my gun in his ribs and held him down till the sheriff’s man came along.”
On cross-examination, Swiller asked Odoms one question: “Did you see the defendant kill Darlene Updike?” Odoms said he didn’t see the killing.
George called Buck County Deputy Sheriff Darby Jones to the stand. Jones said he arrived at the warehouse at 5:25 a.m. and found Odoms standing in a dirt road that ran between the warehouse and a motel, holding a gun on Deatherage. Jones cuffed Deatherage and searched him. “I found a scarf in Deatherage’s pants pocket. It was the type of scarf a woman would wear over her head or around her neck. There was a stain on the scarf that appeared to be fresh blood.”
After questioning Odoms, Jones entered the warehouse and found a woman’s corpse sprawled on the floor under the window where Odoms first saw Deatherage. Jones radioed the Buck County sheriff’s office and told the dispatcher to notify the medical examiner. Jones then conducted a thorough search of the warehouse and found a rag, which appeared to have fresh blood on it, on the floor at the rear of the warehouse under an open window.
It seemed to Nate that a victim of rape and murder would have fought for her life during the assault, but George Maupin asked Jones no questions about the state of Deatherage’s clothing or his physical condition. Nate guessed this was because Deatherage bore no signs of a struggle. If Nate was right, Swiller should have asked Jones if there were scratches or bruises on Deatherage’s body or tears or rips in his clothing, but when the judge turned to Swiller for cross, Swiller said, “No questions, Your Honor.”
The next witness was the local medical examiner, Malcolm Somers. He testified that Updike was a young white female, five feet one inch tall, one hundred five pounds. He described the condition of the corpse upon his arrival at the warehouse. Her blouse was ripped open, and she was naked from the waist down. A bra, torn skirt, and panties lay on the floor near the corpse. Updike’s left eye was swollen shut. Her lip was split and two upper front teeth had been dislodged. There were abrasions on her hands, elbows, thighs, and knees. Her vaginal wall was torn and there was blood on her thighs. A rope was wound around her neck, and a stick was twisted in the coil of the rope. There were three bloody rings of broken flesh around her neck. A rag was lodged in her throat.
Somers estimated the time of death as between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. He said the cause of death was “asphyxiation due to compression of her neck and obstruction of her airway.” He notified the Virginia chief medical examiner’s office that Updike was the victim of a homicide.
Swiller asked no questions of Somers.
George then called Shirley West to the stand. West worked for the Virginia chief medical examiner’s western district office, based in Roanoke. The state’s chief medical examiner’s office was responsible for conducting investigations when a local medical examiner determined a death was the result of homicide. West was a forensic pathologist, and Nate had worked with her on many cases. She was a middle-aged single woman with no children. Her job was her life, and she was an excellent expert witness.
West confirmed the wounds Somers described and his determination of the cause of death, but she stated it more plainly: “Miss Updike’s assailant tightened a rope around her throat while she was in the process of swallowing a rag he stuffed in her mouth. She couldn’t breathe.”
The rag Somers found in Updike’s throat was white, six inches square, frayed on two edges. West said, “I established a match between dust on the rag and particles of concrete from the warehouse floor.”
West said the rope and stick found wrapped around Updike’s throat were a “makeshift garrote” used to strangle her. “The rope was a thirty-six-inch length of a common type. It was half-inch three-strand laid rope with a
On cross-examination, Swiller asked Odoms one question: “Did you see the defendant kill Darlene Updike?” Odoms said he didn’t see the killing.
George called Buck County Deputy Sheriff Darby Jones to the stand. Jones said he arrived at the warehouse at 5:25 a.m. and found Odoms standing in a dirt road that ran between the warehouse and a motel, holding a gun on Deatherage. Jones cuffed Deatherage and searched him. “I found a scarf in Deatherage’s pants pocket. It was the type of scarf a woman would wear over her head or around her neck. There was a stain on the scarf that appeared to be fresh blood.”
After questioning Odoms, Jones entered the warehouse and found a woman’s corpse sprawled on the floor under the window where Odoms first saw Deatherage. Jones radioed the Buck County sheriff’s office and told the dispatcher to notify the medical examiner. Jones then conducted a thorough search of the warehouse and found a rag, which appeared to have fresh blood on it, on the floor at the rear of the warehouse under an open window.
It seemed to Nate that a victim of rape and murder would have fought for her life during the assault, but George Maupin asked Jones no questions about the state of Deatherage’s clothing or his physical condition. Nate guessed this was because Deatherage bore no signs of a struggle. If Nate was right, Swiller should have asked Jones if there were scratches or bruises on Deatherage’s body or tears or rips in his clothing, but when the judge turned to Swiller for cross, Swiller said, “No questions, Your Honor.”
The next witness was the local medical examiner, Malcolm Somers. He testified that Updike was a young white female, five feet one inch tall, one hundred five pounds. He described the condition of the corpse upon his arrival at the warehouse. Her blouse was ripped open, and she was naked from the waist down. A bra, torn skirt, and panties lay on the floor near the corpse. Updike’s left eye was swollen shut. Her lip was split and two upper front teeth had been dislodged. There were abrasions on her hands, elbows, thighs, and knees. Her vaginal wall was torn and there was blood on her thighs. A rope was wound around her neck, and a stick was twisted in the coil of the rope. There were three bloody rings of broken flesh around her neck. A rag was lodged in her throat.
Somers estimated the time of death as between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. He said the cause of death was “asphyxiation due to compression of her neck and obstruction of her airway.” He notified the Virginia chief medical examiner’s office that Updike was the victim of a homicide.
Swiller asked no questions of Somers.
George then called Shirley West to the stand. West worked for the Virginia chief medical examiner’s western district office, based in Roanoke. The state’s chief medical examiner’s office was responsible for conducting investigations when a local medical examiner determined a death was the result of homicide. West was a forensic pathologist, and Nate had worked with her on many cases. She was a middle-aged single woman with no children. Her job was her life, and she was an excellent expert witness.
West confirmed the wounds Somers described and his determination of the cause of death, but she stated it more plainly: “Miss Updike’s assailant tightened a rope around her throat while she was in the process of swallowing a rag he stuffed in her mouth. She couldn’t breathe.”
The rag Somers found in Updike’s throat was white, six inches square, frayed on two edges. West said, “I established a match between dust on the rag and particles of concrete from the warehouse floor.”
West said the rope and stick found wrapped around Updike’s throat were a “makeshift garrote” used to strangle her. “The rope was a thirty-six-inch length of a common type. It was half-inch three-strand laid rope with a
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