Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Testimony Continues In Trial Of Joe Dansby; Juror Dropped (cont)

Once the aerial search was concluded, Neel said, he dropped Morman off and returned to Hope.

He later got a call from ASP headquarters, sometime after 5 p.m., saying Duvall wanted him to bring a camera and plenty of film to the second scene, which had recently been found.

Neel testified as to photographing the second scene during the dusk and night hours, while taking pictures of the first scene the next day, Monday, May 18.

His duties, Neel said, were to witness the collection of evidence and take pictures. The items collected were tagged and numbered later at the NCSO.

He testified to being on hand May 18, at Faulkner's Body Shop when Lewis' pickup was examined by McWhirter and ASP trooper Jerry Reed.

The truck, he said, was dusted for fingerprints, with blood samples taken. No fingerprints were found, though.

Neel said he used a string to follow the path of a bullet which had gone through the driver's side mirror and into the seat. This bullet was recovered in the shoulder strap of the seat belt once the seat was pulled forward.

He told the court the dust inside the truck, as well as on the outside, hindered the fingerprinting process. In addition, he said, the rain had mottled the dust and made lifting prints impossible.

Neel returned to the stand Friday morning, April 18, to be cross examined by Pratt.

Pratt asked about the fingerprinting process and if any two prints were alike, and was told no.

Neel talked about how fingerprints were actually lifted by using a special powder and brush, and being removed by tape once they appear. Fingerprints, he said, are nothing more than moisture.

The officers wore plastic gloves while processing the truck, Neel said, so they wouldn't contaminate any evidence there. The entire sequence of processing, he said, took about an hour.

Pratt, while showing photos taken at the time, asked Neel if there was any dust in the truck as shown in the pictures. Neel asked what dust would look like in a photo. Pratt told him it would look yellow.

The photo in question showed a bottle of wine found under the seat of the truck. Neel said he couldn't tell by the picture if the bottle were dusty or not.

This bottle was not on the evidence list, nor was it sent to the crime lab for testing. To the best of Neel's recollection, it was not fingerprinted either.

The photo also showed a coffee mug, which was not dusted for prints and not listed as evidence or sent in for testing.

A purse found in the truck, along with a flashlight, were tagged as evidence, but Neel couldn't say if they were ever dusted for prints.

In addition, he said a blue and white plastic ice chest was found, broken, but couldn't tell if it was dusted for prints. The ice chest was also not sent to the lab for testing.

A tri-fold billfold, found on the floorboard of the truck, was sent in for testing, while Lewis' checkbook wasn't, Neel said.

The broken gun rack found by Meadows was not printed, Neel said, and also wasn't sent in for testing.

On redirect, Neel said it was difficult to lift prints from textured surfaces, such as the dash of the pickup. The steering wheel, he said, had a cloth covering, which also couldn't be printed.

Finding a fingerprint, he said, would have been significant in the case as the officers were trying to find who killed Lewis and Clark.

Dr. Young's nurse, Janice Nolen, was recalled to the stand next. She told Haltom the office is normally closed on Saturdays and she isn't there. She said she went back and looked at Dansby's file, but didn't know he was coming in on Oct. 19, 1993.

Her testimony was centered around blood drawn from Dansby on this day for DNA testing. Three vials were drawn, with two marked Oct. 19, 1993. A third vial was marked Oct. 9, 1993.

On direct testimony from Kermit Channell, with the crime lab, the blood was used to test against semen samples on the swabs from Clark's body.

However, the only blood used for testing came from the vial marked Oct. 9, 1993, the other two vials were never used in testing.

Jackie Cooper, dressed in prisoner's orange, was called by the state.

Cooper is an inmate at the Bowie County Correctional Institution, serving a 20 year sentence for sexual abuse and terroristic threatening. These crimes were committed Dec. 1, 1995.

Cooper was arrested Dec. 4, 1995, and spent time in the Nevada County Jail.

He informed the court he had been in the state penitentiary a total of seven times to date, with his criminal history beginning in 1977.

While in the Nevada County Jail, he said, he had a large cell near Dansby's smaller one. Cooper testified he had read about the murders before being arrested and put in jail in 1995, and had talked with his family about them.

Cooper told the court Dansby admitted committing the murders to him, but told him the killing wasn't done where the bodies were found.

According to Cooper, Dansby killed Lewis at the first scene, but wasn't sure if Clark was dead. He told the court Dansby took Clark's clothes because they may have had his hair on them.

Cooper also said Dansby admitted raping Clark and trying to clean her off.

Bramblett had some fun on cross. While at Cummins, Cooper said, he told NCSO criminal investigator Jim Westmoreland what he knew of the case over the phone. He said the two have never met.

Once Cooper talked with Westmoreland, he was transferred to BCCI, where a state investigator (McWhirter) came down to talk.

Changing directions, Bramblett asked Cooper where he'd rather be serving time. Cooper said he'd rather serve time at Cummins, but BCCI was close to his family and home.

He admitted not knowing Dansby well, never having socialized with him, being friends or having any common interests. "We ain't friends," he said. "I'd call it acquaintances."

Bramblett came out of left field asking if Cooper had seen Herbert Williams Friday morning. Cooper said yes, as the two were in BCCI together, and had also served time in the ADC and Nevada County Jail.

Cooper said Williams had told him things about the murders, which were related to McWhirter by Cooper.

According to his statement, Cooper told McWhirter it was his opinion Williams knew too much about the murders. However, he told the court he couldn't remember everything he told the ASP investigator. "I don't believe I told him Williams had something to do with the murders," he said.

Cooper also told the court he didn't know Williams until they were in jail together in Nevada County, and could not say where Williams was on May 16, 1992.

Williams, Cooper said, was his cellmate in the Nevada County Jail and is also at BCCI with him now.

On Aug. 29, 1996, at about 12:30 p.m., Cooper said he spoke with a state investigator, and said, "I think Herbert was with Joe during the killing because of the way they talk."