Published: May 21, 2008 11:12 am            

Emergency workers recount scene investigation

CLINTON — Continuing testimony Tuesday morning in the murder trial of Benaiah Mablin, Clinton Police Officer Dean Ottens, a 12-year-veteran of the CPD and an Army military policeman for eight years, testified to what he witnessed upon arriving at the Tucker Building on Dec. 13.

Ottens said he was serving as a patrol supervisor on Dec. 13 and was dispatched to apartment No. 3 in the Tucker Building with a call of a “person down with a lot of blood.” Ottens said Officer Casey Newmarch immediately requested an ambulance and Ottens arrived on the scene as ambulance personnel were waiting for the elevator. He said that he took the stairs and encountered other officers inside apartment No. 3, where Newmarch advised that someone was unresponsive in the bedroom but officers could not get the door open. Ottens stated he was about to use his baton to break frosted glass windows at the top half of the bedroom wall, when Firefighter Eric Krenz opened the door.

Ottens stated Krenz asked to move the victim and Ottens said he advised that he could because preservation of life was top priority. Ottens said that as Krenz moved the body of a black female back to check her vital signs, Ottens stepped back into the living room and into the hallway to advise other officers not to let anyone else in the room in order to preserve the scene and the Crime Scene team would be needed. He stated at that point, ambulance crews moved the woman into the living room to work on her. Ottens said that once the woman was declared deceased, Ottens ordered an officer to log the names of people who had entered the room.

Ottens testified that he contacted the shift commander to advise a homicide occurred and he positioned available officers on scene to protect entryways to the building until more officers arrived and evidence could be secured.

Ottens said that outside, he observed a “large amount of pooled blood” at the northeast corner of the building and the exterior of the building was taped off with crime scene tape.

He said that when CPD Crime Scene Technician Cpl. Richard Mojeiko arrived, the scene was turned over to the investigation team.

Krenz, a firefighter and paramedic specialist with the Clinton Fire Department for 20 months, reiterated Ottens’ testimony. He said ambulance crews were dispatched to the scene at 5:03 p.m. for a call of an “unconscious person bleeding.” Krenz said he and two other officers went up the stairwell, as another waited for the elevator with the gurney, and noticed drops of blood in the stairwell. He said as he approached the door of the apartment, an officer advised him not to touch the walls of the room. Krenz said he and another firefighter, Eric Hosette, entered the apartment and proceeded to the master bedroom, where Krenz pushed the door open and saw that a person’s legs were blocking the door. He remarked that he saw a lot of blood and felt pushing the door open would not cause more damage to the victim. He stated that upon trying to see if the victim was breathing, he asked if the victim could be moved.

Describing photographs of the bedroom, Krenz said there was a lot of blood in the bedroom. He said after laying the victim’s body down, not enough light or space was available to determine her condition, so the body was moved to the living room. After describing what little covering the victim was wearing, he said he was able to determine from experience that the victim was “not a viable patient,” though rescue efforts continued, rigor mortis was detected and the victim was declared deceased. Krenz stated he instructed Hosette to begin a “head-to-toe” documentation of the injuries, but Ottens asked the firefighters not to touch the body in an effort to preserve the scene. He said before a blanket was placed over the body, he witnessed several lacerations to the face, forearms and hands of the victim.

After a 15-minute break, Mojeiko testified that he collected evidence at the scene as an evidence technician and investigator for the Criminal Investigation Division of the police department. Mojeiko stated he was called at approximately 5:20 p.m. as he was at home and off duty, and immediately performed a batch page to summon four crime scene investigators to the police department in order to gather equipment and formulate a plan to process the scene. Mojeiko said he was advised by Sgt. Ann Bormann that a deceased female was at the Tucker Building and officers were securing the scene. Upon arrival, Mojeiko said he met with Ottens for an initial briefing and talk about potential evidence to be collected. He testified that evidence outside the building was considered top priority at first because the environment outdoors was more uncontrolled.

Mojeiko explained several photographs of the crime scene taken with evidence markers, showing apparent blood stains. He noted that while collecting evidence, he photographed the scene, placed markers, performed field sketches, measured the evidence and swabbed the site. He said all evidence collected was admitted and logged into custody at the police department and eventually sent to the state Division of Criminal Investigation crime lab.

While viewing a videotape of various shots of the interior of the apartment, Mojeiko explained the camera angles and evidence in each shot. Iowa Assistant Attorney General James Kivi asked Mojeiko how many pictures were taken by him and his team at the scene. Mojeiko replied that 150 to 200 pictures were taken. He said Medical Examiner Investigators and Clinton County Medical Examiner Dr. Eric Petersen were notified and came to the scene to review and remove the victim. He said the scene was vacated at approximately 3 a.m. but officers remained to secure the scene.

Mojeiko said the DCI Crime Lab was called and sent Criminalist Mike Halverson to Clinton to investigate. Mojeiko said he worked with Halverson to review the scene, noting a search for a possible weapon was conducted but none was found. He said a total of approximately 100 to 120 hours were spent processing the crime scene. Ingham asked if apparent blood stains were found in the stairwell and Mojeiko replied that a special flashlight was used throughout the building’s stairwells, but no bloodstains were found. Ingham asked if Mojeiko was aware the wastebasket by the elevator had been moved by an officer other than the crime scene team and Mojeiko stated he became aware of that at a later time.

Halverson also testified to the events of his investigation, stating he reported to Clinton at approximately noon Dec. 14 for a briefing at the police department. He said at approximately 2 p.m., he arrived at the crime scene and took around 500 photos of the scene. When asked about a bloody footprint inside the apartment, Halverson said Mojeiko advised him a medical examiner or medical responder had made the footprint, so it was not photographed or sampled. Halverson said no blood was found in the storage room, but said a number of bottles of alcohol were collected from the kitchen. He said a knife with a reddish stain was tested to see if the substance was blood, but it was not. Halverson said several stains appearing to be blood were found on the door of the child’s room and on the carpet, approximately one to two feet into the room.

After a lunch break, Halverson noted that in collecting evidence from the master bedroom, a black and leopard print comforter with bloodstains on it was collected, and as the comforter was unrolled, an apparently used red condom was found and collected. He said that a shoe with blood droplets, a blood-stained stethoscope hanging on the closet doorknob and a small glass pipe with charring and steel wool in it and blood on it also were collected as evidence. Halverson noted that although it was not possible to collect samples of every stain in the apartment, approximately 46 total sample swabs were collected from the apartment, some from stains up to 5 foot, 6 inches up on the wall. After photographs of Chambers-Singh’s van were admitted into evidence, Halverson explained where blood was found inside the van, on the driver’s door, the seatbelt and the steering wheel.

Halverson said that after 15 hours of collecting evidence at the crime scene, a debriefing was held at the Clinton Police Department and he, Mojeiko and case officers discussed what evidence would be taken to the DCI Lab and what would remain at the police department. He said evidence submitted to the lab included the wooden bedroom door, bedding, the condom, a pair of panties also found in the bedding, three shirts, a pair of pants, a white sneaker, the stethoscope, a $1 bill found on the floor, the glass tube, a tissue with a red stain, cigarette butts found in the bedroom, 46 swabs from the apartment and six from the minivan.

Ingham asked Halverson if he considered that the blood was from one or more contributors. Halverson replied that was why so many samples were collected. Ingham noted that in Halverson’s testimony about the blood stain types, he and Mojeiko had disagreed about one splatter pattern, with Mojeiko stating it was an “arterial spurt” and Halverson saying it was from a “cast off,” or thrown from a weapon in motion. Halverson stated that it could be either but was difficult to determine. Ingham noted that Halverson would return for additional testimony today and he would have more questions for the criminalist then.

        

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