Booger pulled the mask down and interrupted Steve. “How many murderers you met in your life, young man? I would bet good money this was the first, because I have met several and only one seemed like a murderer; the only time I have ever truly been scared in my life was sitting in a room with that man.”
He began to tremble and shake as he said, “I was on his side, he knew I was on his side, and it still scared the heck out of me to be anywhere near him. Thought he might snap my neck at any minute. He was a true sociopath. All the rest of them seemed like normal, everyday folk, even the ones where there were eyewitnesses and confessions. The guy I told you about earlier, he ended up crocheting me a real nice afghan. A decent guy on certain levels, he wasn’t even a racist. Tough upbringing and a lot of other issues. Just had a very bad day, and that poor kid was unlucky enough to run into him at that moment.”
Booger stared Steve down. “Your second issue better be stellar. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve got plenty to do around here, and I would like to get back to it.” He waved his hand at all the cars that needed work done in his shop.
Steve pulled three pictures out of his pocket. The pictures showed different angles of the interior of the Scottie’s home taken by Deputy Blackburn during the investigation of Ashley’s murder. As he showed Booger the pictures, Steve said, “Look closely. You remember I mentioned the 911 call? This morning, I was listening to the tape again and happened to be looking at these pictures at the same time. On the call, she says that Scottie had hit her, and she was locked in the bedroom. Right before the call cuts off, she screams that he had just kicked in the door.”
Booger’s jaw dropped. “The bedroom door in all of these photos is completely intact. Not a scratch. It’s shut in this one and open in these other two. Are you sure there wasn’t another room in the house she might have been inside during the call?”
“Yes, I’m positive,” Steve replied. “The house only has three bedrooms: the master, the baby’s room, and a guest room. I’ve looked at all the pictures and none of the doors in the house were busted. I just brought these three because they show the master bedroom door the most clearly.”
“If your boy never busted a door in, then why did she say it on the call?”
“I don’t know, but if she lied about the door, maybe she lied about him hitting her too? And who knows what else isn’t as it seems with this case,” Steve said.
You sure do have some interesting information, but like I said, I’m out of the investigation game. I would recommend you contact Mark Bailey or Glen Holden, they are both excellent investigators.
Steve continued for several minutes to try and convince Booger to join his team but eventually realized it wasn’t going to happen.
CHAPTER 15
Steve spent Sunday finishing his review of the state’s case in chief. As expected, Battel followed the script he had presented in his opening statement.
Dr. Peterson gave what amounted to a dry and boring recitation of the injuries sustained by Ashley. Since death was an element of every murder charge, the state had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the victim died and how she died. Over the course of two hundred pages, Dr. Peterson left no doubt that Ashley’s cause of death was loss of blood from the numerous knife wounds she sustained to her body.
Next was the DNA expert, Dr. Feinstein. Once again, the tedious nature of this testimony seeped through the court reporter’s typewritten recreation. She spent what was probably more than an hour detailing her own training and expertise. Following her self-introduction was two more hours explaining the procedures used to examine the skin discovered under Ashley’s fingernails. The results confirmed that the skin beneath her nails came from Scottie’s body.
Last to take the stand in the state’s case in chief was Officer Matthews. After being sworn in, he testified that he found Scottie at the motel with wet hair and only a pair of shorts on. Matthews also testified that he could see scratches on Scottie’s neck and face. Finally, Officer Matthews testified that Scottie didn’t seem surprised they were there to arrest him.
There was nothing constitutionally defective about the testimony thus far, but there was one section that caught Steve’s attention: the only time during the entire trial that Hixon had actually seemed to be defending Scottie.
***
August 4, 2009—Rogers County Courthouse
Officer Matthews sat on the stand, dressed in his Claremore Police Department uniform. By this time, he had been testifying for a couple of hours, but the young cop still appeared fresh and excited to be contributing to such a high-profile murder case.
“Was Scottie dressed when you arrested him?” Hixon asked.
“Yes. We knocked on the door. Announced who we were. He came out willingly,” Matthews replied.
“What was he wearing?”
“As best I can recall. He had on an orange Oklahoma State
Cowboys T-shirt and blue jeans.”
“Was there blood anywhere on his clothing?”
“No.”
“Did you find any clothes with blood on them?”
“Clothes? No. But a few weeks later, we did find a pair of bloody tennis shoes in a field near the home. A local rancher found them in a plastic Walmart bag. During the investigation, we were able to ascertain the shoes belonged to the defendant, Scottie.”
“But no clothes? Correct?”
“Correct.”
“No shirt?”
“Correct.”
“No jeans or pants?”
“Correct.”
“Did you search the hotel room and his vehicle for bloody clothing?”
“Yes.”
“Let me show you what has been marked as state’s exhibit thirty-six. This is a picture of the victim lying in the living room of her home.” Hixon handed the photo to Matthews.
“Would you agree with me that there is a lot of blood around Mrs. Pinkerton?” asked Hixon.
“Yes,” responded Matthews. “And you can even see in this photo the prints that matched the soles of the shoes we found in the field.”
“Okay,” Hixon continued. “And the shoes you found had blood on them?”
