MR. SCHWAB, BE SEATED, PLEASE. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BE SEATED. THANK YOU. LET THE RECORD REFLECT THAT WE HAVE NOW BEEN REJOINED BY ALL THE MEMBERS OF OUR JURY PANEL. GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
GOOD AFTERNOON.
STEVEN SCHWAB, THE WITNESS ON THE STAND AT THE TIME OF THE NOON RECESS, RESUMED THE STAND AND TESTIFIED FURTHER AS FOLLOWS:
MR. STEVEN SCHWAB IS ON THE WITNESS STAND UNDERGOING DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MISS CLARK. GOOD AFTERNOON, MR. SCHWAB. YOU ARE REMINDED THAT YOU ARE STILL UNDER OATH, SIR.
GOOD AFTERNOON. ALL RIGHT. I BELIEVE WHEN YOU LEFT OFF, MR. SCHWAB, YOU WERE INDICATING TO US THAT YOU SAW SUKRU COME TO YOU IN THE COURTYARD WHERE YOU HAD THE DOG, YOU AND YOUR WIFE WERE WITH THE DOG AND THEN BETTINA CAME OUT OF THE APARTMENT.
YES. I HAD TOLD HIM BRIEFLY THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO THAT PARTICULAR POINT IN THE EVENING AND MY DESIRE NOT TO RETURN -- NOT TO BRING THE DOG TO THE ANIMAL SHELTER AND MY CONCERN NOT BRINGING IT INTO MY APARTMENT.
YEAH. YES. HE -- YOU KNOW, HE LIVES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD TOO. SO I TOLD HIM APPROXIMATELY WHERE I HAD FIRST FOUND THE DOG.
YES. WE HAD A BRIEF DISCUSSION IN WHICH I EXPLAINED THAT WHY I DIDN'T WANT THE DOG TO GO TO THE ANIMAL SHELTER WHERE THEY WOULD LOCK IT IN A CAGE OVERNIGHT, AND HE OFFERED TO TAKE THE DOG FOR THE NIGHT.
YES. HE TOOK THE DOG AND WE AGREED THAT I WOULD GET IT BACK FROM HIM IN THE MORNING SO THAT I COULD THEN PUT UP POSTERS FOR, YOU KNOW, SAYING THAT THERE'S A LOST DOG, MAYBE TAKE A PICTURE OF THE DOG AND POST THAT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD SO WE COULD FIND THE OWNER. SO WE AGREED THAT I WOULD GIVE HIM THE DOG OVERNIGHT AND I WOULD GET IT BACK FROM HIM WHEN -- BEFORE HE LEFT FOR WORK IN THE MORNING.
DURING THE TIME THAT YOU WERE WALKING YOUR OWN DOG, DO YOU RECALL SEEING A MAN AND A WOMAN WALKING TOGETHER AT SOME POINT ON YOUR ROUTE?
YES. THAT PARTICULAR NIGHT, I DIDN'T -- I ONLY -- I DIDN'T RUN INTO TOO MANY PEOPLE. I RAN INTO THESE TWO PEOPLE -- IF I COULD SHOW YOU.
YES. UMM, AS I WAS WALKING HERE ALONG GORHAM, I PASSED A COUPLE COMING FROM THE OTHER DIRECTION, A MAN AND A WOMAN. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS, BUT I PASSED THESE TWO PEOPLE, AND THE WOMAN SAW MY DOG WAS VERY CUTE AND BENT DOWN TO PET IT. YOU KNOW, I SPOKE BRIEFLY TO THEM, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE ASKING ME HOW OLD IS YOUR DOG, WHAT'S HER NAME, THAT KIND OF THING. AND SHE PETTED MY DOG AND THEN THEY CONTINUED IN THIS DIRECTION ON GORHAM AND I CONTINUED TO GO IN THE OTHER DIRECTION TOWARDS AMHURST (INDICATING).
THEY WERE YOUNGISH, YOU KNOW. I COULDN'T TELL YOU THE -- YOU KNOW, THEIR EXACT AGES, BUT THEY SEEMED YOUNGER THAN ME. SO, UMM, LIKE IN THEIR 20'S OR SO.
IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR ME TO -- IF I MET THEM TODAY, I DOUBT I WOULD BE ABLE TO SAY THESE ARE THE TWO PEOPLE WHO I SAW THAT NIGHT. I SAW THEM VERY BRIEFLY AND AT NIGHT.
YES. THEY WERE BOTH CAUCASIAN AND I BELIEVE THE MAN WAS DARK-HAIRED AS OPPOSED TO THE WOMAN WHO I THOUGHT WAS BLONDISH.
YEAH. THAT WAS THE STRANGE THING. RIGHT AFTER I HAD WALKED DOWN GORHAM TO AMHURST AND COME AROUND UP DOROTHY AND ENCOUNTERED THE DOG HERE (INDICATING) AND WALKED WITH THE DOG -- AND AS I SAID, I CROSSED BACK TO THE WEST SIDE OF BUNDY HERE. AS I WAS WALKING ALONG HERE WITH THE TWO DOGS, I ENCOUNTERED THAT SAME COUPLE COMING THE OTHER DIRECTION AND THE GIRL -- THE WOMAN SAID TO ME, OH, NOW, YOU HAVE TWO DOGS, AND I SAID YES, BUT ONE IS JUST A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY, AND THEY CONTINUED ON AND I CONTINUED ON AND THAT WAS THE LAST TIME I SAW THEM.
YES. THEY WERE WALKING -- THEY WERE WALKING -- THEY WERE WALKING IN THIS DIRECTION. SO I WAS PASSING THEM AS I WAS COMING THIS WAY AND AS THEY WERE GOING SOUTH, YES (INDICATING).
IT WAS APPROXIMATELY 5:00 A.M. I REMEMBER HEARING THE POUNDING ON THE -- MY DOOR. MY DOG STARTED BARKING. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON, AND I LOOKED AT THE CLOCK AND REMEMBER THINKING, MY GOD, IT'S 5:00 A.M., WHAT -- WHY IS SOMEONE POUNDING ON MY DOOR.
YES. THEY SAID THEY NEEDED TO TALK TO ME IN CONNECTION WITH A HOMICIDE, THE DOG WAS SOMEHOW CONNECTED WITH THE HOMICIDE. I WAS NOT EVEN DRESSED AT THAT POINT. SO I ASKED THEM TO WAIT DOWNSTAIRS BY THAT PATIO AREA THAT I SPOKE ABOUT EARLIER. I WENT IN AND GOT DRESSED AND WOKE MY WIFE AND EXPLAINED TO HER WHAT WAS GOING ON, AND WE -- MY WIFE AND I CAME DOWNSTAIRS AND THEY WERE DOWNSTAIRS WITH BETTINA AND SUKRU AND I SAT DOWN WITH MY WIFE AS WELL AND WE SPOKE TO THEM BRIEFLY.
I WAS VERY CONFUSED. I WAS VERY SCARED TO FIND OUT THAT THE DOG WAS SOMEHOW CONNECTED TO A HOMICIDE. I, YOU KNOW, HAD NO IDEA THE NIGHT BEFORE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE BLOOD WAS A PERSON'S BLOOD. IT WAS VERY DISTURBING TO HEAR THAT.
YES. I BRIEFLY SAID THAT I HAD FOUND THIS LOST DOG THE NIGHT BEFORE WHILE WALKING MY OWN DOG.
WELL, THEY HAD ASKED ME AT WHAT TIME -- APPROXIMATELY WHAT TIME I FOUND THE DOG, AND I WAS VERY CONFUSED AT THAT POINT AND I RATTLED OFF A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT TIMES, BUT I WAS NOT CLEAR AS TO WHAT TIME THE EVENTS HAD TAKEN PLACE. I WASN'T -- I WASN'T CLEAR WHAT DAY IT WAS AT THAT POINT.
WELL, AS I SAID, ROUTINE CHANGES BASED WHETHER IT'S A WEEKDAY OR A WEEK NIGHT. AND THIS HAPPENED TO BE MONDAY MORNING. I KNEW I HAD, YOU KNOW, I HAD TO WORK THE NEXT DAY, BUT I WASN'T CLEAR, SO CLEAR AS TO WHETHER IT WAS A WEEKDAY ON WEEK NIGHT THE NIGHT BEFORE. SO I WAS HAVING TROUBLE REMEMBERING WHAT TIME I HAD STARTED MY WALK ON THAT PARTICULAR EVENING. AGAIN, I WAS NOT CLEAR AT THAT POINT AS TO WHAT DAY OF THE WEEK IT EVEN WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE.
OKAY. SO THEY HAD WOKEN YOU UP FROM SLEEPING AT THE TIME THEY KNOCKED AT YOUR DOOR AT 5:00 A.M.?
I WAS CONFUSED AND SCARED. I -- YOU KNOW, IT WAS VERY SHOCKING TO HEAR -- TO HEAR ABOUT THIS, TO HEAR THAT SOMEONE HAD DIED, THAT THE PEOPLE WHO OWNED THE DOG WERE NOT HERE, WERE NOT, YOU KNOW, AROUND.
AND SO WHAT TIME WAS IT THAT YOU TOLD THE POLICE AT THAT TIME WHEN YOU WERE CONFUSED AND DISORIENTED -- WHAT TIME DID YOU TELL THE POLICE THAT YOU HAD GONE -- YOU HAD FOUND THE DOG?
FIRST -- THE FIRST TIME THAT I MENTIONED WAS 11:30 AND THEN I SAID NO, IT WAS -- IT MUST HAVE BEEN AROUND 11:00. I WAS TRYING TO GET A FIX ON IT VAGUELY. AND AS I SAID, BETTINA AND SUKRU AND MY WIFE WERE THERE AND THERE WAS A LOT OF CROSSING AND CROSS TALKING GOING ON, YOU KNOW, NO, I SAW THEN, THAT KIND OF STUFF. SO I WASN'T CLEAR. BUT THOSE WERE THE TIMES I MENTIONED INITIALLY.
KEY QUOTEAND DID IT BECOME CLEAR TO YOU UPON COMMON REFLECTION WHEN YOU WERE ABLE TO GATHER YOUR WITS WHAT TIME IT WAS WHEN YOU SAW THE DOG?
YES. I MEAN, AFTER I WENT -- AFTER THIS BRIEF INTERVIEW, I WENT BACK TO BED AND THE NEXT MORNING AND DAY, I THEN REMEMBERED MORE CLEARLY WHAT THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS WAS. AND I WAS, YOU KNOW -- AND I WAS DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF NOT BEING CLEARER WITH THE POLICE THAT NIGHT.
YES. AT THAT POINT, WHEN I REALIZED THAT MY STATEMENT WAS INACCURATE, I CALLED THE POLICE -- I CALLED THE POLICE ON THE PHONE. I TRIED -- I WAS TRYING 911 AND THE LOCAL POLICE NUMBER IN BRENTWOOD. I DON'T REMEMBER WHICH NUMBER I GOT THROUGH ON, BUT EVENTUALLY I GOT THROUGH TO SOMEONE AND EXPLAINED THAT I WAS A WITNESS TO THE MURDER THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE THE NIGHT BEFORE AND THAT THE POLICE HAD COME BY, BUT I HAD GIVEN THEM A VERY INACCURATE STATEMENT.
AND TO THE ACCURATE TIME THAT YOU RECALLED WHEN YOU REFLECTED UPON IT FURTHER LATER IN THE DAY?
FIRST -- THE FIRST TIME THAT I MENTIONED WAS 11:30 AND THEN I SAID NO, IT WAS -- IT MUST HAVE BEEN AROUND 11:00. I WAS TRYING TO GET A FIX ON IT VAGUELY.
I WAS VERY CONFUSED AND SCARED TO FIND OUT THAT THE DOG WAS SOMEHOW CONNECTED TO A HOMICIDE. I, YOU KNOW, HAD NO IDEA THE NIGHT BEFORE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE BLOOD WAS A PERSON'S BLOOD. IT WAS VERY DISTURBING TO HEAR THAT.
I WAS DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF NOT BEING CLEARER WITH THE POLICE THAT NIGHT.
THE WOMAN SAID TO ME, OH, NOW, YOU HAVE TWO DOGS, AND I SAID YES, BUT ONE IS JUST A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY.