Connie then resumed his seat. Seth waited a moment to allow the jury to soak it in before directing his attention to Senator Duckworth. Bob stood slowly and faced the jury.
“Good morning. All of you know that I am not an attorney. I have taken this position with the approval of the president and acting senate. Therefore, I will do my best to represent Zachariah Gunderson, the defendant in this case. During the past few days, I have attempted to learn the finer aspects of criminal law, and some of you may not know it, but the acting prosecutor, Senator Nelson, has been my teacher.”
There was some light laughter in the audience. Bob smiled.
“I know, it seems unusual, but this appears to be the way of the world now. One important thing I have learned during my brief education of the law, it is not my burden to prove Zach’s innocence. Let me repeat, in America, it is never the citizen’s burden to prove their innocence. It is the sole burden of the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I submit to you, Judge Kitchens, to you, the members of the jury, and to you in the audience, citizens of the United States of America, there is not one scintilla of proof that Zach Gunderson committed these heinous murders of which he is being accused of. I ask you all to keep this in mind when you hear the testimony. Thank you.”
Judge Kitchens waited for Bob to sit before speaking.
“Call your first witness, Mister Prosecutor.”
Connie stood. “We call Liam O’Malley to the stand.”
Priss went to a side door and opened it. “Liam O’Malley, step forth to give testimony.”
Liam walked in casually, stood in front of the witness chair, and waited to be sworn in. This was not the first time he had testified in a court of law. Once sworn, he sat and made himself comfortable.
“Please state your name for the record,” Connie directed.
“Liam O’Malley.”
“Please tell us a little bit about yourself, your occupation before, and your current occupation.”
Liam gave a slight nod. “My little brother and I are originally from Pittsburgh. We were cops there and lived there when everything went bad. We came to Mount Weather back last October. After the late president and her entourage went missing, Logan and I were officially appointed police officers of the United States. Our first assignment was to investigate the whereabouts of the president and her entourage.”
“Please tell the court the details of this investigation,” Connie said.
Liam spent the next thirty minutes testifying about the actions he and Logan performed, starting with being debriefed by the politicians, interviewing First Sergeant Crumby and their search and discovery of the bodies. Connie scrutinized how Fred was the person who led them to the bodies.
“Didn’t you find that a little odd, Detective?” he asked.
“How’s that?” Liam asked.
“Well, did it not seem like quite a coincidence that Fred McCoy was the person who happened to find the bodies? A man who, by his own admission, is a close friend of the accused?”
“It did seem curious at first, but after a few inquiries, we learned he did not just happen on the bodies. He was asked to search for the ladies.”
Connie looked puzzled. “I was not aware of this. Who asked him?”
“Lois and Norman Marnix.”
“Why?”
“Everybody around here knows Fred is an expert tracker, so when the QRF couldn’t find them, they personally asked Fred to lend his expertise. We also created a timeline for the president’s travel and found that Fred has an ironclad alibi during that time period.”
Connie had tried to hide his look of consternation. He nodded and paused a minute to make a note. He then continued questioning Liam for another thirty minutes about their investigation before he was finished.
Seth called for a ten-minute recess before Bob began his cross-examination. When court was called back to order, Bob stood.
“I only have a couple of questions at this time, your honor. Detective, did you examine the van?”
“Yes, we did.”
“And you advised you performed autopsies on each corpse, correct?”
“Yes, we did,” Liam answered.
“And, although you are not a trained medical examiner, you have extensive experience in this type of work, correct?”
“In a manner of speaking. Like I said earlier, I did not go to medical school, but I’ve witnessed many autopsies during my career and have studied the forensics aspect as part of my occupation. I have an idea what to look for.”
“Regarding the deaths of the victims, did you determine a cause of death for each one of them?”
“Yes, sir we did. If I may add, we conferred with Doctor Salisbury regarding our findings.”
“Did she agree with your findings?”
“Yes, sir.”
Bob nodded in seeming concern. “I have no further questions for this witness at this time, but I believe I have the right to recall him at a later time in the trial, if necessary; would that be correct, your honor?” Bob asked.
“It would,” Seth answered. “Detective, you may step down, but you may be recalled to give further testimony at a later time. You do not have to stay in the courtroom, but please be available for a bailiff to find you.”
Liam nodded and stepped down from the witness stand. Instead of leaving, he found an open seat in the gallery.
“Call the next witness, please,” Seth directed.
Connie stood and glanced at the president, who was sitting on the front row. Seth thought he detected an expression of uncertainty on Connie’s face and a subtle nod from the president.
“We call Tory Freitag to the stand,” he said.
Seth frowned before he caught himself. He vaguely knew Trey. He and his brother were two of the no-accounts that had come up from Kentucky with Zach’s half-sister. He had heard nothing nice about any of them, and in fact, this was the first time he heard their last name. Seth watched as Tory was sworn in by Priss. The man was rough looking. He’d probably bathed recently, but he hadn’t shaved or trimmed his hair in a while and his fingernails appeared to have a year’s worth of grime under them. Connie began by asking his name.
“Tory Freitag,” he responded.
“You know Zachariah Gunderson by sight, do you not?” Connie asked.
“Yes, I do,” he answered.
“Have you seen him recently?”
“Yep. My brother and I saw him back, um,” he stumbled a little. “Well, sometimes I get my days mixed up because I don’t much pay attention to them anymore, but it wasn’t too long ago. A few days after the election.”
“Where did the two of you see him?” Connie asked.
“Up on the interstate. I-70.”
“Please tell the court what you observed, if anything,” Connie directed.
“Well, we were doing a little scavenging here and there. The cold weather is really the best time to scavenge, cuz those stinking bastards ain’t as active. Anyway, we were looking around when we heard cars nearby. Me and my brother hunkered down because we didn’t know if it was marauders or what not. So anyway, we was hunkered down when we seen this white van driving down the road. It had a trailer on it, so they was driving kind of slow. When they got closer, we could see a woman driving it and there were two other women in it. We didn’t know who it was at that time, just three women in a van.”
“What happened next?” Connie asked.
“Well, we were watching when we saw a man jump out from behind some cars. He had a gun in each hand and he just started shooting.”
“Shooting at the van?” Connie asked.
“Yesiree,” Tory said. “He shot the ever-loving hell out of it. Them women never stood a chance?”
“What happened next?” Connie asked.
“Well, the driver I guess was killed instantly because the van kinda slowed down and hit an old car before it stopped. Then the man ran up on the van. He yanked open the passenger door and then shot each woman in th
e head. After a minute or so, he got out of the van and waved. That’s when we saw a woman come out. She must have been hiding nearby. She came out and stood guard while the man unhooked the trailer. She then went and got a pickup truck and brought it back. That man then hitched up the trailer to the truck. He got in the van and drove off. The woman followed him in the truck. A few minutes later, we saw a bunch of smoke.”
“What did you two do then?”
“We hightailed it out of there,” Tory exclaimed. “We were scared we’d be next if they saw us.”
“Alright, the big question, Mister Freitag. Did you recognize the man and woman?”
“Oh yeah. It was Zach Gunderson and his woman, Kelly. No doubt about it.”
There was a collective gasp in the audience. Connie faced Seth.
“No further questions, your honor.”
“Cross examination, Mister Duckworth?” Seth asked. Bob stood and fixed Tory with a hard stare.
“Let me make sure I understood your testimony, Mister Freitag. You are asserting that you and your brother Trey observed Zachariah Gunderson murder President-elect Rochelle VanAllen and her staff?”
“Well, I don’t know the names of them other three women, but yeah, that’s what we seen.”
“And your testimony is you personally observed Mister Gunderson shoot each woman with a handgun?”
“Two handguns,” Tory said. “They were nine-millimeters. They looked like Glocks, and they were definitely nines.”
“How far away were you when this allegedly happened?” Bob asked.
“Oh, about thirty or forty feet. Close enough to see everything,” Tory replied.
“Is there any possibility you may be mistaken?” Bob asked.
“Nope, none at all.” He turned to the jury. “I know what I saw and I ain’t lying.”
“Did Mister Gunderson use any other weapons, like an assault rifle?” Bob asked.
Tory smirked. “Nope. All he had was them two nine-millimeter automatics.”
Bob paused only a moment. He hoped he wasn’t the only one who suspected Tory’s testimony had been coached. “Do you know what I think, Mister Freitag? I think you are a liar.”
Connie jumped to his feet. “Objection!”
“Sustained,” Seth said. “Senator, please refrain from doing that.”
Bob gave a curt nod. “I apologize to the court, but I stand by my statement. I have no further questions for this so-called witness.”
Connie declined re-direct and waited until Tory had stepped down from the witness’ chair before speaking. “That is the state’s case-in-chief, your honor.”
“Very good, sir,” Seth said and glanced at the clock on the wall.
“This is a good stopping point. We will recess for lunch and reconvene in one hour.”
He banged his gavel. The jury was escorted out first before the rest filed out of the courtroom. Precisely an hour later, Seth was back on the bench and called court to order.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution has concluded their case. The defense will now present their case,” Seth declared. “Senator Duckworth, you may call your first witness.”
“Yes, your honor, I would like to recall Detective Liam O’Malley to the stand.”
Liam stood, stretched, and walked directly to the witness chair. Seth reminded him that he was still under oath, to which Liam acknowledged. Bob started as soon as Liam was seated.
“Detective O’Malley, were you or your brother ever made aware of these two alleged eyewitnesses?”
“No, sir, we were not.”
“So, you never interviewed either one of them or checked out their story?”
“No, sir,” Liam said.
“I assume you listened attentively to his testimony?” Bob asked.
“Yes, sir, I certainly did,” Liam answered. “Let me go ahead and answer the question you are about to ask. He’s lying, and the reason I’m calling him a liar is the physical evidence contradicts his allegations in several ways.”
“Oh? Please explain,” Bob said.
“There are a couple of facts we omitted during our briefings. One of those facts is, there were no bullet holes in the van. The shooter or shooters did not spray the van with bullets, like this Mister Freitag described. No sir, they were well placed shots. Also, President-elect Rochelle VanAllen was not shot to death.”
Liam was not surprised when there was another collective gasp in the audience, followed by a lot of murmuring. He locked eyes with Tory, who was trying to give him an eat shit and die stare. Liam was nonplussed.
“Is that so, Detective?” Bob asked.
“Yep.”
“Alright, I’ll bite, how did she die, Detective?” Bob asked.
“Her throat had been cut. There were no gunshot wounds, and she was definitely dead before the van was set on fire. Also, Zelida Lillard had been stabbed to death.”
The courtroom came alive. Seth waited several seconds before banging his gavel and silencing the court spectators.
“No further questions at this time,” Bob said.
“Cross-examination?” Seth asked Connie.
Connie stood and fixed Liam with an incredulous stare.
“So, you admit to withholding pertinent evidence of the murder of the president, correct, Detective?”
“My brother and I withheld such evidence from people that would not hesitate to compromise the integrity of the investigation, yes. Yes, we did.”
There were a few chuckles in the audience. Connie frowned.
“You are admitting to committing an illegal act.”
“No, sir, I am not. My brother and I found it prudent to withhold certain aspects of our investigation in order to prevent certain people from using it to frame a presumably innocent man. Due process was thrown out the window the moment this farce of a trial commenced. I used to respect you, Senator, but it is obvious you are one of those who believe the Constitution only applies when it benefits you. This trial has denied Zach Gunderson of any due process. You should be ashamed to be a part of it.”
There were some strong murmurs of agreement in the audience now. Connie noticed, but he acted as if he did not.
“So, you have acknowledged you withheld evidence, and you have made a couple of claims that contradicts the sworn testimony of an eyewitness. There are actually two eyewitnesses, and yet you smugly claim they are lying. Is your character so much stronger than the witness that the jury should believe you over him or his brother?”
“Well, sir, I don’t know the Freitag brothers personally. I’ve heard about their characters, as I’m sure you have, but I don’t know them. What I do know is I have physical evidence to support everything I have testified to, including pictures. My brilliant but often misunderstood brother took numerous photographs of the van and of each corpse during the stages of the autopsy. They show the lack of bullet holes in the van. They also show the injuries of each victim, including the lack of gunshot injuries to one particular corpse. This, I believe, would lend credence to my testimony and impeach the testimony of this so-called eyewitness.”
Bob stood quickly. “Your honor, I move that the pictures in question be presented as evidence to the court.”
Although it was a procedural error on Bob’s behalf, Seth allowed Liam to introduce the pictures. Another hour was spent while Liam went over each photograph. With each photograph and Liam’s explanation, Connie’s gusto kept diminishing.
“I now would like to call Grace Anderson to the stand,” Bob announced.
After the swearing in and Grace was seated, Bob dove right in.
“Grace, do you know the whereabouts of Zach Gunderson and his family?”
“Yes, I do,” she answered.
A lot of eyes widened in surprise, including the president, the vice president, and the acting prosecutor.
“Where is he?” Bob asked.
“He is currently in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As everyone knows, he and his family left Mount Weather the d
ay after the election. They arrived at Oak Ridge approximately nine hours later. If necessary, I can verify it through the encrypted radio transmission, which has the coordinates embedded in each radio transmission. There is no possible way Zach Gunderson was at the scene of the murders. Therefore, there is no possible way Zach committed the murders.”
Zombie Rules | Book 8 | Who The Hell Is That? Page 28