Opinion ID: 1379546
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: December 28-29, 2001

Text: On December 28, 2001, Schneider attended the closing on her new house. Apparently, there were problems with some of the documentation, and it is not clear whether the transaction was completed. Tolliver, 2004 WL 625683, at . Hayes, Schneider's co-worker and good friend, testified that, on the 28th, Schneider had no bruises or abrasions on her hands, face, or neck. Schneider, Hayes added, was very stressed about the house situation that her and Kevin were involved with, had been a little emotional during the previous five days, and was upset earlier in the day [of the 28th]. (JA 1103-04.) That evening, around midnight, Scheider and Tolliver had drinks at a restaurant with a friend and later went to the Krome nightclub. Tolliver, 2004 WL 625683, at . Abby Warner, one of Schneider's co-workers, testified that at Krome she had seen Schneider and Tolliver dancing with each other, hanging onto each other, looking into each other's eyes, look[ing] like they were having fun. (JA 1406.) Later in the evening, however, Warner saw Schneider dancing, without Tolliver, in a large group of people, and Tolliver looking down at her from a higher level, watching her with his arms across his chest and looking kind of angry. (JA 1407.) Collin Bumgarner, a worker at Krome, testified that on the night of Schneider's death he saw Tolliver and Schneider as they were exiting the club, and that in the parking lot they were speaking particularly loudly. While the discussion drew his attention, Bumgarner added, it was not alarming  either to him or to the police officers with whom he was standing. [Tolliver] and Claire returned to the apartment at approximately 12:36 a.m. . . . . At 1:15 a.m., Janet Parady, who resided in Apartment 220, was awakened to a man screaming No, No. Don't, don't. Oh, please. Please. (Vol.I, Tr. 76.) She called 911 and reported that she thought the screaming came from Apartment 320, the apartment directly above her. She further reported that the people who lived in apartment 320 had been fighting for approximately one-half hour, and that it sounded like someone had fallen down. Tolliver, 2004 WL 625683, at -. In fact, Tolliver and Schneider lived in the apartment (120) below Parady. A police officer responded to Parady's call, but found nothing wrong at apartment 320. He did not check apartment 120. At approximately 1:45 a.m., Natasha Tolliver received a telephone call from [Tolliver]. [Tolliver] was sobbing and told Natasha that if she ever loved him, she would come to his apartment immediately. Natasha put her daughter in her car and drove to the apartment complex at approximately 1:55 a.m. When she arrived at [Tolliver's] apartment, she saw blood smeared on the front door. [Tolliver] was dressed in a blood-stained bathrobe and had blood on his hands and legs. She also noticed blood on the living room wall and kitchen floor. Natasha told [Tolliver] she was going to take their daughter back to the car. [Tolliver] followed her outside. When she asked [Tolliver] what had happened, he told her that he was really in trouble. (Vol.XII, Tr. 1727.) Natasha told [Tolliver] to call the police. [Tolliver] was crying so hysterically that Natasha thought he was having a breakdown. [Tolliver] said he was going to kill himself and that he wanted to see his daughter. Natasha called 911 and reported what had happened. She then drove to the other side of the parking lot because she was afraid [Tolliver] might kill himself in front of their daughter. Peter Kovarik, the resident of Apartment 215, returned to the apartment complex at approximately 2:00 a.m. As he walked inside the building, he noticed [Tolliver], dressed in a bathrobe, standing in the hallway outside Apartment 117. [Tolliver] seemed startled to see Kovarik and ducked into the alcove outside Apartment 117. Seconds later, [Tolliver] stepped out from the alcove and asked Kovarik how's it going? (Vol.I, Tr. 107.) In response, Kovarik asked [Tolliver] how is it going with you? [Tolliver] responded good. (Vol.I, Tr. 108.) According to Kovarik, [Tolliver] did not act as if he were upset about anything and did not ask him for assistance. Officers [David] Shots and Paul Coulter responded to Natasha's 911 call between 2:00 and 2:05 a.m. . . . [and] the officers proceeded to [Tolliver's] apartment. [Tolliver] emerged from the apartment, dressed only in a bathrobe. The bathrobe had blood on it, as did [Tolliver's] feet and legs. [Tolliver] was talking on a cell phone (later determined to be Claire's) and holding a bloody dishtowel. [Tolliver] told the officers, [s]he shot herself. (Vol.I, Tr. 149.) According to both Shots and Coulter, the door to Apartment 117 had smeared blood on it, as if someone had tried to wipe blood off the door. There was also blood spatter on the door jamb of Apartment 117. [Tolliver] was immediately handcuffed and placed in Shots' cruiser. Id. Officer Shots testified that, while Tolliver was sitting in the cruiser, Tolliver, unprompted, said I can't believe she did this. She has only held a gun  she has never even held a gun. (JA 0314.) Tolliver then said they were at the mall earlier, something about they closed on a house or looking to buy a house, (JA 0314), and also said something about that the phone didn't work in his apartment . . . or it didn't have a phone in his apartment, (JA 0315). While searching the apartment, Officer Coulter found blood on the walls and floor, as well as on several items in the apartment. An overturned floor lamp and potted plant lay on the living room floor. Coulter discovered Claire's dead body lying face-up on the bathroom floor on top of a black nylon jacket. Her arms were partially inside the sleeves of the jacket, which was saturated with blood. A blood-covered 9mm Ruger semiautomatic pistol, an envelope containing $3, and a handwritten note were found on the vanity in the bathroom. The note said she did not know gun was loaded. I loved her. Could not find the phone. (Vol. II, Tr. 308, State's Exhibits D120, D121, E12.) Inside the sink lay two live shells and the gun's magazine clip containing 12 live shells. The gun did not contain a live round in the chamber. The bathroom door contained a single bullet hole that had several strands of hair attached to it. A spent 9mm shell casing was found in the hallway just outside the bathroom. A spent 9mm bullet was found behind the door in the bathroom. Two pens and a semiautomatic weapon magazine clip containing live rounds of ammunition were found underneath Claire's body. Columbus Police Detective Robert Viduya. . . instructed the transport officers not to allow [Tolliver] to go to the bathroom at the police station, so that blood evidence on [Tolliver's] body could be collected. Photographs taken of [Tolliver] at the police station show blood on [Tolliver's] face, legs and feet; however, no blood appears on [Tolliver's] hands. Tolliver, 2004 WL 625683, at -.