LJWorld.com / Opening statements bring first words from defense

Archive for Friday, February 18, 2005

Charges based on a ‘hunch,’ attorney says

February 18, 2005

When all the evidence adds up, there should be no doubt that a Kansas State University professor bludgeoned his ex-wife to death and stabbed her at least 17 times, a prosecutor told jurors Thursday.

But a defense attorney said doubts about Carmin Ross' death were everywhere: in the lack of fingerprints, fibers, hairs or blood linked to Thomas E. Murray, and in neighbors' statements that they saw unidentified cars at Ross' home around the time of the death.

"Who killed Carmin Ross? You're not going to know at the end of this trial because of these gaps in the evidence," defense attorney Bob Eye said. "All they had was a hunch, and a hunch is all they have today."

Eye's 90-minute opening statement was the first chance that defense attorneys have had to present their side of the case.

The remarks came in Douglas County District Court during opening statements of what's expected to be a four- to six-week trial. Witnesses on the first day included Ross' mother, Judi, who testified about the couple's relationship; the two officers who found Ross dead inside her home northwest of Lawrence; and an officer who described finding potential evidence on the side of the road near the home.

Prosecution begins

Assistant Dist. Atty. Angela Wilson started the day by saying Murray's "web" of statements to police and others would help convict him.

The state's case is built largely on the professor's behavior after the killing, such as his statements that cuts and bruises on his right hand came from cutting a pineapple, cleaning his gutters and rough-housing with his 4-year-old daughter. He told police they'd find Ross' blood in his car because she'd borrowed the car and had a nosebleed, and he told them they'd find his blood in her bathroom because he'd been picking a callus while at her home.

Detectives also found that Murray searched the Internet for murder-related terms, including "How to murder someone and not get caught" and "how to kill someone quickly and quietly." Wilson displayed a calendar to show how his searches corresponded to child-custody mediation sessions around the death.

Danny Ross, left, father of slaying victim Carmin D. Ross, talks with private prosecutor Tom Bath, who was hired by the Ross family, in Douglas County District Court. Opening statements began Thursday in the trial of Thomas E. Murray, who is charged with killing Ross, his ex-wife, in November 2003.

"His own words will help to show you that he is the one responsible for leaving Carmin bloody, battered and bruised in the living room of her house," Wilson said during her half-hour opening statement.

Defense response

Eye countered that despite a nearly yearlong investigation, the state has developed no concrete evidence linking Murray to the scene. Instead, Eye said forensic evidence and testimony from neighbors who drove by Ross' home would put other unknown people at the scene.

Eye said none of Murray's hair was found at the crime scene, but there were hairs belonging to unidentified people. Fingerprints belonging to at least seven unknown people were found at the home, he said.

And, he said, crime-scene examination of drops of blood found in the bathroom -- the only place investigators found blood that didn't belong to Ross -- suggested it came from two males, but scientists couldn't conclude whether it came from Murray.

No one interviewed in a neighborhood canvass mentioned seeing Murray's maroon Saturn in the area, Eye said.

Douglas County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Grammer testifies about the projected photograph of the home of Carmin D. Ross. Grammer spoke Thursday during the trial of Kansas State University professor Thomas E. Murray, who is charged with murdering his ex-wife, Carmin D. Ross, in November 2003. Grammer and another sheriff's deputy found Ross' body in her home northwest of Lawrence.

"They looked hard and found nothing," he said.

Instead, eyewitnesses will testify they saw other vehicles at Ross' home in the days around the killing, he said. One man will testify he saw a Ford F-150 pickup parked in the driveway about 9 a.m. the morning police believe Ross was killed, Eye said. In another case, someone called Crime Stoppers saying they'd seen a '70s or '80s model sedan in Ross' driveway, but no one followed up on the tip, Eye said.

He described Murray as a peaceful person and pointed out that he cooperated fully with police.

As for the Internet searches, Eye told jurors Murray was using them to write TV screenplays about crime-scene investigation. He said Murray thought he might leave his job at K-State and move to California if Ross moved there with her new love interest and took the couple's daughter, Ciara.

Testimony starts

Shortly before noon, prosecutors called their first witness: Steve Grammer, the Douglas County Sheriff's sergeant who found Ross dead on Nov. 14, 2003, after her fiance in California asked police to check on her welfare.

Grammer and Deputy Rita Fulton-Mays, who also came to the scene, entered the home and found Ross' body after Grammer looked through the window and saw Ross' knee sticking out from around a corner.

Thomas E. Murray, an English professor and linguistics expert at Kansas State University, left, listens to his defense attorney Pedro Irigonegaray, right, in Douglas County District Court, during the first day of his trial. Murray is charged with murdering his ex-wife, Carmin D. Ross, in November 2003 at her home northwest of Lawrence.

Ross' mother, Judi, of Lapel, Ind., testified that she never knew Murray to be interested in writing fiction. She described an argument between the two after their divorce in which Ross grew upset that Murray had taken Ciara to the doctor without her knowledge.

During cross-examination by defense attorney Pedro Irigonegaray, she said the couple talked through their disagreements.

Sheriff Ken McGovern, who was undersheriff at the time, described the effort in the days after the killing to stop motorists in the area and search roadsides for evidence. Sheriff's Sgt. Wes Houk testified that his search group found two items in different areas along roads southwest of the home: a white tissue with what looked like blood on it and a blue latex glove.

Testimony is expected to continue this morning.