Opinion ID: 1182224
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Defendant's Actions and Statements

Text: Defendant's actions and statements after the victim's disappearance comprised another significant element of the state's case against him. McDonald, Gary Cisco, and Thomas Parisien all testified that defendant claimed to have stabbed a man in a drug transaction on the afternoon of September 17. McDonald and Parisien also testified that they had seen blood on defendant's hands, clothes, and knife, and that defendant had discussed with them whether he should dispose of his clothes. Defendant also told them that, after killing the man, he took the body to the desert near the mountains. He told McDonald and Parisien that, while in the desert, he was stuck by cactus. Both men observed cactus needles in defendant's arms and legs. McDonald also observed defendant sandpapering the blade of his knife. In addition, while defendant and McDonald were en route to Kerrville, McDonald overheard defendant say to his mother on the phone: Even if I did do it, you have to help me. Regarding this statement, McDonald testified that defendant later told him that they were trying to stick something on him about a little girl. Apparently, defendant's conversation with his mother occurred after FBI agents had contacted his parents about defendant's implication in Mary's disappearance. Defendant later repudiated the story of the stabbing, claiming that he had fabricated it in an attempt to make himself look tough to his companions. The state argued at trial that defendant's story bore too many similarities to the events surrounding Mary's disappearance and the discovery of her remains in the desert of northwest Tucson to be entirely fictitious.