomis was preparing to disinherit his wife.”
“Objection,” I said. “Calls for speculation. This witness has no direct knowledge of what was going on in Tom Loomis’s mind.”
“Sustained,” Judge Castor said. “Stick with the facts, Detective. Leave the interpretation to the jury.”
“Of course,” Sharon said.
