Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prosecution Begins Case Against Joe Dansby For 1992 Murders (cont) (cont)

an said was Clark, but Hillery thought was a feed sack, until he went and looked closer.

He told the jury of seeing Lewis in the back of the vehicle and noticing it had gone through some "rough treatment" and damage on the truck had not been there Saturday morning.

Hillery also said he had noticed bicycle tracks along part of the road in the area in the center, but thought nothing of them at the time, except it was unusual for the tracks to be in the middle of the road.

Bramblett then talked to Hillery, being told the former NCSO CID had tried to stay out of the probe.

He discussed Hillery's interview with Ursery on June 1, 1992, which Hillery referred to during testimony to refresh his memory of the time.

Hillery said he had made the search looking for tire patterns from Lewis' truck, telling the court they were distinct because they were Cooper Discovery tires and he had a smaller set like them.

These tire tracks, he said, weren't visible at the second crime scene, but added there was a back way into the area from White Oak Lake.

Under questioning, Hillery was unable to be exact on who was with him at what time and where. He was also unable to be specific in regards to the time frame involved in his search.

He told the court he became alarmed when seeing the gloves and gun rack, but never expected to find the two dead. He said he thought they may have been in an accident and were afraid to come home.

Hillery couldn't tell the court if he picked up evidence the first or second time he was at the first scene, but did recall putting the shorts and panties in the trunk of his car.

The bike tracks were brought up again, with Hillery saying he noticed them at Highway 299 and followed them from county road 290 back to Highway 24. "There was one set in the center of the road," he said.

Rodgers asked, on redirect, if Hillery thought this was unusual. Hillery said yes, because the center of a dirt road is where the hump is. Most people, he said, would be more likely to ride in a rut where it would be smoother and more packed down.

Bramblett, on recross, was told Hillery saw no one riding a bicycle and had no idea when these tracks were made.

Meadows was next to be called. He told the court of hearing about the two missing people, learning about it from his son after Sunday school.

"I got in my truck and went to help," he said. Meadows first went to Hillery's home where, he testified, Hillery, Hulan and Kisselburg were.

He left alone as no real search party was organized at the time, traveling down what he called the Old Mail Route Road, which is county road 290, and finding the gloves and gun rack.

Upon finding these, he returned to the Hillery home. Hillery was called back and shown the evidence, with all returning to the scene.

Pratt cross examined Meadows, going over much of the same material as the state had.

Meadows said he thought the gloves could have been Lewis', but wasn't sure and never thought about getting his fingerprints on evidence.

He testified no one was at the scene when he, Hillery and Hulan arrived.

Meadows said he had seen some spent shells, maybe three or four, but didn't touch them. He testified Hillery may have, but he didn't know what the deputy did with them, as he never discussed it with him.

He said Hillery picked up the panties and shorts, putting them in a plastic bag in the trunk of his car. This, he said, was done the first time they were at the scene.

They left the area, Meadows testified, and when they returned about 20 people were there.

Meadows said to his knowledge nothing was done to preserve the crime scene, and the area was not roped off. He also said at the time no one was aware a crime had been committed.

Lamar Barham followed on the stand. He testified hearing the two were missing because of radio broadcasts and went to Morris Church to see if he could help.

As a lifetime native of the area, he was familiar with the backroads and logging roads.

Around 5 p.m., he said, Morman asked him to take a couple of cars and men to search Old Field Road and the Jeff Kirk Road area, which is near county road 47, or what was determined to be crime scene 2.

However, Barham wound up going alone, as the men who were supposed to go with him didn't show up.

Barham told of going down the road and noticing Lewis' truck pulled into a side trail. He said he noticed an ATV in the truck and called Morman.

"I could see Clark's body," he said. "It was behind the truck on the driver's side. I looked in the back of the truck and saw the four- wheeler.

"When I first saw it, I thought someone had stolen the four wheeler, killed a hog and left it in the road." Barham didn't realize at the time what he thought was a hog was actually Clark's body.

However, when he realized it was a human body he called for the NCSO, broadcasting directions to crime scene 2.

Once the NCSO dispatcher answered his call, Barham requested Morman be sent to the area, and was told to stay away until the sheriff arrived.

Morman drew his weapon after arriving and being told what Barham had found and went to the truck. The sheriff motioned for Barham to come down after he had seen the bodies.

At this time, Hillery had also arrived and was coming toward the murder scene. Barham said he tried to keep Hillery away, but Hillery wanted to see.

He told the court Hillery took one look at Clark and left.

On cross exam, Barham said there had been a sprinkle of rain that morning, but not enough to wash out any tire tracks.

He said when he saw the truck at the scene, he became frightened because he was alone and unarmed. "I could see people behind trees ready to do me bodily harm," he said. "I got the hell out of Dodge."

As darkness fell, he said, the Nevada County Rescue Unit brought in lights so officers could search the area.

However, he said, the scene wasn't secured until after the ASP arrived, and 12 or 15 people had been there.

The day's final witness was Morman, who told of being called by Prescott Police Chief Willie Latin who had found a bag containing bloody paper towels and a blood stained wash cloth. The bag, he said, was found on Highway 24, which is in the vicinity of the crime scene.

The sack was found, he said, around May 28 and given to Duvall, who took it to the crime lab.

Testimony for DNA testing began with Special Agent Michael Bicks with the FBI.

Bicks told of his training at the time and what tests he ran on the samples sent to the FBI crime lab from the Arkansas State Crime Lab in the case.

The test he ran, he said, are called Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), with another test PCR (which is based on a chain reaction) not being performed.

He told how the FBI has its own database for blacks, Hispanics and whites, with some 500 samples from the b