Terrance Black murder trial: Day Five

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Original entry

Testimony has begun on the fifth day of the Terrance Black murder trial. FBI Special Agent Amy Avila is back on the stand. She testified Thursday about evidence found in a search of Black's 2004 Cadillac Escalade. Among the items seized were two lap tops, an iPhone, one pair of gloves and two small pocket knives, including one that had a blood-like stain on it.

Update 9:58 a.m.

Fifty two items of evidence were seized from Terrance Black's vehicle, including a red jacket with a blood-like stain on the left sleeve. Special Agent Amy Avila testified a portion of the sleeve was also missing, and that a razor blade was found in the vehicle.

In Thursday's testimony several Grand Canyon park rangers said Black had a cut on his left wrist which appeared to be self-inflicted.

"[The cut was} very clean, not consistent with a rock or twig," Phil Oaks told the jury Thursday. "... From my experience with people who have jumped or fallen [off the rim of the Grand Canyon,] I have never seen a clean laceration. ... It would be ugly and jagged."

Avila's testimony wrapped up at 9:55 a.m. and Desirae Tolhurst, the supervisor of the FBI evidence response team that searched Black's vehicle, was called to the stand.

Update11:15 a.m.

The court has taken its mid-morning recess. Robert Laughon, a field agent with the Collin County Medical Examiner's office is still on the stand. He just got finished showing the jury graphic photos of Susan Loper's body.

The body was basically nude, with Loper's jacket and arms up over her head, and her pants and underwear around her ankles.

"When you walk up and see something like that ... you cant help but think she might have been sexually assaulted," Laughon told the jury. "It didn't appear like a natural death. There was obvious trauma to the body. Not finding a weapon ... it appeared to me she had been struck with something."

Laughon described the back of Loper's head as like an eggshell, noting that it was completely caved in. He went on to say that he even though the body was found nude, he discovered no signs of sexual assault.

While the photos were being shown, several jurors glared at the defendant. Black had no external reaction during Laughon's testimony, but did stare intently at the video screen while the photos were displayed.

Update 2:10 p.m.

Collin County Medical Examiner Sheila Spotswood has been on the stand for a few hours and shared autopsy photos with the jury. As expected, the photos were quite graphic.

Spotswood testified that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the skull. She was not able to identify a murder weapon, but said any heavy object with a straight edge could have been used, including a pistol or dumbbell. Spotswood agreed with Prosecutor John Schomburger that the beating was "terrible" and savage."

"[There] were multiple blows on the back of the head with something hard enough to fracture the skull," Spotswood told the jury. "There is no way to give a number on how much force, but it is a lot. The minimum number [of blows] was seven, and that is if I count the very large, irregular wound as one blow."

Terrance Black showed his first emotion of the trial during the viewing of the autopsy photos. Black appeared to be tearing up and wiped his eyes and nose several times with a tissue. He also looked away from the screen during some of the more graphic pictures, putting his head in his hands.

Update 3:15 p.m.

Donald Houser, an employee at Cabela's in Fort Worth testified that Terrance Black purchased a Ruger P95 9 mm pistol on June 21, 2010. At that time he also purchased two boxes of 9 mm ammunition, one of which was a box of Magtech First Defense hollow point ammunition.

After Houser was excused, Plano Police Detective Luke Grant testified that the live ammunition found at Gleneagles Country Club was 9 mm Magtech First Defense of the same weight as that purchased by Black at Cabela's.

Grant also demonstrated how someone who was unfamiliar with firearms could mistakenly believe their loaded gun was jammed, when in fact the safety was simply on. In that case, he said it is not uncommon for the person to rack the slide of the firearm and eject a live round of ammunition. Grant said this is one theory he has as to why three live rounds were found at Gleneagles.

Update 4:20 p.m.

Forensics firearms examiner Larry Fletcher testifies that the three unfired rounds found at Gleneagles Country Club on April 19, and the two unfired rounds found near Susan Loper's body on April 20, were chambered and ejected from the same firearm. However, the make and model of the firearm cannot be determined by simply looking at the unfired rounds.

Fletcher also told the jury the nine fired 9 mm rounds located in the field in September 2011 were not from the same gun. He also said they were not the same brand, Magtech, as the rounds purchased by Black and the rounds found at Gleneagles and near Loper's body.

Update 5:18 p.m.

Jocelyn Humphreys, a neighbor of Terrance Black, took the stand as the final witness of the trial's opening week. She was one of several people to speak with Black on April 20, the day after Susan Loper was murdered. She said Black told her he was in El Paso at the time of the phone call, but testimony earlier in the trial showed that he was actually in the Flagstaff, Ariz. Area.

Humphreys said Black was a very helpful neighbor, offering to mow her grass and help other neighbors out with chores around the house. She also said she met Loper 3-4 times, calling her "very nice, sweet gal."

She testified that when she texted Black on April 20 after learning about Loper's death, he said he was not aware of anything happening to Loper. During a phone conversation, she described Black as fairly upset when learning of Loper's death.

Court will resume at 9:30 a.m. Monday.

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