Opinion ID: 1692959
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: location of crime scene

Text: While Soukharith was in custody in Wyoming, he asked to speak to a lawyer. Nonetheless, no lawyer was present on the afternoon of May 24, 1995, when Albany County Sheriff Gary Puls went to the detention facility where Soukharith was being held and interrogated him. During the interrogation, Soukharith told Puls where Karen's body was located. Karen's body was discovered at the crime scene that same day. At trial, several witnesses testified as to the location of the body and as to the location of certain witnesses in relation to the crime scene, using an aerial photograph. We note that none of the locations described in the testimony were marked by any witness on the aerial photograph. The lack of markings made it especially difficult for this court to determine from the record where the body and the witnesses were located, because the witnesses used varying terminology to describe the scene. Some witnesses spoke as though the Interstate runs east and west at the crime scene, and some spoke as though it runs north and south. Directions concerning the Platte River were likewise inconsistent. This confusion could have been avoided if the State had simply had its witnesses identify locations by making a mark on the aerial photograph. Nonetheless, despite the added difficulty, the record indicates that Karen's body was found some 400 feet south of I-80, just east of the Platte River bridge in the area of mile markers 427 and 428. The body appeared to have been shot where it lay. A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent testified that a shell casing found about 10 feet from Karen's body was fired from the handgun Chatfield retrieved from Karen's vehicle in Wyoming after Soukharith was arrested. Testimony was also given concerning various shoe impressions left at the crime scene. The physical size, pattern, and shape of the shoe impressions were consistent with shoes worn by Soukharith. No evidence was adduced as to whether or not these particular shoes left the impressions because they lacked sufficient random characteristics. Marvin Winter, a truck driver from Lake City, Iowa, placed Karen's vehicle near the crime scene on May 23, 1995. He testified that he saw a white Mitsubishi 3000 GT that morning while traveling westbound on I-80. He noticed the car because it was a fancy sports car and had Polk County, Iowa, license plates. He also noticed that the car had two occupants. A white female was driving, and a dark-complected man was the passenger. When the car reached the middle of the big Platte River bridge in Sarpy County, it slowed down to about 20 miles per hour. Winter had to change lanes rapidly to avoid hitting the car. Winter saw the same car again about 2:30 that afternoon near Kearney. At that time, only the male was in the car.