Defense attorney: Witness changed his story

TAHLEQUAH —

The defense counsel for Bronson Butcher on Wednesday targeted eyewitness accounts of a man who claims he saw the accused shoot an Oktaha man at a Tahlequah home in March 2011.

Blake Gower had previously testified he, Butcher and Dane Dunegan were at Butcher’s duplex on Wisteria Lane on March 15, 2011, when Butcher shot Dunegan. Gower said he was sitting at a table, cutting up marijuana buds, when the first shot sounded. He testified he didn’t see Butcher fire the first shot at Dunegan, but looked up just in time to see him aim the gun at Dunegan’s head and fire a second shot.

Butcher is being tried for first-degree murder this week in Cherokee County District Court.

On the stand Wednesday, Gower said he was “scared,” and ran out the back door of the duplex and into a nearby wooded area after the shooting. He called a buddy to pick him up somewhere near Jones Road.

Special Agent Todd Spurlock, of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, told jurors Wednesday that when he arrived at the crime scene to mark, photograph and collect evidence, the back door of the duplex was locked.

In response to a question from Butcher’s attorney, Donn Baker, Spurlock said it didn’t appear the back door had been used. But Spurlock also told Assistant District Attorney Josh King he didn’t recall the door, which opened inward, being obstructed in any way that would prohibit it from being opened.

Donn Baker also questioned several other claims made by Gower at various times in the past year – including in police reports and at a preliminary hearing last year – and how the stories had seemingly changed from one statement to the next.

Gower had admitted he’d lied out of fear when he first spoke to police, but when questioned about later inconsistencies, he claimed he didn’t recall saying certain things, or that reports by investigating officers might be incorrect.

“Will you agree with me that you will lie when necessary?” Baker asked Gower at one point Wednesday.

Gower conceded that he would lie, if he felt it was necessary. He later said the defense attorney was “doing a good job of confusing me,” and said Baker might have confounded him with questions posed last year in a preliminary hearing. That, Gower said, could be why some of his statements didn’t match up.

Baker also questioned Gower over his claims that he was looking down and cutting marijuana on a coffee table when the first shot was fired at Dunegan. The attorney asked Gower why the police hadn’t found that marijuana. Gower said he might have put it in his pocket or in his hand before he bolted.

“I’m sure they found marijuana all over there,” Gower said.

But Baker said the police didn’t find it.

Tahlequah Officer Brandon Vick testified he was one of the first officers to arrive after Dunegan’s body had been seen by a neighbor and reported to 911, and he and others entered the duplex to “clear” the house. Vick said he and another officer cleared the bottom floor, where Dunegan’s body was, and didn’t recall seeing any marijuana on the coffee table.

Spurlock testified he doesn’t recall seeing marijuana on the table, but did find and seize a box below the table that contained marijuana and digital scales, among other items. He said it was “not a large amount” of marijuana in the box.

Baker asked Gower if investigators had ever tested his hands to see if he’d fired a gun, or had tested his clothing for blood spatters. Gower said they had not. The attorney then asked if Gower had ever been given a polygraph test, and Gower said he had not.

“I wish [the investigators] would have [given me the test],” Gower replied.

Jurors on Wednesday also learned the state medical examiner’s office found three gunshot wounds on Dunegan’s body during the autopsy. Forensic pathologist Dr. Joshua Lanter said there was a gunshot wound to Dunegan’s head on the right side, just above and behind the ear, and a bullet from that wound was recovered. The second shot was to the left side abdomen area, and a bullet from that injury was recovered.

But Lanter said the third shot – to Dunegan’s left forearm – broke a bone. It had no apparent exit wound, and no bullet was recovered.

Baker pointed out that Pamela Breen, who lived next door to Butcher, had testified to hearing two gunshots, and that Gower had testified two shots were fired at Dunegan.

Lanter told jurors the bullet itself might have been inadvertently removed by medical professionals attempting to save Dunegan’s life, though he admitted it doesn’t happen frequently.

Baker asked if it was possible the bullet that struck the bone in Dunegan’s forearm might have ricocheted and struck Dunegan’s abdomen or stomach area. Lanter said it was unlikely, but possible.

The pathologist also told jurors Dunegan had a scrape on his nose, a small bruise on his lip, and a “circular abrasion” on his left temple. King asked if the circular pattern to Dunegan’s left temple could have been caused by the barrel of a rifle being pressed up against it, and Lanter said it was possible.

King pointed to previous testimony that Dunegan’s arm might have been bleeding before he ended up at Wisteria Lane. He asked Lanter if the wound might have been from earlier in the day. Lanter said it was possible, if the injury had occurred no more than a few hours before the other two bullet wounds.

Baker asked why the medical examiner didn’t perform a toxicology test on Dunegan. Lanter said the office typically doesn’t perform toxicology on homicide victims, but said the samples are saved, and that Donn Baker, as the defense attorney for Butcher, could request the toxicology report be done.

King later asked Lanter if the defense had requested the toxicology from Dunegan, and Lanter said he wasn’t aware of such a request.

Court recessed Wednesday evening and was set to resume with more witness testimony Thursday at 9 a.m.

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