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Terrance Black murder trial: Day Eight
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com
For live updates throughout the trial, follow @Bill_PlanoStar on Twitter.
Update 8 a.m.
Day Eight of the Terrance Black murder trial began with Plano PD Detective Scott Epperson back on the stand.
The prosecution is expected to rest later today. In order to attempt to get the trial finished before Labor Day weekend, Judge John Roach extended trial hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. He also said similar hours could be in place for Thursday and Friday.
Update 9:15 a.m.
Under cross-examination for the first time in the trial, Detective Scott Epperson admitted that Jayson Hayes was never considered a suspect. However, he said this was because of the evidence, not for any other reasons.
"In an investigation like this you look at the men most closely associated with the female victim," Epperson said, adding Hayes made himself available to police whenever they asked and was never formally considered a suspect. "I didn't have probable cause to take his hair, saliva and fingerprints, but he gave it voluntarily."
Earlier in the trial prosecutors have shown that it would be highly unlikely that Hayes could have been in Plano at 6 a.m. to commit the crime, and still made it to Burleson by 8:02 a.m. for his pharmaceutical sales job.
Epperson also said that Craig Loper, the victim's ex-husband, was also not considered a suspect. He said Craig's actions after finding out his ex-wife was missing were not consistent with someone involved in the crime.
"It seemed like Jake (the Loper's son) was always at the center of his concern," Epperson said. "[He was worried about] what was best for Jake. From his interview I could tell that he had that in mind. There was no motive to want her dead. She was his life insurance beneficiary. I couldn't find any reason why he would want to kill her."
Update 10:08 a.m.
The prosecution has rested. There has been no word on how long the defense expects its case to take, but Judge John Roach has said several times he hopes to have the trial complete before the weekend. As a result, we will be in court today until 9 p.m.
Update 10:20 a.m.
The first defense witness has been called. Pete Evans, an AT&T employee who testified earlier in the trial about cell phone tracking, is back on the stand.
Update 11:10 a.m.
Valerie Bacewicz was Terrance Black's next door neighbor for eight years. Under direct examination she testified she saw Susan Loper's vehicle in front of Black's house in early April 2011. She said she was familiar with the car since she often saw it Black and Loper dated. However, under cross-examination, she admitted she was not a car expert and wasn't sure if the vehicle she saw was the same make and model as that driven by Loper.
Valerie's husband, Anthony Bacewicz, also took the stand to testify about the vehicle. He told defense attorney Jim Burnham there was no doubt in his mind that it was Loper's vehicle. However, he later told prosecutor John Schomburger a slightly different story.
"It was the same type of car ... but I cannot say with 100 percent certainly that it was the same make and model," Anthony said.
Schomburger also mentioned to the jury that Loper was driving a small white Isuzu sports utility vehicle when she dated Black, but was driving a small white Toyota RAV4 in April 2011. This fact was established on Day One of the trial when Loper's mother, Catherine Miller, testified that Loper was borrowing her and her husband's RAV4 at the time of her murder because her Isuzu was having mechanical problems.
Update 1:15 p.m.
One of the first defense witnesses was Cami Sandiford, a private investigator.
Previous testimony has shown that Jayson Hayes, Susan Loper's boyfriend at the time of her death, was in Burleson, Texas at 8:02 a.m. the day Loper was killed. If he was responsible for her death, as the defense has said, he would have had only 84 minutes to travel from the Gleneagles area to Burleson.
Sandiford testified she drove the route twice, with elapsed times of 73 and 93 minutes. The 93-minute route avoided all toll roads and included about 10 minutes worth of delays due to traffic and an accident, Sandiford testified. The 73-minute route utilized the President George Bush Turnpike and had no delays, resulting in the quicker time.
"I believe you can make it in the allotted 84 minutes based on my experience, the drive I took and the possibility that TollTags were not in place at the time," she said. "There are so many variables that we don't have. I believe you could make it from the Parker exit at the Dallas North Tollway, to 2525 Preston Road (where Loper's vehicle was found) and then to Burleson in 84 minutes."
Under cross-examination, prosecutor John Schomburger questioned Sandiford about her journey and attempted to cast doubt that Hayes could have made the trip. He mentioned that the killer would have likely had to clean up after the crime, and also would have been cutting it very close if any unexpected delays would have occurred during the trip. He also pointed out that she didn't video tape her two drives.
Sandiford, however, would not comment on what Hayes' likely behavior was after the murder. The doctor Hayes met with that morning previously testified that Hayes was acting normal.
"People who commit those run the gamut of behaviors afterward," she testified. "It could be unusual (for Hayes to not be acting strange at Nelon's office), but I have had a lot of circumstances have been the norm in a homicide."
Update 2:20 p.m.
Forensic pathologist Vincent Di Maio, an expert on gunshot wounds, testified for the defense.
His testimony cast doubt on whether the murder weapon, which has not been recovered, was the Ruger P95 pistol Terrance Black purchased in 2010, as prosecutors have claimed. Loper died of blunt force trauma to the head, according to a Collin County medical examiner.
"No, in my opinion and in all medical probability the injuries on the head are not due to being beaten by a handgun such as [the P95], he testified. "The lacerations [on the skull] tend to be longer, about an inch and a half. They have a relatively sharp edge which is suggestible with [being beaten with] a heavy piece of metal."
Di Maio said he could not identify a specific murder weapon, but he ruled out the pistol. Prosecutor John Schomburger got Di Maio to admit some of the wounds could have been caused by a pistol, but still ruled out a pistol being responsible for the "gaping wounds."
Update 3:30 p.m.
After several conferences outside the presence of the jury, Judge John Roach decided to allow testimony from two ex-wives, as well as an ex-mother-in-law, of Jayson Hayes. All three women described Hayes as a liar, but were not allowed to go into detail about what he had lied to them about.
Hayes was the first person to give the name Terrance Black to police and his fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime. He told the jurors he had been been to Gleneagles 15-20 times and was helping Loper move, a statement that went against the word of several country club employees who testified last week they had never seen Susan Loper bring men to her studio. With a largely circumstantial case presented by prosecutors, getting the jurors to doubt Hayes' credibility could be key for the defense.
Update 4 p.m.
The defense rested its case shortly after 3 p.m. Closing arguments will begin Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. The arguments are expected to take about three hours, meaning the jury will get the case around lunch. Once deliberations begin the jurors will be sequestered.
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