Proceedings of Pelley’s Case
The volumes talk about a court proceeding for the case State of Indiana v Robert Jeffrey Pelley which took place on 12th July 2006. The proceedings took place in the Superior Court of St. Joseph, Indiana. The first witness to take the stand is Dr. Hoover who worked as the state’s pathologist. He is a forensic expert in the field of pathology and after he had expounded on his duties as a pathologist, the Court embarked on getting him to prove existential of certain exhibits which were recovered from the bodies of the deceased. He later identified them correctly and also provided the possible case scenario for which the victims have been murdered.
He expounded on the scenario using the expertise in the field for which he practiced. For instance, he identified exhibit 93 which is a diagram of an autopsy conducted by the deceased victims and also their respective genders. Furthermore, he identified the points of bullet entries as well as exits from the skull of the deceased victims. Interestingly, the Pathologists are able to figure out the exact times for which the victims faced death and also the sequence for which they were shot dead. Again, he was asked to identify the position of the killer for which he identified correctly.
The second witness is Steve Diller who sells firearms out of a gun store. He is able to remember selling a pump 20 gauge shotgun: Mossberg Model 500, to Bob Pelley and later identifies exhibits correctly which, among others, include a copy of the purchase slip. Moreover, this witness provides a deeper analysis into the amount as well as the type of barrel the shotgun could hold and goes ahead to mention that Pelley was a rabbit hunter.
The next witness to be grilled is Brenda Fagan who happens to be Jeff Pelley’s boss at Mcdonald’s Restaurant. The two also went to church together at Olive Branch United Brethren Church, where Bob Pelley served as a minister. She is able to figure out the events of the day and discloses crucial information pertaining to the prom as well as an unusual feeling she felt while being at the Church. She provides useful information regarding the reporting and exit times of Jeff Pelley at the Restaurant. Fagan is asked to identify a piece of a report written by police in the course of investing the matter for which she does and in addition to this, she tells the court about threats directed towards Bob Pelley by Herzberg’s brothers due to stolen articles. This matter is, however; dropped since it could not be substantiated further.
Another crucial witness for the case is Christina Holderman who was friends with Pelley’s family. She is able to identify the events of the day as asked in the Court. For instance, she recollects Jeff cleaning his Mustang all day long; she also found out that there were wine coolers inside the trunk of the car. There were both sixteen years of age at the time. After this interview is conducted, Joyce Schafer takes the stand as a witness. She was also a member to the Church and had a son who had issues. She goes further to expound on the events of the day for which she provides information pertaining to the prom as well as the missing of Jeff’s car.
She is also able to remember conducting a meeting with Pelley before the 29th of August. They had a meeting at their living room at an unusual time for which Pelley discussed issues pertaining to the conflict he had with his son. Joyce is also able to recognize that there was a relationship with the family which had advanced to the level, whereby Jeff Pelley referred to them as “dad and Maam”. On a material day, she postulates that Jeff Pelley had gotten out of a police car and whispered to them that he had nothing to do with the murders.
Continuation of The Witnesses’ Side of The Pelley’s Case
These court proceedings were recorded on the 14th of July 2006. The proceedings are a continuation of the witnesses’ side of the case. John Botich takes stand as a witness: an assistant police chief who worked with Joe County Police Department. He is able to identify pieces of exhibits collected in the scene which include blooded shirt as well as a pair of pants that were recovered from the grey Mustang owned by Jeff Pelley. John Kuhny takes the stand as the subsequent witness. He works as a sergeant at Joe County Police Department. He is made to recognize certain exhibits which include shotgun shell collected at the scene and conducts a luminal test in the washing machine to establish whether or not there was blood stains present inside.
This witness is able to figure out that his detective skills lead him to the “Tux Shop” where he gathered information pertaining Jeff Pelley’s renting a tuxedo from the shop to wear to the prom. Furthermore, he remembers finding brain matter as well as blood of the four murdered victims spattered all over the room.
Ronald Nowicki later takes the witness stand. In the course of the case, he worked as a Crime Scene Technician. At this position, he was able to identify exhibits which were stored for the murder case of Pelley. He also oversaw the sending of these exhibits to the lab for further testing and analysis.
In Douglas Murphy’s time for witnessing the events of the case, he stated that he was a firearms and tools marks examiner with the FBI in Virginia. He continued to give his testimony about the form of work he was required to perform. He was supposed to identify the fragments as well as the fired shotshells from the scene of murder upon which he identified affirmatively. However, his affirming did not arise out of the fact that he could determine the connection between the two firearms presented to him. Harold Saunders undergoes the interviewing process and he is able to identify the homes of the Pelley’s as fairly represented by exhibits 116 and 117. He also affirms to the allegations of the case that Jeff’s car had not been in the garage despite the fact that he had been grounded by his father. His wife, Sheila Saunders, is next in line and affirms to all of the proceedings which were made by her husband.
On July 18th, 2006, the proceedings commenced with Brent Hemmerlein taking the stand. He worked as the Family Violence and Special Victims Unit for Saint Joe County. He was able to identify the waiver of the juvenile right and was later labeled as exhibit 125. He also indicated that he conducted an interview with Jeff Pelley that night for which he said (police) had thought he had killed his parents together with his step-sisters.
Jack Armstrong is also interviewed as a witness about the matter upon which he gives his own account of Jeff Pelley’s attitude before and after the passing on of his mother. Jack takes the court through the places where Jeff had possibly resided after the “summer of 89” and the manner in which he had to graduate from high school and got a job in Florida. Lois Blachly takes the stand as a witness after Jack Armstrong. She takes the court through the events of the day of the murders and also that she provided receipts to policemen in order to get the exact time for which the murders took place. She also recalls that there was something unusual about the greetings he received back from Bob who was having a conversation with a strange man with a pick-up. The subsequent witness, Jeff Pelley’s sister, Jacqueline Kay Delp, takes the Court through the events as par her unfolding for which she affirms that Bob and Jeff Pelley had an argument upon which Bob pushed Jeff down but never struck him in any manner. She also affirms the fact that they had obeyed their father without any form of questioning for most of the time.