Murder trial day one

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The prosecution began its case Monday against accused murderer Shawn Jones in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court. Because of postponements related to DNA testing and two competency hearings, the case didn’t come to trial until more than a year after the victim, Jones’ 83-year-old grandmother, Edna LaRue, died in her Sunrise Court home.

Judge Charles D. Steele, who is presiding over the trial, will also decide Jones’ fate, after the defendant waived his right to a jury trial. However, since Jones could have revoked that waiver Monday morning, court officials were prepared to reinstitute a jury trial, if necessary.

Following a 31-minute opening statement by County Prosecutor Charles F. Kennedy III and a much briefer one by defense counsel Scott Gordon, Kennedy called six witnesses to help build his case against Jones.

Witnesses Monday included Van Wert Police Department Dispatcher Rick Spoor; Dale LaRue, the victim’s 89-year-old husband; Dr. Dianne Scala-Barnett, a pathologist working for the Lucas County Coroner’s Office; and three VWPD officers: Robert Black, Adam Wehage and Joe Motycka.

“Your honor, this is a very simple case about a death — the brutal strangulation death of Edna LaRue,” Kennedy said during his opening remarks, noting that the prosecution would prove all the elements of murder in the case.

The prosecutor’s theory of the murder was that Mrs. LaRue discovered that Jones had stolen some money from her and confronted him about it, leading to her death. He also noted that the fact that two wireless phones were taken from the LaRue residence and, despite Jones’ denial of having done so, were later found in Mrs. LaRue’s van, which Jones had been driving.
Gordon’s opening statement focused on the stated time of death and the fact that the defendant was not at the residence during that time period, and also talked about a brain injury to Jones that occurred in 1995 that left him with permanent brain damage.

Spoor was the first witness called, and he described the circumstances of the 9-1-1 call received through the Life Alert system in connection with Mrs. LaRue’s death. The call came at approximately 8:30 p.m. on October 1, 2010.

A tape of the Life Alert call was subpoenaed and was also played in the courtroom, with Jones’ mother, Joette Jones, the daughter of Mrs. LaRue, castigating her son for not being at the residence where he was supposed to be.

Mrs. LaRue’s husband, Dale, was the next witness and he testified that he had driven to Arkansas to see a daughter and was not at home when his wife died. The night before LaRue left, he, Mrs. LaRue and Shawn Jones had dinner together and then LaRue left early the next morning.

While traveling, LaRue said he tried to call his wife while driving through the Indianapolis, Ind., area between noon and 1 p.m. but couldn’t reach her. After trying several more times, LaRue called Joette Jones and asked her to check on her mother.

Joette Jones went to the LaRues’ 1279 Sunrise Court residence, but found the house locked up and nobody apparently home. While she was still there, however, her son, Shawn, pulled up in Mrs. LaRue’s van. Both then went into the house and found the victim stretched out in the hallway of the home.

LaRue also testified about the couple’s missing checkbook, as well as missing coins that were stored in a jar and a coin bank.

Evidence of the defendant and another man cashing the contents of similar items will be introduced later in the trial, Kennedy said.

Dr. Scala-Barnett’s testimony centered on what she found during an autopsy of Mrs. LaRue conducted at the Lucas County Coroner’s Office in Toledo.

The deputy coroner said the ligature mark found on Mrs. LaRue’s neck matched an electrical cord shown to her that was originally attached to a clock at the LaRue residence.

She also noted that Mrs. LaRue died by strangulation and that it would have taken 2-3 minutes to kill the elderly woman.

“It’s a lot of force, but a sustained force for at least 2 to 3 minutes until the heart doesn’t beat anymore,” Dr. Scala-Barnett testified.

Gordon stressed the difference in time of death, as stated by the prosecution, versus the official time of death, which Dr. Scala-Barnett explained by saying the official time of death was the time the woman was examined and declared dead, rather than the time of her actual death.

The three police officers testified to the results of their department’s investigation into Mrs. LaRue’s death, while a video of the crime scene was also shown.

The prosecution’s case will continue today, after which the defense will get its chance to cast suspicion on the evidence against Jones. The trial is expected to run through Thursday.