Opinion ID: 2036519
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Vehicle Sightings

Text: Cathy Simmons, who was 16 years old at the time of Amy's murder, lived in Kell and knew the Schulz family. She testified that on the evening of July 1, 1987, she and her sister Cheri took a walk and saw Amy. Amy asked if they had seen her brother; Simmons told her no. Simmons and her sister finished their walk, arriving back home at 8:45 p.m. or 8:50 p.m. Simmons stayed on the front porch for a half hour. At about 9:10 p.m., Simmons again saw Amy, who was headed south on Jefferson Street. About 5 or 10 minutes later, Simmons saw a tan, older model vehicle, which she had seen twice earlier that evening, also headed south on Jefferson Street. Simmons saw the taillight configuration on the tan-colored car for about 30 seconds, and worked with a police artist to produce a sketch. The taillights in the sketch were similar to the taillights on her parents' vehicle, but were not a match with the taillights on defendant's vehicle. Simmons was not sure whether the drawing accurately reflected what she saw that night. Simmons offered conflicting testimony as to whether defendant's vehicle was the same color as the vehicle she saw on July 1, 1987. She also admitted telling the defense investigator in a May 2002 interview, after being shown photographs of defendant's vehicle, that defendant's car was not the car she saw on July 1, 1987. She noted, at that time, that the taillights were different and that defendant's vehicle had no rust on the right passenger wheel well, unlike the vehicle she saw in 1987. She also told investigators on July 2, 1987, that the driver of the vehicle was on the thin side, a description that would not fit defendant. Defendant's brother, Kenneth, testified that in August 1987, defendant, who was 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighed about 250 or 260 pounds. Simmons' sister, Cheri Norton, also testified regarding the walk they took the night Amy disappeared. Norton recalled that they saw a vehicle in town that evening that they did not recognize, but she could not provide a description of the vehicle. Darlene Prior, a Kell resident, testified that on the night of July 1, 1987, she left her sister's home, which was located on Jefferson Street, at about 9 p.m. On her way home, Prior noticed a cream-colored car which resembled a car she used to ownan older Dodge Polarisgoing faster than she thought it should. The taillights looked similar to the taillights in the police sketch. Prior did not recall telling officers on July 10, 1987, that the taillights on the car she saw did not look like those in the drawing.