Forensic evidence takes center stage in trial

Jeffrey Allen Nixon looked downward Wednesday in Flathead District Court as prosecutors displayed gruesome photographs showing the battered corpse of the man he’s accused of bludgeoning to death with a hammer.

The third day of Nixon’s trial for the deliberate homicide of 49-year-old Wesley “Bubba” Collins was highlighted by the presentation of forensic evidence, from DNA and fingerprint analysis to autopsy results.

Jurors were shown enlarged photographs of Collins’ bloody and fractured skull, the results of what the Flathead County Attorney’s Office argues was a tandem assault on Collins by 20-year-old Nixon and 22-year-old Robert Lake, who has already been convicted for his role in the homicide.

Lake and Nixon are accused of planning and executing the April 12, 2010, murder of Collins. Prosecutors say they went to his apartment — located above Lake’s at a Two Mile Drive complex — beat him, strangled him and injected him with a syringe containing lidocaine. They say they planned to steal his medical marijuana and other possessions, many of which were found in the apartment where Lake lived with his girlfriend, Karrolyn Robinson.

Nixon’s defense attorneys say Nixon was the “fall guy” of a murder planned by Lake and Robinson.

Dr. Walter Kemp, who conducted the autopsy, testified that the cause of death was “homicidal violence including blunt force trauma to the head.”

He described images taken during the autopsy as the jury viewed the photographs on a large flat-screen television. Numerous lacerations could be seen on Collins’ head while two red marks on his neck were identified as the possible result of strangulation.

Another photo showed the right side of his head, badly bruised with tears to the skin covering his ear and its cartilage.

Later, he noted that a photograph showing fractures to Collins scalp are consistent with the alleged murder weapons, which were shown to him during his testimony.

“[It’s] consistent with what you could imagine from the round end of a hammer,” Kemp said.

He added that the blow that caused one of the fractures was hard enough to send bone into Collins’ brain. Kemp said he ultimately could not decide if strangulation contributed to Collins’ death.

The jury also got their first look at the hammers allegedly used to kill Collins as forensic scientists from the Montana State Crime Laboratory detailed their findings following DNA analysis of numerous items.

Nixon’s DNA profile was identified on the interior cuff of a glove, which also had Collins’ blood on it. Lake’s blood was found on the handle of one of the hammers.

Nixon attorney Noel Larrivee was dismissive of the findings, at least as they related to his client.

“What we know from the handle is that Robert Lake’s DNA was deposited on the handle,” he said.

Larrivee, using the notorious O.J. Simpson murder trial as an example, implied that cross-contamination could have easily caused the results of the analysis to be skewed.

“The amount that you’re trying to measure is so minuscule that it’s hard to tell,” he said.

Deborah Hewitt, a forensic scientist supervisor at the state crime laboratory, provided evidence on fingerprint analysis. The hammers returned no clues, she said.

Nixon’s prints did turn up elsewhere, she said. They were on an empty bottle of hydrogen peroxide found in Collins apartment, she said.

“There was an identifiable print on there,” she said. “It was identified to the right palm print of Jeffrey Nixon.”

His prints also turned up on a canister of carpet cleaner, she said.

Forensic toxicologist Scott Scheuber from the state crime laboratory, said he found six substances when testing Collins’ blood samples. Among them were caffeine, hydrocodone, ibuprofen, apresoline and trace amounts of lidocaine, he said.

In an apparent attempt to cast doubt on the prosecution’s claim that Collins was injected with lidocaine by Nixon or Lake, Larrivee asked if the drug could be abused.

“Sometimes people will add it to something else they’re doing to get a particular effect,” Scheuber said.

A second forensic toxicologist, Sara Braseth, testified that THC — the active ingredient in marijuana — was also found in Collins’ blood.

She said he had 15 times more THC in his system then the average amount found by a typical marijuana user. It registered at 108 nanograms per milliliter compared to the average of about seven per milliliter.

It was the highest amount she has ever confirmed in a sample, she said. In Montana, a person with five nanograms per milliliter can be charged with driving under the influence, according to state law.

“This one just stood out to me because usually I’d expect a lot lower levels,” she said.

The prosecution called several Kalispell Police Department officers to the stand late Wednesday. Among them were Officer Michael Brooks, who conducted a welfare check at Collins’ residence on April 17, 2010, before his body had been found.

Brooks said he found electronics and other items in the home of Lake and Robinson, as well as a set of keys he determined belonged to Collins.

He used the keys to access Collins apartment.

Larrivee implied that Brooks and other officers could have cross-contaminated the scenes by traveling back and forth between the two apartments.

He also noted that the sill of the window Collins’ body was thrown from following his death was not dusted for prints nor was a table in Collins’ living room.

The trial continues today at 9 a.m. and the defense is expected to begin its case.

Nixon faces up to life in prison if convicted on all charges.

Reporter Eric Schwartz may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at eschwartz@dailyinterlake.com