JONESBOROUGH, TN. – The Knoxville-based jury in the Howard Hawk Willis capital murder trial was treated to an afternoon of a day in the life of a fly. As the research becomes more and more developed, forensic examiners are using flies and their larvae and pupae as a means to determine the time of death in bodies that are discovered without a known time of death.
A member of the Johnson City Police Department, Lt. Steve Sherfey, was also called to introduce a key piece of physical evidence located on the grounds of the Willis residence at 104 Brentwood Dr., close to an outbuilding, between 104 and the neighboring residence.
The officer spoke with a next door neighbor to ascertain if it were his weapon.
On cross-examination, the accused murderer went back to his normal practice of trying to dispute the testimony. His theories were again fended off with ease. As a means to backup their evidence, the state also called Larry Hendricks, who offered that he was the homeowner Lt. Sherfey had spoken with and that the gun was not his, but had been found in the grass and dirt near the property line with the Willis residence.
Dr. Erin Watson, a graduate-level assistant professor at Southeast Louisiana State University, gave the jury in this capital case a thorough education in the process and analysis of this method of determining the near-approximate time a person became deceased. As she testified, she often spoke of flies the way many would talk about their pet. It was extremely evident she was the expert as she had been certified.
As part of her testimony, she mentioned upper and lower thresholds of temperatures that larvae and pupae would develop metabolically. Other parameters used are time of evidence collection back to the last time the deceased was seen alive.
Her opinion, and she says it is a conservative one, concerning the death of Adam Chrismer is that he died somewhere between Oct. 6 (possibly the 5th) and Oct. 8, 2002. Using the data available to her, she said she was “very confident.”
As far as Samantha Leming Chrismer, her range is from Oct. 7 and Oct. 10 of 2002. Again, she said she is very confident of her data. She testified, that based on her research, there is no doubt that Adam pre-deceased Samantha, possibly by a day and a half.
With that clarified, the accused asked if this was the first case she had ever been a part of, she said it was not. His questions then ran to whether or not she was herself board-certified or had sought out board certified entomologists to assist her. Her answer to both was no.
He then began to question her qualifications as an expert witness without having a board certification. Mr. Clark objected but was overruled by the judge. Mr. Willis continued to hammer away at the doctor’s accreditation without her being board certified. Her answer actually indicated she was just as qualified without the certification.
Based on the larvae and fly activity inside the containers, Dr. Watson held fast to her findings in the face of the defendant’s onslaught of hypothetical questions. The judge instructed the jury that these were hypothetical questions and the answers should be disregarded as part of their decision-making process.
Presiding judge Jon Kerry Blackwood allowed the defendant to recall FBI Agent Reiner Drolshagen back to the stand as part of his defense. Agent Drolshagen was here from Dallas and rather than delay his departure back to his home station, the judge agreed to his being called out of turn.
Again, just as on cross-examination on Wednesday, the accused attempted to dispute the agent’s testimony without any noticeable success.
The trial is in the fourth day of testimony as the defendant faces the possibility of a death penalty for his alleged murders of Adam Chrismer and his wife, Samantha Leming Chrismer back in October of 2002.
Earlier, a researcher from Oak Ridge Laboratories had established that the time of death of Mr. Chrismer was sometime between Oct. 4 and Oct. 8 of 2002. Mrs. Chrismer’s time of death was set somewhere between Oct. 6 and Oct. 8, 2002.
Dr. Arpad Vass, a forensics researcher who specializes in blood-borne pathogens, weapons of mass destruction, clandestine grave discovery and time of death determination, told the jury how he had used the liver and kidney of each victim to make the determinations. Dr. Vass stated that part of his analysis involved air and remains temperature, as well as certain visual aspects of observation.
On cross-examination, Mr. Willis attempted to interject several anomalies into the expert witnesses’ processes and findings. In each case Dr. Vass declared that either the attempted variation in location or method would not make a change in his findings. At one point, Mr. Willis even asked, “If Adam and Samantha had been seen in North Georgia on Oct. 6, 2002, would that have made a difference?” Dr. Vass replied, “Certainly, they would have been seen alive during the projected range of the time they died.”
For the majority of the time, the accused seemed to be only re-hashing questions already asked by the prosecution.
At 5:15 District Attorney Clark called the state’s sixth witness, Tommy Remine, a former investigator for the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. His main role in the case was to document and photograph evidence. At the time of his first visit to 104 Brentwood (the Willis residence) he stated that he was given possession of a weapon found by then-Sergeant Sherfey of the Johnson City Police Department. At the time of receipt he stated that the sergeant had already unloaded the weapon and discharged the clip.
The automatic pistol was passed amongst the jury who took great care in looking it over.
“Did you find the gun underneath the storage shed on the property of Larry Hendricks?” Mr. Willis asked the former officer. “No, sir, I did not find the gun,” was Mr. Remine’s answer.
Thomas Smith, a Lieutenant with the Carter County Sheriff’s Department and at the time of the murders assigned to the First Judicial Circuit’s Drug Task Force was next called to the stand. He stated that he was called out to 104 Brentwood Dr. to help execute a search warrant. He identified a box of Winchester .32-caliber ammunition that he had found in the attached garage at the residence.
Lt. Smith indicated that the ammunition was found on Oct. 17, 2002.
Mr. Willis had one question for the witness, “Lt. Smith, are those copper jacketed or lead?” “They appear to be copper colored,” was his reply.
The next up for the prosecution was Sergeant Bill Coultree of the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. He became involved when the BCSO was asked to assist in recovering a chainsaw along the north-bound lane of I-75. “We were brought there by Wilda Willis,” he answered when asked by DA Clark how they came to be at that location.
Unpacking a tightly bound box, Sgt Coultree, extracted the chainsaw allegedly used to dismember the body of Adam Chrismer.
The defendant asked if the sergeant could read him the serial number off the saw and if the saw was exactly as it had been found.
Elizabeth Pope, an employee of the Tennessee Department of Health, previously a Senior Lt. with the BCSO Crimes Scene Unit was also called by the prosecution. She testified as to having assisted in the recovery of the saw, as well as transporting it back to the evidence locker and booking it, preserving the chain of evidence.
Next to be called as the state continued to establish the presence of physical evidence was Lt. Barry Tharp, also of the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. As a crime scene investigator he had been asked to assist in the Chrismer missing person case. He was the person responsible for transporting the saw to the TBI crime lab in Nashville.
As part of his testimony, various photos of the saw were shown to the jury, all showing bits and pieces of the clothing worn by Mr. Chrismer at the time of his death.
Concluding court for Thursday, Judge Blackwood announced that he expected the state to rest Friday. Thursday’s afternoon session was adjourned at 6 p.m. Saturday’s session is expected to run until approximately 4 p.m.
Sunday will be a social day for the sequestered jury as they will be given time to visit with its family members on Father's Day. This event has been planned by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Word from the District Attorney’s Office is that the mothers of both victims will take the stand at some time prior to the state resting its case. Prosecuting the case is First Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tony Clark with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Dennis Brooks.
(Email Dennis Norwood at sportswriter56@comcast.net. Follow him on Twitter at DennisENorwood. Listen for a weekly wrap-up of the trial Friday morning at 10:10 on WGOW Talk Radio 102.3 with Jeff Styles on Fred the Show.)