Speaker 1 (00:00):
... Forest D at 16.
Mr. Vavra (00:00):
16:33.
Speaker 4 (00:03):
Ready to roll.
Mr. Vavra (00:06):
E is 7:26:24 at 17:51.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Okay. And F?
Mr. Vavra (00:34):
F is 7:30:24 at 22:25.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Okay. Okay, no problem.
(01:01)
You don't need to talk to the judge?
Mr. Vavra (01:01):
No, we don't need to talk to the judge right now.
Judge (02:38):
Please, everyone be seated. We're back on the record in state of Ohio versus Andrew Griffin. Mr. Griffin is present in the courtroom with his counsel. The state of Ohio is present and the jury is present in the courtroom as well. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, did you have any issues at all following my orders? No one has raised their hand. Mr. Vavra, is the state ready to continue with its case in chief?
Mr. Vavra (03:10):
Yes, judge.
Judge (03:11):
You may call your next witness.
Mr. Vavra (03:13):
Karen McComas.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
[inaudible 00:03:35] raise your right hand, please. Do you swear the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Karen McComas (03:39):
Yes.
Judge (03:50):
Ma'am, do you object to being filmed?
Karen McComas (03:51):
Yes.
Judge (03:52):
Okay. And Mr. Vavra, when you're ready to proceed.
Mr. Vavra (03:59):
Thank you, judge. Ma'am, can you tell us your name please?
Karen McComas (04:02):
My name's Karen McComas.
Mr. Vavra (04:04):
And where are you from?
Karen McComas (04:05):
I'm from Louisville, Kentucky.
Mr. Vavra (04:07):
And what do you do for a living?
Karen McComas (04:08):
I'm a project manager for Quarter Hill.
Mr. Vavra (04:11):
What was the name?
Karen McComas (04:12):
Quarter Hill.
Mr. Vavra (04:13):
Corner Hill?
Karen McComas (04:14):
Yeah, Quarter Hill.
Mr. Vavra (04:16):
Quarter Hill?
Karen McComas (04:16):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:17):
All right. And what does Quarter Hill do?
Karen McComas (04:20):
We provide the electronic tolling for the RiverLink project.
Mr. Vavra (04:24):
What is the RiverLink project?
Karen McComas (04:29):
It is an electronic tolling program over three bridges that cross between Louisville, Kentucky and Southern Indiana.
Mr. Vavra (04:37):
And how long has your company been involved with the RiverLink project?
Karen McComas (04:42):
Since September 2023.
Mr. Vavra (04:44):
Okay. And do you know prior to that who was handling things for RiverLink?
Karen McComas (04:50):
It was a company called Catch.
Mr. Vavra (04:53):
And when your company took over, did you receive all of their records?
Karen McComas (04:58):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:59):
And what all does your job entail? Tell us what you do on a daily basis.
Karen McComas (05:05):
So as the project manager, I'm the main point of contact for our back office system and our customer service center.
Mr. Vavra (05:17):
And can you tell us what... information you get from RiverLink?
Karen McComas (05:28):
So we receive transaction data for every vehicle that crosses over the three bridges between Louisville and Southern Indiana. We process that information, we read the license plates if they're readable. We inquire those to the DMV to get vehicle ownership information, and then we generate a bill to the registered owner.
Mr. Vavra (05:48):
Like most folks here, probably driven under one of these things and takes a picture of the car?
Karen McComas (05:53):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:54):
And then a few weeks later you get a bill in the mail?
Karen McComas (05:56):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:56):
Okay. And the ones we're talking about again, do you know, you said there's three of them?
Karen McComas (06:02):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:03):
And they're around the Louisville, Kentucky area?
Karen McComas (06:05):
All of them, yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:10):
Okay. And at a certain point, did you learn that detectives from Belmont County had been seeking information about one of these tolling locations?
Karen McComas (06:19):
Yes. We received a subpoena in August of 2024.
Mr. Vavra (06:22):
And at that point, your company was handling things?
Karen McComas (06:26):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:26):
Okay. At that time, were you involved?
Karen McComas (06:31):
I was not.
Mr. Vavra (06:33):
And the location we're talking about, was it one particular tolling location?
Karen McComas (06:41):
Yes. The subpoena requested I-265, which is the Lewis and Clark Bridge, that any transaction data between about a 20-minute period.
Mr. Vavra (06:54):
So out of the three bridges, they were just looking for the one?
Karen McComas (06:56):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:58):
And you said that was on I-265?
Karen McComas (07:00):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:01):
And how does I-265 run?
Karen McComas (07:04):
Depending on what part you're on, it may run north-south. It may run east-west.
Mr. Vavra (07:10):
Okay. Would you be familiar with the location we're talking about if I were to show you a map?
Karen McComas (07:16):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:18):
Judge, at this time permission to pull up just Google Map to show this area?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
No objection, Your Honor. You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (07:28):
Okay. All right. So we're looking at a Google Map here of the Louisville area. Does that look right to you?
Karen McComas (07:32):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:33):
And you said it was 265?
Karen McComas (07:35):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:35):
So is that... If you're looking at the screen, that's up here?
Karen McComas (07:44):
Yes, it is.
Mr. Vavra (07:45):
Okay. And do you know what area or state we're looking at over here?
Karen McComas (07:50):
That's Indiana.
Mr. Vavra (07:51):
And over here?
Karen McComas (07:52):
That's Kentucky.
Mr. Vavra (07:52):
Okay. So where this... You said this happens when it crosses over from state to state?
Karen McComas (07:59):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:59):
Okay. So if I zoom in a little bit again, we're looking at I-265?
Karen McComas (08:04):
Yes, that's it.
Mr. Vavra (08:05):
And left-hand side is Indiana, right-hand side Kentucky?
Karen McComas (08:10):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (08:10):
There's actually a marker here that identifies the bridge you're talking about?
Karen McComas (08:16):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (08:18):
Okay. If we zoom in a little further, is this the location we're talking about?
Karen McComas (08:27):
Yes. Those are the gantries where the cameras are attached.
Mr. Vavra (08:30):
So on these structures, they go over the road, cameras on top, pictures of vehicles down on the highway?
Karen McComas (08:40):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (08:42):
All right. And did the detectives ask for a particular direction?
Karen McComas (08:46):
It was requested eastbound.
Mr. Vavra (08:48):
Okay. So heading from Indiana into Kentucky?
Karen McComas (08:53):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (08:53):
Okay. So if we're looking on that, that's probably the bottom lanes?
Karen McComas (08:59):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (08:59):
You're driving, you're on the right side of the road, that would be heading east into Kentucky?
Karen McComas (09:04):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (09:08):
Okay. At a certain point, did you... I know you weren't involved in August of '24 when the subpoena was sent. Did you become aware that RiverLink had, or I'm sorry, that your company had sent the RiverLink records to our detectives?
Karen McComas (09:24):
Yes. We received a request in January to take a second look at the subpoena.
Mr. Vavra (09:30):
Okay. Of January of?
Karen McComas (09:31):
'26.
Mr. Vavra (09:33):
Okay. And at that point you were involved?
Karen McComas (09:34):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (09:34):
Okay. Did you personally handle that?
Karen McComas (09:37):
I sent the request to my data analyst to pull the data for me.
Mr. Vavra (09:43):
Okay. So you were able to see what had already been sent-
Karen McComas (09:45):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (09:45):
In August of '24?
Karen McComas (09:49):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (09:51):
So you said you're picking up license plates, and I think you mentioned before, if you can see a license plate?
Karen McComas (09:58):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (09:58):
Are there times that these cameras don't pick up vehicles that pass?
Karen McComas (10:03):
Yes. If you have a license plate that's not present or one that's obstructed.
Mr. Vavra (10:10):
And is there still potentially video or camera footage of those vehicles?
Karen McComas (10:16):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (10:20):
And again, you've seen the documents provided in 2024, in August?
Karen McComas (10:24):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (10:24):
Okay. And how is it stored? On what kind of a document?
Karen McComas (10:29):
It's stored in a database. So when we receive a request, we pull the information from the database we place into a spreadsheet, but the information lives just within a database. We do not have an application to access this older information, because it came from a previous company.
Mr. Vavra (10:46):
So if you produce it, does it come in the form of an Excel spreadsheet?
Karen McComas (10:50):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (10:50):
If you saw that again, the response from August of '24, do you think you'd recognize it?
Karen McComas (10:57):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (10:58):
Permission to display State's Exhibit 151, judge?
Speaker 3 (11:02):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (11:03):
You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (11:11):
Okay. A lot of information here, right?
Karen McComas (11:12):
Yeah.
Mr. Vavra (11:16):
Did the officers ask for any particular vehicles at that time?
Karen McComas (11:21):
No.
Mr. Vavra (11:21):
What did they have?
Karen McComas (11:22):
No specific. It was all transactions between the time period.
Mr. Vavra (11:27):
Okay. And they said they gave you a 20-minute time period?
Karen McComas (11:28):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (11:29):
So this is what was produced in August of 2024, correct?
Karen McComas (11:32):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (11:32):
Okay. And we've got 153 entries, fair to say?
Karen McComas (11:40):
Yes, 152.
Mr. Vavra (11:47):
Okay. And can you just kind of tell us a little bit about the document, what we're looking at here? Just so we can look at number one at the top here. What is this information?
Karen McComas (11:56):
The transaction ID is a unique identifier to store the transaction in the database.
Mr. Vavra (12:02):
Okay. So each car gets its own ID?
Karen McComas (12:04):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (12:05):
Okay. If we move over to this line, what are we looking at?
Karen McComas (12:09):
That's the timestamp of when the vehicle crossed under the gantry.
Mr. Vavra (12:13):
Okay. And the transaction type, there's a letter indication of an N here, but another place, is you see T, looks like it's either T or N. Do you know what that means?
Karen McComas (12:23):
Yes. The T are transactions where the customer had an E-ZPass or a transponder present in the vehicle.
Mr. Vavra (12:30):
Okay. Toll zone, what's that tell us?
Karen McComas (12:35):
That tells us whether they were traveling north or south, and which bridge. So in this case, the east end is also the Lewis and Clark.
Mr. Vavra (12:43):
Lane number, is that on the road lane?
Karen McComas (12:45):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (12:47):
Okay. Agency, some information is there, some is not. Do you recall what that is?
Karen McComas (12:51):
Yes. The agency is, for those who have transponders, it's which agency provided that transponder. E-ZPasses are interoperable across 19 states.
Mr. Vavra (13:03):
And then tag serial number, that go with the agency or pass?
Karen McComas (13:11):
Yes, that's your individual serial number of your transponder.
Mr. Vavra (13:14):
So when we see a T, we typically will see the agency and the serial number as well?
Karen McComas (13:20):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (13:20):
Okay. And then of course it looks like we've got our plate and our state for the plate?
Karen McComas (13:25):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (13:26):
And then if you just continue to zoom over, there's actually... Is that photographs?
Karen McComas (13:31):
Yes. These are links to images.
Mr. Vavra (13:34):
Okay. So you can click on those and bring up the photographs that were actually taken?
Karen McComas (13:38):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (13:38):
Okay. Once detectives received this information in August of 2024, is it your understanding that they reached back out to your company?
Karen McComas (13:52):
Not at the time, not until January of this year.
Mr. Vavra (13:56):
Was there any point where they asked you to provide... This is all, what you provided, are all vehicles that were caught with a license plate, correct?
Karen McComas (14:08):
Yes. All of these had readable plates.
Mr. Vavra (14:10):
Okay. Did they ask to provide the other information, if you keep it, the plates that weren't read?
Karen McComas (14:17):
Yes, and it requested all transactions, so that would typically include both.
Mr. Vavra (14:22):
Okay. And at that time, do you know whether your company was able to provide that information?
Karen McComas (14:29):
We were not.
Mr. Vavra (14:30):
Okay. Can you tell us why?
Karen McComas (14:31):
So, because the information was received from a previous company, we were not familiar with it at the time of this request. We had been in possession of it for a short amount of time. We store information in the database in two different tables. So readable plates are in one table. Those are items that are billed to a customer. Unreadable plates are stored in a different location. It's common to not keep those for a long time since they were not billed, so we did not know that we had maintained those when we transitioned the data from the old company to us.
Mr. Vavra (15:46):
All right. And just so we can kind of see how this works, I'm going to show you the same spreadsheet you were looking at before, 151. This is marked as 151A on the left side.
(16:11)
Okay. So you see that there?
Karen McComas (16:25):
Yeah.
Mr. Vavra (16:26):
Okay. And we have two items highlighted. I think we highlighted those. What I want to do, I'm going to pull up some images, and these have been marked as State's Exhibit 151B and 151C. Permission to display those, judge?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (16:46):
I didn't hear you, sir.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
No objection, sir.
Judge (16:49):
Okay. You may proceed.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
To any of these photos with this witness.
Judge (16:52):
All right. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (16:54):
Okay. So on the left-hand side, entry 119, do you see that there?
Karen McComas (16:59):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (17:00):
There's a time. What's the date and time for that entry on the Excel sheet?
Karen McComas (17:06):
September 19th, 2021 at 10:52 PM.
Mr. Vavra (17:10):
Okay. And if we look at this photograph on the right side, does that appear to be the same date and time?
Karen McComas (17:20):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (17:21):
And again, we have this one marked as 151B. So this is capturing the back of that vehicle?
Karen McComas (17:27):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (17:38):
And then if we look here... we have a state and plate number, correct?
Karen McComas (17:49):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (17:50):
And plate is 58A3L70?
Karen McComas (17:55):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (17:55):
State of the plates, Alabama?
Karen McComas (17:57):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (17:57):
And that matches our photograph there?
Karen McComas (17:59):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (18:08):
Okay. And then similarly, if you look at the entry 120, we have a date and time, the second highlighted one?
Karen McComas (18:23):
Yes. It's September 19th, 2021 at 10:52 PM.
Mr. Vavra (18:27):
Okay. And we also have a state and plate number there. Do you see those?
Karen McComas (18:34):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (18:35):
676WXJKY?
Karen McComas (18:37):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (18:37):
Kentucky? All right. And then if you look over at what we have marked as State's Exhibit 151C, does that appear to be the photograph of that vehicle?
Karen McComas (18:47):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (18:48):
Same date and time at the top there?
Karen McComas (18:50):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (18:50):
And then same... Or license plate and state Kentucky there at the bottom?
Karen McComas (18:55):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (18:56):
Okay. So that's what, when we're talking about how these are captured, that's what it's getting. And are there multiple photos taken?
Karen McComas (19:03):
Yes. Typically, one from the front, one from the back, and one overhead.
Mr. Vavra (19:07):
Okay. And these register, the plates are readable, no issues?
Karen McComas (19:13):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (19:13):
So that's how we expect the system to work?
Karen McComas (19:17):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (19:17):
Okay.
(19:29)
Now, you said you received contact from the Belmont County Sheriff's Department in January of 2026?
Karen McComas (19:36):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (19:38):
Okay. And it was requested to perhaps take a second look?
Karen McComas (19:42):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (19:43):
Or there was communication about trial preparation, things like that?
Karen McComas (19:45):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (19:45):
Okay. At that time, it was believed that that was all the imaging that existed?
Karen McComas (19:51):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (19:51):
Okay. Did you then take a second look at this once you were in control of it?
Karen McComas (19:56):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (19:56):
Okay. And what did you find?
Karen McComas (19:59):
I looked at the information that had been originally provided, and I noticed that the only transactions provided were the ones with readable plates. It's very common to have missing or unreadable plates, so it did seem like there was some things that could be missing.
Mr. Vavra (20:15):
Okay. So all that was provided, like you said, in August '24 was the readable plates?
Karen McComas (20:17):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (20:17):
The photographs we looked at?
Karen McComas (20:19):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (20:20):
But you also believed at that point, hey, unreadable plates may also be there too?
Karen McComas (20:25):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (20:26):
Did you confirm that those did in fact exist?
Karen McComas (20:29):
Yes, we did.
Mr. Vavra (20:29):
And could you confirm why you could find them in 2026, but they weren't found in 2024?
Karen McComas (20:37):
With more experience navigating the database that we had archived, our team is more familiar with where those images were stored.
Mr. Vavra (20:45):
And is it fair to say that those images were always there?
Karen McComas (20:50):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (20:52):
Your company just didn't necessarily know where to look for them in 2024?
Karen McComas (20:55):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (21:00):
Once you confirmed that these other images may exist... And were you looking for anything in particular or just any images with unreadable plates?
Karen McComas (21:10):
Any images at all.
Mr. Vavra (21:12):
And did you provide all of those to the sheriff's department?
Karen McComas (21:15):
Yes, we did. We provided an additional seven.
Mr. Vavra (21:20):
So there were seven different vehicles-
Karen McComas (21:21):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (21:21):
Identified? And did you provide those in the form of a spreadsheet again?
Karen McComas (21:28):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (21:28):
And at this time, was it a little different than the last spreadsheet?
Karen McComas (21:31):
It was, yes.
Mr. Vavra (21:33):
And you don't have the plate information, the state information? It didn't register, so you don't have any of that, correct?
Karen McComas (21:38):
Correct. Only the transaction ID, and the date, and time.
Mr. Vavra (21:55):
[inaudible 00:21:55]. May I approach the witness, Your Honor?
Judge (21:56):
Yeah.
Mr. Vavra (22:00):
I'm going to hand you a binder that's turned to State's Exhibit 152A. First, do you recognize what that is?
Karen McComas (22:12):
Yes. This is an image of the rear of a vehicle.
Mr. Vavra (22:16):
And can you tell what type of vehicle it is?
Karen McComas (22:19):
The image is a little dark, but it is a motorcycle.
Mr. Vavra (22:23):
And can you tell us the date and time for that?
Karen McComas (22:27):
September 19th, 2021 at 10:52 PM.
Mr. Vavra (22:34):
Do you recognize... And this would've been produced from your system?
Karen McComas (22:37):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (22:37):
Okay. And State's Exhibit 152B, if you'll turn the page. Do you recognize that?
Karen McComas (22:50):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (22:51):
And what is that?
Karen McComas (22:52):
This is the front of the vehicle.
Mr. Vavra (22:54):
Okay. Same vehicle as A?
Karen McComas (22:56):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (22:56):
Just another angle or the front of it?
Karen McComas (22:59):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (23:00):
And what's the date and time there?
Karen McComas (23:02):
September 19th, 2021 at 10:52 PM.
Mr. Vavra (23:07):
And then, if you'll turn the page to 152C. Do you recognize that document?
Karen McComas (23:17):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (23:18):
What is it?
Karen McComas (23:18):
This is the overhead view of the same vehicle.
Mr. Vavra (23:21):
Okay. The date and time?
Karen McComas (23:24):
September 19th, 2021, 10:52 PM.
Mr. Vavra (23:27):
Okay. So they all have the same timestamp?
Karen McComas (23:29):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (23:33):
And those photos are kept in your database?
Karen McComas (23:36):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (23:36):
Those are kept as regular business records?
Karen McComas (23:38):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (23:49):
And again, initially you provide a spreadsheet, correct?
Karen McComas (23:51):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (23:52):
Judge, at this time, I'd ask permission to display the spreadsheet and then those photographs?
Speaker 3 (23:56):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (23:57):
You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (24:02):
I'm showing you... Well, the TV will show you in a second, what's been marked as State's Exhibit 152. Do you recognize this document?
Karen McComas (24:13):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (24:14):
And what is this? What are we looking at?
Karen McComas (24:16):
These are the additional seven transactions that we provided in January of 2026, that were all of the vehicles that crossed in that same 20 minute period, but had no readable license plate.
Mr. Vavra (24:27):
Okay. And when you say seven transactions, at the bottom of the spreadsheet, there's transaction one, two, three, four, five, six, seven?
Karen McComas (24:34):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (24:35):
Okay. And like you said, you provided the transaction, the timestamp, and then the location, and then the photographs, correct?
Karen McComas (24:42):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (24:43):
So here, transaction one, we actually have a couple vehicles, but one of them was not readable, fair to say?
Karen McComas (24:50):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (24:52):
Same thing with two, another issue with a plate?
Karen McComas (24:55):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (24:56):
Three?
Karen McComas (24:57):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (24:59):
Now, four. The fourth transaction you provided, does that appear to be the photographs you just identified as state's exhibits 152, A, B, and C?
Karen McComas (25:09):
Yes, those are the same.
Mr. Vavra (25:12):
And just separate it out here, we have 152A, you recognize that? That's what you looked at?
Karen McComas (25:19):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (25:20):
Okay. And that's the rear of the motorcycle?
Karen McComas (25:22):
Yes, it is.
Mr. Vavra (25:23):
With the date and time you already talked about?
Karen McComas (25:24):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (25:25):
And 152B, front of the motorcycle, date and time you already identified?
Karen McComas (25:32):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (25:32):
And 152C, this is the overhead shot, we'll call it?
Karen McComas (25:39):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (25:40):
Okay. Again, same date and time?
Karen McComas (25:43):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (25:43):
Do you know why the lighting in this one is better than the lighting in the others?
Karen McComas (25:49):
I don't. The equipment for the previous company, it's not what we use today. I'm not familiar with what may have lit that one up a little better.
Mr. Vavra (26:01):
And you said originally the detectives requested a 20-minute window from September 19, 2021?
Karen McComas (26:09):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (26:09):
And that's going back to the first subpoena in August?
Karen McComas (26:11):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (26:13):
Okay. When you looked at it in 2026, did you look at that same window of time?
Karen McComas (26:17):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (26:18):
And the only difference here was you were able to provide the vehicles that did not register?
Karen McComas (26:25):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (26:26):
In looking at this photograph, can you tell why this didn't register?
Karen McComas (26:30):
There's no visible license plate.
Mr. Vavra (26:39):
No further questions, Your Honor.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
No questions. Thank you, judge.
Judge (26:42):
All right. Mr. Vavra, may this witness be excused?
Mr. Vavra (26:44):
Yes, judge.
Judge (26:46):
Thank you.
(26:58)
Mr. Vavra, before you call your next witness, do you want to retrieve your exhibits?
Mr. Vavra (27:01):
Yes, Judge. Thank you.
Judge (27:18):
Then the state may call its next witness.
Mr. Kinsler (27:22):
State's going to call Brian Lacy to the stand, Your Honor.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Brian Lacey.
Judge (27:24):
Mr. Kinsler, is your witness present?
Mr. Kinsler (27:24):
I'm sorry, Your Honor. I'll check.
Judge (27:24):
Okay.
Mr. Kinsler (27:56):
He is here. Just a moment, Your Honor.
Judge (28:09):
All right.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Stand on the step, face me. Raise your right hand, please. Do you swear the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Bryan Lacy (29:00):
I do.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Have a seat.
Judge (29:06):
Sir, do you object to being filmed?
Bryan Lacy (29:08):
I do not.
Judge (29:11):
Okay. Thank you.
(29:11)
You may proceed.
Mr. Kinsler (29:16):
Good morning.
Bryan Lacy (29:17):
Good morning.
Mr. Kinsler (29:18):
Sir, would you please state your name for the record?
Bryan Lacy (29:21):
My name is Bryan Lacy.
Mr. Kinsler (29:23):
Would you spell both your first and last name?
Bryan Lacy (29:25):
Sure. B-R-Y-A-N L-A-C-Y.
Mr. Kinsler (29:29):
What do you do, sir?
Bryan Lacy (29:31):
I'm a special agent with the FBI.
Mr. Kinsler (29:33):
And what do you do as a special agent with the FBI?
Bryan Lacy (29:38):
I'm currently assigned to the Cincinnati Division Columbus office, and I'm on a violent crime and gang squad.
Mr. Kinsler (29:47):
How long have you worked for the FBI?
Bryan Lacy (29:49):
I've worked for the FBI since 2010.
Mr. Kinsler (29:52):
And what sort of training and experience do you have... Let me ask you this way. I'm sorry. What sort of education do you have?
Bryan Lacy (30:00):
My background, my educational background is I have a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Akron, and I have a Master's of Business Administration from Kent State University.
Mr. Kinsler (30:12):
Do you also receive specialized training to become an FBI agent?
Bryan Lacy (30:15):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Kinsler (30:17):
And what was that?
Bryan Lacy (30:18):
So basically, it's a FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Most people have seen or heard about it on TV. When I went through, it was 22 weeks where you learn about the law, you get trained in firearms, you get trained in defensive tactics, and all sorts of other training over the course of those 20 weeks. And assuming you pass all those phases and pass your physical requirements, firearm requirements, at the end of that, you become a special agent with the FBI.
Mr. Kinsler (31:02):
What sort of work do you do at present for the FBI?
Bryan Lacy (31:04):
My current assignment, as I mentioned, I'm on a violent crime squad in Columbus. So I investigate violent crimes, robberies, homicides, and other stuff. But I also have a collateral duty called CAST.
Mr. Kinsler (31:18):
And what is CAST?
Bryan Lacy (31:20):
CAST stands for Cellular Analysis Survey Team, and it's approximately 100 FBI special agents and task force officers that specialize in historical mobile device or cell site analysis. And we do that in order to locate phones in real time, such as in kidnapping or fugitive investigations. We do that to show where a phone was historically, such as in homicide investigations or robbery investigations. And we also do extensive training to our federal, state, and local partners on the same methodology that we use.
Mr. Kinsler (32:04):
And do you receive specialized training to do this?
Bryan Lacy (32:07):
Yes. The specialized training that we go through to become CAST certified is approximately 230 hours and it's over the course of a year and a half to two years. And it starts off with just kind of a basic introduction into historical mobile device location analysis, looking at records, showing where a phone was approximately, or a mobile device was approximately at a date and time. The next phase of that is you get introduced to creating reports. And not only do I want to know where the phone is, but I want to be able to create a report and show others. And for purposes of testimony in court, do that as well. The third phase of that is called critical incident readiness assessment. It's over the course of three days, you're given scenarios one at a time. In each scenario, you have to, under a time limit, look at the records, try and figure out where a phone was and then create a report simulating a command post environment.
(33:12)
We do that over the court. We do that five times. Those are all graded. And depending on how you do, if you're in the top part of the class, you get invited to the final phase of our training, which is called certification. Our certification involves, it's four weeks total. The first week involves training from the Florida Institute of Technology on radio frequency theory. The second week involves meeting with cell phone providers, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon. We meet with their law enforcement group. They show us the records or we go through the records, ask questions about the records. And then we also meet with the network engineers, who manage and optimize and run the networks, get a little deeper into how cell phones and cell sites work. And then the third week we get the tools and the software accounts set up and training on how to make and create these maps.
(34:08)
And then the final week of that, we're given a scenario and asked to look at the records and create a report. And then we go on a mock trial in front of senior cast members. And then only if we pass all those phases, do we become CAST certified. And then every year since I've been certified, which was 2022, we go back to an annual recertification course in which all of us get together for four days and we again meet with providers, social media companies, to talk about the type of records that are available for historical location analysis. And we also get case studies from other agents and task force officers around the country to hear what has worked in their areas.
Mr. Kinsler (34:54):
And have you provided cell site analysis in the past?
Bryan Lacy (34:59):
Yes, I've done it in cases over 200 times.
Mr. Kinsler (35:03):
Okay.
Bryan Lacy (35:00):
... done it in cases over 200 times.
Christopher Kinsler (35:03):
Okay. Are you able to do this work without the actual cell phone?
Bryan Lacy (35:07):
Yes, I am. Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (35:08):
And how is that possible?
Bryan Lacy (35:10):
So basically what we do is when a cell phone has been identified as associated with a subject or a victim in a case, we can go to the provider of that cell phone and ask for call detail records. And we analyze the call detail records.
Christopher Kinsler (35:30):
Approximately how often do you analyze call detail records?
Bryan Lacy (35:33):
I do it pretty much daily, and since I've been an FBI agent, I've done it well over 200 times. Or I'm sorry, since I've been CAST certified, I've done it well over 200 times.
Christopher Kinsler (35:45):
Have you had opportunities to validate the analysis you do with other data?
Bryan Lacy (35:51):
Yes. So there's several ways to validate it. One way might be is if you actually get the cell phone, sometimes cell phones themselves will store your location on it, your precise latitude and longitude, and we compare that with what the records say to validate it. But probably most frequently what we do is we actually, as I mentioned, fugitives and kidnapping situations, we actually in real time give a location, approximate location of a phone and go out and find that phone in that location.
Christopher Kinsler (36:24):
Have you used historical cell site analysis in located fugitives? That's what you just were asked.
Bryan Lacy (36:28):
Yes. Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (36:30):
Have you previously testified as an expert in historical cell site analysis?
Bryan Lacy (36:34):
Yes, I have. Seven times total, five in the State of Ohio.
Christopher Kinsler (36:39):
Okay. Your Honor, I'd like to move to qualify him as an expert in cell site analysis.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (36:45):
All right. Then the jury will regard this witness as an expert in, is it cell phone?
Christopher Kinsler (36:51):
Cell site analysis, Your Honor.
Judge (36:52):
Cell site analysis.
Christopher Kinsler (36:56):
Can you briefly explain how cell phone communicates with the cellular network?
Bryan Lacy (37:00):
So a cell phone is a radio similar to a radio in a vehicle that receives a signal from an antenna or a station in town that you listen to your favorite music or a talk show. The main difference between a cell phone and a radio in your vehicle is that a cell phone will not only receive a signal, a radio signal, but a cell phone will transmit a radio signal so that the party on the other end can hear you talk as well as you hearing them, thus enabling two-way communication.
Christopher Kinsler (37:39):
What is the cell tower and what purpose does it serve?
Bryan Lacy (37:42):
So a cell tower is a structure or a pole that's in an area that has... It's stationary typically, and it has antenna mounted to them and it communicates with your cell phone, but the cell tower more importantly is also connected to the public telephone network. So it enables you, once you've connected to that cell tower, then you can make that phone call or send that text. It also connects your cell phone to the internet so you can browse, stream, check out your Facebook page, et cetera.
Christopher Kinsler (38:18):
Is there a standard distance between cell towers?
Bryan Lacy (38:21):
There is not a standard distance between cell towers. So I made the analogy of the vehicle radio. If you're tuned into your favorite radio station, it's maybe coming out of Wheeling and you start to drive westbound, at some point you're going to lose that radio station signal. Well, that would be no good if cell phones operated that way. So what cell phones do is they place cell towers based on the geography, based on the population, so that as you travel or you're mobile, your phone will be in constant contact with a cell tower. So as one cell tower gets weaker, your phone conversation or data session, whatever it is transferred to another cell tower that is providing a better signal.
Christopher Kinsler (39:07):
How are cell towers typically configured?
Bryan Lacy (39:11):
Typical cell towers are configured, a cell tower provides 360-degree coverage generally to an area and they accomplish that by sectorizing them. And typical cell towers have three different sides or three different sectors.
Christopher Kinsler (39:26):
So what is that sector?
Bryan Lacy (39:28):
A sector is basically just an antenna that's mounted on top of that cell tower and it's pointed in a certain direction. And each of those sectors is more or less for that cell tower spaced 120 degrees apart. So if you were to have three of those, then you would have your 360 degree of coverage.
Christopher Kinsler (39:47):
And I think I understand you say that it's typical to have three?
Bryan Lacy (39:49):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (39:49):
Is it always three?
Bryan Lacy (39:52):
It's not always three. I believe in the past there were some six-sided cell towers. I don't see those. I've not seen those, but what I have seen is more the omnidirectional towers, meaning you might see in more of an urban environment, a little antenna mounted on top of a telephone pole and it provides 360 degrees of coverage, but it also provides typically a much smaller coverage area to fill in gaps where there might be dead zones in a city where a building might be blocking the signal from the bigger cell phone tower.
Christopher Kinsler (40:30):
Okay. And I guess circling back to not the... I'm sorry, you called it omnidirectional tower?
Bryan Lacy (40:36):
Yes, I did.
Christopher Kinsler (40:37):
The more typical three-sided, is it always... I think you testified that those are typically arrayed, so each one is pointing at 120-degree angle?
Bryan Lacy (40:46):
The sector provides coverage of approximately 120 degrees. They're not always spaced like a perfect... We'll get into that. There's a visualization further in the report if we can get to that and I'll be able to explain it better.
Christopher Kinsler (41:02):
What is an azimuth?
Bryan Lacy (41:04):
The azimuth is something... So I mentioned before, call detail records for a phone, for a subject or victim phone are provided by the cell phone provider. They also provide what we call a cell tower or a cell site list. That cell site list gives the latitude and longitude of that cell tower, but it also gives you the azimuth of the sector and the azimuth is basically a heading or direction. So if your azimuth is zero degrees, and again, there's a visualization that I'll show you here, but if your azimuth is zero degrees, that means that your radio frequency signal is directed at the zero degree or due north azimuth.
Christopher Kinsler (41:49):
Who provides the tower location information for your analysis?
Bryan Lacy (41:53):
The cell phone provider provides it.
Christopher Kinsler (41:56):
And that's just telling you what information?
Bryan Lacy (41:59):
That tells you the latitude and longitude of the cell tower and also as mentioned, the azimuth of that sector of that cell tower.
Christopher Kinsler (42:09):
What is a cell phone doing when it's simply powered on but sitting idle?
Bryan Lacy (42:13):
So when a cell phone is on just sitting there and idle, not in the middle of a text or a call or a data session, your cell phone's constantly scanning the radio frequency environment and keeping a list of radio frequencies from cell sites in the area and it's ranking those. So it always has a ranking of the best signal down to the lowest signal that it can see. And it does that so that when you go to initiate a call or receive a call or send or receive a text, the cell phone is going to pick the best cell signal that the cell phone sees and use that tower for the communication.
Christopher Kinsler (42:53):
And what or who determines which tower handles the communication?
Bryan Lacy (42:59):
Sorry, I was getting a little ahead of you there. The cell phone itself determines what cell tower, it tells the provider or the network what cell tower is going to use for that initial communication. And that's when the record is logged. When you make that call, that information is recorded. "This is the cell tower that was used," and the cell phone picks that tower.
Christopher Kinsler (43:24):
Does the phone always communicate with the nearest tower?
Bryan Lacy (43:27):
No, not always. I would say most of the time, yes, it does. But again, cell towers are based large part on geography as well. So if you live maybe in a valley and there's a cell tower that's on the other side of that valley, other side of a hill, maybe that cell tower doesn't... The closest one doesn't reach your phone, but maybe there's one a little further off that's also in the valley. Maybe your cell phone... Radio frequency works by line of sight, so maybe your cell phone receives that signal, sees that as a stronger signal, so it might use a farther cell tower. But generally, most of the time it's the closest cell tower.
Christopher Kinsler (44:08):
What records does cellular providers maintain regarding these communications?
Bryan Lacy (44:12):
As I mentioned before, they have call detail records. And when I say call detail records, basically it's used for billing purposes, so they know how many minutes of calls you've made, how many text messages you've sent, how much data you've used. And these call detail records, think of it like a phone bill from a cell provider. It includes the date and the time of the activity. It includes the parties involved in the activity, who received the call, what phone number made the call. It includes a duration if it's a call or a data session. And then different from your phone bill, the call detail records also have the cell site that was used during that activity.
Christopher Kinsler (44:58):
Were you asked to assist an investigation conducted by Belmont County Sheriff's Office of the homicides of Tom and Angela Strussion?
Bryan Lacy (45:06):
Yes, I was.
Christopher Kinsler (45:07):
Okay. And what role were you asked to play?
Bryan Lacy (45:11):
So I transferred to the Cincinnati division in 2019, and so in 2021, I was assigned to the Cambridge Resident Agency at that time. And so I covered eight counties in Southeastern Ohio, including Belmont County. So at that point in time, I was a case agent and responded. I believe I went out there the day of, that it happened in response to a call from Belmont County. We had worked on other cases in the past, so I went out and did that. And then about halfway through the investigation in 2022, I became CAST certified. But primarily my role was as we took some of the evidence from Belmont County. We submitted it to our lab, FBI lab. We took some cell phones. We did some extractions of the data on those cell phones. When I say we, not me, myself, other agents did that work and provided those results to Belmont County.
(46:17)
And then when I became certified, my role, and slightly before that, because I was getting introduced to that was to... We did cell tower dumps in this case and we looked for... That's the process of you know a crime happened at a certain time, you go to the provider and say, "Give me all phone numbers that were connected to towers in the area around that time." So I would get phone numbers from Belmont County Sheriff's Office and run those phone numbers in what we call these tower dumps to see if that's a device or a subject we should explore further. It's just a lead at that point.
Christopher Kinsler (46:55):
And so for this case, you were asked to do one of those CAST analysis, is that correct?
Bryan Lacy (47:05):
Yes, I was.
Christopher Kinsler (47:05):
And did you prepare a report of that analysis?
Bryan Lacy (47:08):
Yes, I did.
Christopher Kinsler (47:15):
Okay. Your Honor, may I approach?
Judge (47:39):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (47:46):
Before we get to your report, does every provider maintain their own towers?
Bryan Lacy (47:50):
Yes. Every provider maintains their own towers. When I say every... the big three providers, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all have their own towers. So if you have an AT&T phone, it's going to show up in the records of the AT&T cell tower. If you have a Verizon phone, you'll be on the Verizon cell tower, especially nowadays when the networks are mature and pretty much every provider provides coverage in most locations, unless you're in one of those unfortunate locations that gets no coverage. So yes.
Christopher Kinsler (48:24):
You've been shown what's been marked as State's Exhibit 142. Do you recognize that?
Bryan Lacy (48:28):
I do.
Christopher Kinsler (48:29):
And what is that?
Bryan Lacy (48:30):
This is my historical mobile device location analysis report that I prepared for this case.
Christopher Kinsler (48:40):
Your Honor, I move to publish Exhibit 142.
Speaker 5 (48:43):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (48:44):
You may proceed.
Christopher Kinsler (49:00):
I think we kind of covered the introduction. I'm going to move on, and I think you've described cell towers for us in sectors. The first several pages of your report, am I correct, some of the background information that you've already provided to the jurors?
Bryan Lacy (49:12):
That is correct.
Christopher Kinsler (49:14):
I'm looking at page four. Is this a helpful... Does this diagram illustrate one of the points you were making?
Bryan Lacy (49:22):
Yeah. So as we were talking about azimuth and sectors before, this particular slide is the center of the illustration on the right is if you were looking top down at the cell tower. We've all seen these cell towers along the side of the highway, these metal structures with antenna mounted to the top, like triangular shape antenna or structure on the top with antenna mounted to them. So these are the sectors. So what we get from a provider is an azimuth. So if we're given a cell phone during a certain activity used, this cell tower, sector number one in this case, we would know that the radio frequency during that activity was aimed at zero degrees due north. If we were given sector two, we would know that that was aimed... The azimuth would be 120 degrees, so the radio frequency is broadcast out at 120 degrees, so to the southeast.
(50:26)
And the way I like to think of that is if I was to turn off all the lights on this room, and I don't remember which way due north is, let's say due north is that way and I had a flashlight and I aimed at due north, that's what the radio frequency signal would look like if you could see it. So the center of that area, due north would be the strongest radio signal. And then as you went out to the sides of that 120-degree coverage, the radio signal would weaken as you got out to the sides. And like I said, in the three sector setup, each sector provides approximately 120 degrees of coverage before it will switch over to another sector.
Christopher Kinsler (51:08):
So when you're getting this information and it's telling you, for example, in this case, if it's telling you sector one and you described, is that just a fancy way of saying that the call came from generally that direction or the phone was generally in that direction?
Bryan Lacy (51:20):
The phone was generally in that direction, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (51:24):
And to be clear, you can't say precisely where that phone was?
Bryan Lacy (51:27):
I cannot say precisely from these records where the phone was.
Christopher Kinsler (51:36):
We're looking at the fifth page of your report, and I think you've kind of touched on this, but if you don't mind explaining the diagram, the three sector illustration.
Bryan Lacy (51:44):
Sure. So on the last page, I showed all three sectors, but on this page, this is what you'll see in the maps that are following here. The little blue dots, if you look at the illustration on the upper left, you have a map of an area, the little blue dots on that map represents other cell towers in the area, and then the wedge-shaped thing, pie-shaped thing up at the top of that illustration indicates the sector. So I'm not showing all three sectors like I was in the other map. I'm only indicating the sector that was utilized during that activity. There's also a little shaded in area. Might be a little hard to see. No, I think you can see it.
Christopher Kinsler (52:28):
Excuse me, Special Agent Lacy, do you have a pointer up there at the desk? I can give you one if you don't.
Bryan Lacy (52:34):
Is this a pointer?
Christopher Kinsler (52:34):
Yes, please. If you don't mind.
Bryan Lacy (52:37):
This little shaded area, if I can be still there. That little shaded area is not indicating that the phone is in that shaded area. It's indicating that the radio frequency is utilizing that sector, basically. So I'm not saying that's where it is. So if I was to look at that illustration, I would say the phone is somewhere to the southeast, was located somewhere to the southeast of that cell tower, somewhere between that cell tower where the sector is shown, and then you'll see another blue dot there down below 27. It's kind of hard to see on the screen, but this little blue dot down there. The phone would be somewhere in that approximate area between the two.
(53:21)
On the right-hand side of the box, you'll also see these on the screen. This is the detail of the activity, right? So number one in that screen is the cell site, cell ID number. That's the number that the network uses assigns to that particular cell site. Number two there is the date of the record from the call detail records of a subject's or victim's phone. Three is the time. Four is the type of activity, incoming outgoing call or data session. Five is duration, if appropriate. And then six is the other party involved in that communication, the other phone number involved in that communication. Now, in this case, we have multiple phones, so I've also highlighted records by color. So when you see red here, sometimes I'll refer to it as the red phone, there'll be other colored phones here, blue phone, green phone, and I'll show them on the same map just to kind of simplify whose phone is using what cell tower at what point in time. So that's one of the ways that we do it. So in the...
Christopher Kinsler (54:34):
Sorry about that.
Bryan Lacy (54:35):
No, it's fine. So in the illustration box, the example that I'm showing above, the target number, which was the red phone ending in 4775, made an outgoing call to a number ending in 3870 at 7:03 AM on 9/21/2021, and the call lasted for 24 seconds. You'll see these call out boxes on the following slides.
Christopher Kinsler (55:03):
And I think your report, if I'm correct, is you're kind of broken it down into parts. What is this first part we're going to be talking about?
Bryan Lacy (55:09):
Okay. So this first part, I have it broken down. As I mentioned before, there's a total of one, two, three, four, five, total of six phones that I have map records for. So this first part is the red phone ending in 4775, we have attributed to the subject's phone. The second phone, the green phone ending in 7299, we have attributed to Thomas Strussion's phone. And then the third phone number that I'm going to show, the blue phone ending in 1057 is for Angela Strussion. And we're going to look at the time period from September 19th to 21st of 2021.
Christopher Kinsler (55:50):
I want to touch on this. So the phone numbers we're talking about, who gives you that information?
Bryan Lacy (55:56):
The Belmont County Sheriff's Office and they also... The Belmont County Sheriff's Office, you get these call detail records I'm talking about through search warrants. The Belmont County Sheriff's Office got search warrants for these phone numbers and sent me the records to analyze.
Christopher Kinsler (56:14):
[inaudible 00:56:11] Is it fair to say the information you're getting is coming from Belmont County Sheriff's Office?
Bryan Lacy (56:18):
That is correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (56:19):
And that includes identifying these phone numbers?
Bryan Lacy (56:22):
That is correct.
Christopher Kinsler (56:24):
When I say identifying, I guess the person that they associate with that phone number?
Bryan Lacy (56:28):
That is correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (56:29):
And you mentioned the first one, the phone number ending in 4775, it's subject phone. How did you come to be aware of that phone?
Bryan Lacy (56:37):
So a series of interviews were done at some point. There was mention of some other parties involved in this case, and I think we got those records. When I say we, Belmont County got records for this other individual. An FBI analyst went through those records and found a call to an individual that just looked out of place one time only during the timeframe of the homicides or around the time of the homicides or within a day. And then that analyst came to me and said, "Hey, I got this phone number. Do you mind double checking it in the tower dumps that I had mentioned earlier?" So I went to our tower dump and I looked at the phone number and it was on the tower dump, meaning that it was in the area of Belmont around the time of the crime.
(57:42)
So then with that phone number, I believe we called Belmont County Sheriff's Office and informed them that we found a number of interest. But again, like I said before, that's just a lead at that point. A lot more work has to go into it after that point. So we called Belmont County Sheriff's Office, informed them of that number, and I believe they got a search warrant for that phone number and the historical records for that phone number.
Christopher Kinsler (58:06):
Okay. And that analyst's name?
Bryan Lacy (58:09):
Yeah, he's analyst Brian Warcholak.
Christopher Kinsler (58:15):
Okay. And Brian Warcholak's testified previously to the jurors, he provided that information that ultimately led to you having tower records for this phone, the subject phone?
Bryan Lacy (58:24):
Yeah. He discovered this phone number that then we shared with Belmont County to get records on, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (58:30):
I'm looking at, I think, or we are looking at page seven of your slide or your report, excuse me. What are we looking at here?
Bryan Lacy (58:39):
So here for the target phone or the subject phone ending in 4775, along with the call detail records, we also get subscription information, so we kind of can tell when a phone has been activated. So we found that this phone was activated on September 19th of 2021 at around somewhere in the five o'clock hour Central Time. I should mention that these upcoming slides, I'm always going to show the times in local time. I didn't mention that earlier, but some of the time zones in this case are in Central, some are in Eastern, but the map is always going to display things in the local time zone that I'm talking about.
(59:24)
So what we see here is there's a Walmart from the ledge in the upper left-hand corner in Marion, Illinois. And what we see is a cell tower that was used to activate the phone between 5:48, the upper call out box to the upper right, the upper blue box here to the upper right, is showing the cell site that was used close to the Walmart, the time of 9:19, when that subject phone had activity utilizing that cell tower between 5:48 PM and 6:07 PM, and then another cell tower that had activity closer to the interstate, a little bit to the southeast of the Walmart, had activity off of that cell tower at 6:07:39 PM and 6:11 PM, basically showing the initial activation and activity on the cell phone ending in 4775.
Christopher Kinsler (01:00:29):
Stating the obvious here, but what does initial activation mean?
Bryan Lacy (01:00:32):
So everybody knows when you get a phone and you can go to a cell phone provider, AT&T, T-Mobile, and they will activate your phone. In other words, they will take the serial number of that phone and update their computer with, "This phone number is assigned to this phone and therefore it is activated." So then you can send and receive calls or do data transactions on that phone. If it's a prepaid, you can do that yourself. Just you can activate it yourself through text messages or through a phone call to the network provider.
Christopher Kinsler (01:01:03):
And that's what's happening here?
Bryan Lacy (01:01:04):
That's what's happening here, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:01:06):
You mentioned this, but we're in CDT. What does that mean?
Bryan Lacy (01:01:10):
Central Daylight Time.
Christopher Kinsler (01:01:12):
And how is that different from our time here in Ohio?
Bryan Lacy (01:01:17):
So they're one hour behind us here in Eastern Ohio.
Christopher Kinsler (01:01:25):
And I've advanced to page eight. What is the new information here?
Bryan Lacy (01:01:30):
So this is the same map or information about the cell site that was used and then overlaid with a receipt that I was provided by the Belmont County Sheriff's Office. And this is the receipt of the phone that was purchased from Walmart that we're talking about here. And I know that's the phone because I've highlighted there in yellow down there. Walmart recorded the serial number of that phone, the IMEI or International Mobile Equipment Identification, basically a serial number, that number is the same number that's in the cell phone records for the number ending in 4775. The date and time on that is 9/19 of 21 at 5:05 PM, so slightly before it started having activity on the network.
Christopher Kinsler (01:02:21):
And you're referencing the bottom of the receipt when you say the time?
Bryan Lacy (01:02:24):
Oh, yes. Yes. Yes, I am.
Christopher Kinsler (01:02:25):
And to be clear, is that military time or is that 12 or 24-hour time?
Bryan Lacy (01:02:29):
24- hour time.
Christopher Kinsler (01:02:35):
Page nine, can you explain to the jurors what this map is depicting?
Bryan Lacy (01:02:42):
So this map is a wider picture here that basically spans from Illinois all the way over to Ohio and Pennsylvania area in terms of the area. I'm leaving off at the last time from the previous slide around 6:11 PM Central Time and covering a timeframe all the way up to September 20th at 3:43 AM. So what is that? A little over six, seven, eight, nine. And they're one hour behind us. So what is that, about eight, nine hours? So what I'm showing here is the bottom left-hand corner. You start with the blue. Sorry. You got the Walmart shown there in the initial activation and I call out that activity there in that call out box. It's the same one we just saw. Then the next activity here is near Prospect, Kentucky at 10:53 PM. Then you have activity near Cincinnati, Ohio at 12:08 AM on the 20th. And then finally ending at 3:43 AM on the 20th in Belmont, Ohio. And these are cell tower activity.
(01:04:05)
I'm showing all the cell towers that were utilized during that time, basically showing travel. What I've left off of this map is all the dots that I talked about before. I'm not showing every cell tower along the way because if I did, you wouldn't be able to see this. It would be so many of them. There's thousands. So basically I'm showing travel from Walmart. There's a point of interest here in the middle that we'll cover. I'm calling it Bridge Toll in Prospect, Kentucky. I have another slide to address that in a second, but travel basically from Walmart to the area of the crime scene.
Christopher Kinsler (01:04:45):
Page 10 of your report, what does this map depict?
Bryan Lacy (01:04:48):
So on this slide, this is kind of a zoomed in for the timeframe that I was talking about in Prospect, Kentucky. I'm showing that there's a cell site activity here along the interstate. And, I'm sorry, I can't read the number, it's so small, what interstate that is, but there's an interstate here that crosses the Ohio River or a bridge that crosses the Ohio River. There's activity on the west side, a data activity session on the west side on the 19th at 10:52 PM. And then there's activity on the east side from a cell tower on the east side at 10:53 PM. Again, data. And I'm showing the orange spot as location of a license plate reader or a surveillance camera that captured something and that's on the next slide.
Christopher Kinsler (01:05:44):
So two things. You mentioned that this point here, it's data. What does that mean?
Bryan Lacy (01:05:53):
So I talked about call detail records. Data records are similar. So when you initiate a data session or you're in the middle of using a data session, your phone records... Mainly for billing purposes so that cell phones can make money, your phone records when that data session was started or initiated or continued, the cell phone company logs and the date and the time and the cell tower that was used. Very similar to a phone call or a text message.
Christopher Kinsler (01:06:20):
When something like this event or this activity is happening at 10:52 and 09 seconds, excuse me, 10: 52:09 PM on the 19th, does that necessarily mean the user is using the phone or actively activating the phone?
Bryan Lacy (01:06:35):
Well, the user is probably using the phone, but they don't have to be actually holding it and manipulating it. There could be many things that could be happening. Could be streaming something, music could be streaming, video. You could have some type of a map program up that's constantly feeding your phone data. You could be doing none of those and maybe somebody posts something on your Facebook page and you get a notification pop up on your Facebook. That's also a data thing that you didn't have any input in that happening. It just, the data is sent to your phone at that particular point in time.
Christopher Kinsler (01:07:17):
Okay. So is it fair to say that when you have one of these activities, it could be user initiated, meaning users actually interfacing with the phone. Is that correct?
Bryan Lacy (01:07:26):
That is correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:07:28):
Could it also be just a program or an app that the users opened that's running?
Bryan Lacy (01:07:33):
Yeah, your phone is constantly using data.
Christopher Kinsler (01:07:35):
And it could also be neither of those two things, but you got a notification or something else that's sort of coming from outside the phone?
Bryan Lacy (01:07:43):
That's correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:07:43):
Okay. You also mentioned the road. If I zoomed in, would you be able to see which road it was?
(01:07:57)
Oops. Your Honor, may I?
Judge (01:08:38):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:08:41):
Could the witness just step up and look at the big screen? I'm having trouble zooming in on it.
Bryan Lacy (01:08:47):
It looks to me like-
Speaker 5 (01:08:47):
Your Honor, we're good with this. Go ahead.
Christopher Kinsler (01:08:49):
Go ahead. If I told you it's 265.
Bryan Lacy (01:08:51):
I was going to say it looks to me to be 265.
Christopher Kinsler (01:08:54):
Okay. Thank you.
Bryan Lacy (01:08:54):
Yeah.
Christopher Kinsler (01:09:01):
We've advanced to page 11 and this appears to be the same map with some additional information. What is that?
Bryan Lacy (01:09:06):
So this is a still shot of a photo that was provided to me by Belmont County Sheriff's Office of a surveillance video or a license plate reader that captured a motorcycle, individual on a motorcycle. And the date of this time was 10:52:44 Eastern Daylight Time, which this photo was captured basically to show that this photo was captured in between the two cell tower usages for that phone that ends in 4775, the target or subject phone.
Christopher Kinsler (01:09:53):
Page 12, what does this map depict?
Bryan Lacy (01:09:59):
So with the target phone ending in 4775, I left off on-
Bryan Lacy (01:10:00):
... good phone ending in 4775. I left off on three slides ago showing the travel around 3:43 AM. So basically I'm showing where this phone, the target phone was on September 20th, 2021 between 3:43 AM and 9:18 PM of the 20th. The legend up at the top left is the crime scene, the victim's address in Belmont, Ohio. And as I mentioned before, I'm showing cell towers on this one, the blue dots are the cell sites in the area. So basically showing that in this timeframe, this red phone was in the general area of Belmont, Ohio. At some point, it looks like the phone goes a little bit to the west towards St. Clairsville. I'm sorry, to the east towards St. Clairsville. There's some activity there, middle of the day, but then the phone goes back over towards Belmont early evening-ish.
Christopher Kinsler (01:11:07):
So you indicated at the top there, the activity summary, this is from September 20th, 2021 at 3:43 AM. Is that the first time this subject phone connects with any of the towers depicted in this map?
Bryan Lacy (01:11:22):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:11:23):
And at least on this display or in this page, page 12, it continues till 9:18 PM on the same date. Is that right?
Bryan Lacy (01:11:30):
That's correct.
Christopher Kinsler (01:11:31):
You mentioned the crime scenes called out and the legend here is the actual location or best approximation of the actual location this red box here?
Bryan Lacy (01:11:40):
That's correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:11:41):
And that's the 67140 Trails In Drive, Belmont, Ohio?
Bryan Lacy (01:11:45):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:11:49):
Throughout all this time, all these activities on here, are any of these calls?
Bryan Lacy (01:11:54):
No, this is all data activity.
Christopher Kinsler (01:12:04):
We're moving to page 13. What does this map depict?
Bryan Lacy (01:12:07):
So page 13, we're going to look at the red phone, the subject phone. And as I mentioned before, the green phone 7299, that's Thomas Strussion's known phone. And then 1057 was Angela Strussion's phone. And what I'm starting with, starting at 9:28 PM, and I should call out the legend here again, the crime scene is shown, the red box here, calling out Salsa Joe's Elm Grove restaurant in Wheeling, West Virginia shown here on the map. And if we start in the bottom right corner of this map, you see some activity, some data sessions from the green phone. This is where I mentioned that these... Because it's green, I know it's the green phone. I know that's Tom Strussion's phone. Green phone had some activity in the area of Salsa Joe's. And then I've shown all the cell towers that we use. So this activity goes from 9:52 to 9:54.
(01:13:11)
At 9:54, there's an outgoing call to the blue phone that's highlighted in blue. If you can see that, it's to Angela. And that call lasted 974 seconds. And then you can see another set of activity at 10:02 PM from the green phone. Looks like it's traveling eastbound, consistent with being along I-70.
(01:13:38)
And then finally, if you go to this further left hand call out box... I should mention, so the green phone down here at 9:28 is showing an outgoing call. I'm sorry, 9:54 is showing an outgoing call. That same call is shown here on the blue phone, the second line item down, it's getting an incoming call from the green phone. So basically I can tell the green phone here, the blue phone is here, so they're not together. But then if you look around 10:01, 10:13 PM, there's data sessions, the green and blue phone, both utilizing the same cell tower. And then at 10:15 here, 10:15:18, there's an incoming call to the blue phone from the green phone, Tom to Angela, and they're both utilizing the same cell tower. So these last two transactions are both parties of that and they're both using the same cell tower at that point in time.
Christopher Kinsler (01:14:37):
I want to make sure I heard you correctly. You're describing the movement of the green phone that's associated with Tom Strussion. That was westward, correct? From Elm Grove to Belmont.
Bryan Lacy (01:14:48):
Yes. Westward. Yes. The other thing to point out is there was no activity for the red phone during that window, no data activity that was mappable during that window. And also on that map, I've shown all the cell towers, but I didn't show all the timestamps of each cell tower just for clarity purposes, just so you can read it easier, not get too much information.
Christopher Kinsler (01:15:16):
In this timeframe, the blue phone that is associated with Angela Strussion and these various activities, I think you've mentioned calls. Are all of these... Is she always hitting off the same tower, her phone hitting off the same tower?
Bryan Lacy (01:15:29):
Yeah, her tower is hitting off the cell tower and sector that faces the general direction of the crime scene. Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:15:36):
The particular cell tower that you were just illuminating there, is that one located right off I-70?
Bryan Lacy (01:15:41):
It is. I believe it's at the rest stop on I-70.
Christopher Kinsler (01:15:48):
Page 14, what does this map depict?
Bryan Lacy (01:15:53):
So page 14, just stepping forward from the last activity left off at 10:15 PM with Tom Strussion's phone getting in the area of his residence, this picks up where that left off. So I'm looking at a timeframe between 10:16 PM and 11:37 PM. I'm zoomed into the crime scene here. And if you'll start on the bottom right-hand corner, show the cell sites that were used on September 20th. The green phone has a data session at 9:16. The red phone has a data session at 10:18. The blue phone has a data session at 11:01, and then the red phone has another data session at 11:18. All three phones are having data sessions around the same time using the same cell tower, closest cell tower to the residence, pointing in the direction of the residence. And then at 11:37 PM, there's a cell tower activity on a cell tower just west of the residence near Interstate 70 at 11:37 PM. For the red phone, I should say.
Christopher Kinsler (01:17:21):
And I should clarify, the data you have up here for this timeframe from 10:16 PM to 11:37 PM, these are all the activities for all three of those phones. So those phones are always depicted on this map. Is that fair?
Bryan Lacy (01:17:34):
That's correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:17:40):
And then page 15 of your report, what does this map depict?
Bryan Lacy (01:17:45):
So page 15 is leaving off or starting up where we've left off in the last slide. So if we're just looking at the target phone here, at 11:37 PM, we have this data activity up near Belmont, Ohio, and I'm basically showing travel to the southwest. I've indicated a couple different cell sites along the way. So you start at 11:37 in Belmont, 12:58 near Columbus, a cell site near Columbus at 2:38 AM, cell site near Cincinnati. Keep going, Louisville, Nashville. This bottom box is important. This is the call that I mentioned earlier that was discovered. There's a cell site activation here in Jackson, Tennessee. And specifically if we look at 7:03:13, there's an outgoing call to a number that ends in 3870, which I understand is another associate in this case.
Mr. Shamansky (01:18:53):
Object. Could we approach please?
Judge (01:23:24):
Yes.
(01:23:24)
Back on the record. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the parties need to have a discussion. So we're going to take a 15-minute recess. You can stretch your legs. Mr. [inaudible 01:23:32] going to take you back to the jury room. Just remember the orders of this court. Thank you.
(01:23:32)
All right, Mr. Shamansky, hold on for a moment. We're still on the record. We're outside the presence of the jury. As of right now, we have an objection from the defendant as to the witness's last statement he testified to. And then I understand the parties are attempting to resolve another issue. If you're unable to resolve either one, the court will rule from the bench prior to the jury coming back in. But as of right now, we're applying a 15-minute recess.
Mr. Shamansky (01:24:35):
Thank you, Judge.
Judge (01:24:36):
All right.
(01:24:36)
[inaudible 01:24:42]. We're back on the record outside the presence of the jury. Let's start with the state of Ohio. Where are we at with the issues raised by Mr. Shamansky?
Christopher Kinsler (01:44:10):
Your Honor, I think the first issue, if I understand it, was the witness referred to a person of a known associate. The state is okay with striking that answer. The state's going to proceed with another question rather than asking this witness the identity of that known associate or the person associated by the investigation with that particular phone number. We previously admitted state's Exhibit 25A. We're going to show that to him. It was testified to by another witness and ask him if that is the same phone number that he identified in the slide that we just saw, and ask him the subscriber information on that document that's associated with it and proceed from there.
Mr. Shamansky (01:44:51):
No problem with that, Your Honor.
Judge (01:44:52):
All right. Any other issues before the jury's brought in from the state?
Christopher Kinsler (01:44:57):
No, Your Honor.
Judge (01:44:57):
Mr. Shamansky?
Mr. Shamansky (01:45:02):
No, we're good, sir. Thank you.
Judge (01:45:03):
Okay.
Judge Berhalter (01:45:01):
Mr. Shamansky?
Samuel Shamansky (01:45:02):
No, we're good, sir. Thank you.
Judge Berhalter (01:46:58):
Okay. Mr. Barnes, please bring the jury in. Absolutely.
(01:46:58)
Please everyone be seated. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Mr. Lacy's last comment, specifically "known associate," is being stricken from the record. You're not to consider those two words for any purpose at all.
(01:47:09)
With that said, sir, reminding you, you're still under oath.
Bryan Lacy (01:47:19):
Thank you.
Judge Berhalter (01:47:20):
All right. And Mr. Kinsler, you may proceed.
Christopher Kinsler (01:47:20):
Thank you, Your Honor. I'm going to resume on Page 15 of State's Exhibit 114. Special Agent, we were speaking about, I think, the outgoing call depicted in this call-out box here.
Bryan Lacy (01:47:43):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:47:44):
And to be clear, that's taking place at 7:03:13 a.m.?
Bryan Lacy (01:47:49):
That is correct, yes. On the 21st, September 21st.
Christopher Kinsler (01:47:52):
Okay. You described that as an outgoing call?
Bryan Lacy (01:47:55):
That's an outgoing call, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:47:56):
From the subject phone to this number right here, 580-372-3870?
Bryan Lacy (01:48:03):
That is correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:48:04):
Okay. I'm going to show you something that's been previously marked as State's Exhibit 25A. First of all, have you seen this record before?
Bryan Lacy (01:48:16):
Yes, I have seen this before, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:48:18):
Okay. Can you tell us what sort of record are we looking at?
Bryan Lacy (01:48:22):
These are billing records associated with the phone number.
Christopher Kinsler (01:48:30):
I'm sorry, do you need me to zoom in?
Bryan Lacy (01:48:35):
Again, these are billing records for the phone number 580-372-3870.
Christopher Kinsler (01:48:43):
Okay. And who is the subscriber at that point?
Bryan Lacy (01:48:49):
It's listed at the top of this billing record as Carolyn Babcock.
Christopher Kinsler (01:48:55):
Okay. What does subscriber mean?
Bryan Lacy (01:48:56):
What does subscriber mean?
Christopher Kinsler (01:48:58):
Yes.
Bryan Lacy (01:48:58):
A subscriber is basically what name and information, address, the phone is registered to.
Christopher Kinsler (01:49:06):
Okay. You described these records as billing records?
Bryan Lacy (01:49:10):
Yeah, they're billing records I believe from U.S. Cellular.
Christopher Kinsler (01:49:13):
Okay. How does that differ from call detail records?
Bryan Lacy (01:49:16):
So I mentioned before, call detail records look like this, but billing records don't have cell site location information during the activity shown in these records. So this is just a standard bill you'd get in the mail or you'd get online emailed to you showing your activity for the month.
Christopher Kinsler (01:49:35):
So you've seen records for this particular phone number ending in 3870 from U.S. Cellular, is that correct?
Bryan Lacy (01:49:41):
Yes, I have seen these. Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:49:42):
Any of those records have the location data you're describing?
Bryan Lacy (01:49:45):
They do not.
Christopher Kinsler (01:49:46):
Okay. Do these carriers keep location data forever?
Bryan Lacy (01:49:50):
No. No. Each provider's different. U.S. Cellular, I think they keep their location data, the call detail records for one year.
Christopher Kinsler (01:50:00):
And I want to direct you to the bottom right-hand side. I'll illuminate it for you. There's a number 220. Is that the call we've been talking about?
Bryan Lacy (01:50:12):
Well, this is the U.S. Cellular record of that call, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:50:17):
Okay.
Bryan Lacy (01:50:17):
The record I'm referring to and on my slide is the call detail record on the red phone.
Christopher Kinsler (01:50:25):
Okay.
Bryan Lacy (01:50:26):
The target phone.
Christopher Kinsler (01:50:27):
But we're talking about two different ends of the same communication?
Bryan Lacy (01:50:31):
That's correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:50:32):
This would be the record for that phone number we've been talking about here, and then you were talking about the subject phone. You have records from that as well?
Bryan Lacy (01:50:41):
That is correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:50:46):
And we were speaking about your slide page, or excuse me, your report page 15, and you mentioned this outgoing call that we're just speaking out to the number ending in 3870. Was there any other ingoing or... Well, I should say, were there any other outgoing calls from the subject phone?
Bryan Lacy (01:51:06):
No, there were no other... During the timeframe that I looked at, no other outgoing calls from the subject phone other than this outgoing call referenced here.
Christopher Kinsler (01:51:17):
Did the phone accept any incoming calls during that timeframe?
Bryan Lacy (01:51:23):
No, the phone didn't have any incoming phone calls. The red phone, the target phone, did not have any incoming phone calls that it accepted.
Christopher Kinsler (01:51:32):
You also have a call-out here, this yellow box. What is that?
Bryan Lacy (01:51:39):
So a little bit hard to see. The yellow box in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, that's an address I was provided for one of the Griffin addresses in Whitesboro, Oklahoma.
Christopher Kinsler (01:51:52):
Would that address be 30225 River Road-
Bryan Lacy (01:51:55):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:51:56):
... Whitesboro? And you have a call-out box here on the bottom left. What's the significance of that?
Bryan Lacy (01:52:04):
So with the records that we got back for the target phone, this was the last location activity, recorded location activity, for this target phone at 10:40 a.m. on the 21st of September, utilizing a cell tower in Benton, Arkansas.
Christopher Kinsler (01:52:31):
So am I correct in understanding your testimony today is this phone was activated on the 19th September, 2021, at about a little after 5:00 p.m.?
Bryan Lacy (01:52:39):
That's correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:52:43):
And then this phone, the phone associated with this number ceased communication within his system September 21st, 2021, at approximately 10:40 p.m.?
Bryan Lacy (01:52:54):
That's correct, yes. 10:40 a.m.
Christopher Kinsler (01:52:57):
I'm sorry. Thank you. 10:40 a.m. Page 16, are we moving on to another segment of your report?
Bryan Lacy (01:53:07):
Yeah. In this next section, we're going to take a look at the AT&T phone number ending in 0229 associated with Andrew Griffin and an AT&T phone number ending in 4885 associated with Aimy Chase. And these phone numbers also are highlighted in colors. The orange phone is the one that ends in 0229 and pink, purple, magenta is the phone number ending in 4885. And this is also from time period of September 18th to 21st, 2021.
Christopher Kinsler (01:53:45):
Page 17, what are we looking at here?
Bryan Lacy (01:53:51):
So if you look, we're looking at the activity of the phone ending in 0229, the orange phone in this case, from a period of 9-18, 8:27 p.m. to 9-19 at 3:11 p.m. Central Time. The yellow call-out box here is kind of hard to see in the middle of the screen. It's an address I was provided for Griffin, River Road in Whitesboro. Again, the blue dots are the cell sites in the area. And then if you'll look, starting with this call-out box here, you'll look at some cell site activity over on this cell site to the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. And the first activity there on 9-18 that we're calling out or that I'm showing is at 8:27 p.m. It's an incoming call, 458 seconds, from a phone number that we're going to look at later that's associated with Stacey Griffin.
Christopher Kinsler (01:54:59):
Okay.
Bryan Lacy (01:54:59):
And then you can see the cell tower it's using out in the general area of Muse or Whitesboro area.
Christopher Kinsler (01:55:08):
When you're looking at this cell tower that's displayed to the right, am I correct in thinking you have two different sectors illuminated there or two separate sectors demonstrated?
Bryan Lacy (01:55:18):
Yes. So there's two sectors illustrated here. So during this activity, some of the activity was off this sector pointing to the northwest and some of the activity was off this sector pointing to the northeast direction. I think a key thing to remember is these lines that are shown on a map, there's no lines drawn in the ground that says the cell tower signal ends right here. These are just showing the direction of the radio frequency signal. That doesn't necessarily indicate movement using different sectors. The phone could be right there in between, utilizing both sectors, depending on the signal strength at that given time. So I can't say one way or the other.
Christopher Kinsler (01:56:04):
So is it possible, even though if I'm understanding you correctly, you've illuminated this as a sector off to the east or northeast there. Is it possible the phone is outside those orange lines?
Bryan Lacy (01:56:17):
Yes, of course. Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:56:19):
Is it fair to say when we're talking about this, you're just getting general ID as a possible location of phone?
Bryan Lacy (01:56:24):
Yes. I just know the cell site and sector that the phone used and know a general area of a phone.
Christopher Kinsler (01:56:32):
Page 18, what are we looking at here?
Bryan Lacy (01:56:35):
So on the last slide, I left off with some activity up near... A cell site usage up near Talihina. So I'm starting this slide with that same activity. I'm sorry, 3:11 p.m. on the 19th, and I'm showing activity of the orange phone or the phone ending in 0229. I'm showing activity on that phone until 7:20 p.m. of Central Daylight Time. And basically what I'm showing here is travel of this phone.
(01:57:08)
So if you follow this diagram around and these cell towers that there's activity on, it's working in a clockwise motion there. Ending down with the last cell tower shown on this is a data transaction at 7:20 p.m. on the 19th. I think of note, there's an incoming call at 5:35 p.m. on the 19th and that call went to voicemail. It was unanswered, transferred to voicemail. I should point out to you that that purple call-out box down at the bottom of the screen there, that's an address I was provided for Cole in Hugo, Oklahoma.
Christopher Kinsler (01:58:00):
And so on this slide, all the activity that's registering every time this phone is connecting with the tower, is it true that it's data with the exception of this one incoming call?
Bryan Lacy (01:58:10):
That is correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (01:58:11):
And that one incoming call went to voicemail?
Bryan Lacy (01:58:13):
That is correct.
Christopher Kinsler (01:58:30):
Okay. And I'm just cycling back to the previous page, Page 17. On that one you've displayed on the September 18th, from 8:27 p.m. to September 19th at 3:11 p.m., these call boxes, there's actually several calls, both ingoing and outgoing and a number of those are answered; is that correct? Or number of incoming calls answered, and a number of outgoing calls.
Bryan Lacy (01:58:54):
Yeah, I guess I missed it too. On the 19th at 2: 09, the second-to-last line down there, there's an incoming call to the orange phone, the 0229 phone, that went to voicemail.
Christopher Kinsler (01:59:15):
Okay. Moving forward to Page 19, what is displayed on this slide?
Bryan Lacy (01:59:18):
So I'm displaying on this slide activity on the orange phone associated with Andrew Griffin and the pink or purple phone here ending in 4885 associated with Aimy Chase from a time period of September 19th, 2021, 7:00 p.m. Central Time to the 20th at 12:00 p.m. Central Time. And also, I was given an address for Cole in Hugo, Oklahoma, show the relative activity in reference to that location of the cell tower used relative to that location.
(01:59:56)
And starting at 7:04, there's an incoming call to the pink phone ending in 4885. That incoming call is from the number ending in 3870. And this bounces back and forth. I said 7:00 p.m. So technically, I should start down here. Here's the first activity, 7:00 hitting this cell tower down here. There's an incoming call down there also from a number ending in 3870. There's some other activity up until 7:28 on the 19th on the orange phone and the purple phone or the pink phone.
(02:00:54)
Then we jump up here to this box on the 19th. So there's some activity at 7:04 on the pink phone, incoming call from 3870. Then there's some data. There's a data transaction from the orange phone at 8:20. 9:48, there's an incoming text message from 3904, another text message, incoming text message at 9:48 from 3904. That's the phone we're going to talk about later associated with Stacey Griffin. Basically, what I'm showing is, just to summarize everything that you have here is, these two phones are in the area of Hugo, Oklahoma, during this window that I've shown here.
Christopher Kinsler (02:01:44):
Well, let me ask you this. The fact that we're talking about at least two different towers, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:01:50):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (02:01:51):
And then on one of those towers, two different sectors, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:01:53):
That is correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (02:01:55):
If a phone is hitting off one tower and then another or one sector and another, does that necessarily mean the phone was moving?
Bryan Lacy (02:02:02):
It doesn't necessarily mean that the phone was moving. It sometimes can indicate a phone is moving, but maybe at one point the phone was in the front yard and saw that one cell tower better and then it went to the backyard. I'm just giving an example of why a phone might use a different cell tower or sector. Maybe the backyard has a view of the other cell tower. So it's just one example of a possibility where a phone could be in the same general area and pick up different cell tower sectors during that time.
Christopher Kinsler (02:02:33):
For the phone ending in 0229, the orange phone associated with Andrew Griffin, are there any outgoing calls in this time range?
Bryan Lacy (02:02:44):
Not during this timeframe, no.
Christopher Kinsler (02:02:46):
Are there any incoming calls that are picked up?
Bryan Lacy (02:02:50):
No, I see no incoming calls that are answered. Just some incoming and outgoing text messages from that phone, from the orange phone.
Christopher Kinsler (02:02:59):
We've talked about data, but I don't recall if we talked about SMS. When you see on 9:48 p.m. in the top right call-out box, it says, "Incoming SMS," what does that mean?
Bryan Lacy (02:03:09):
Basically a text message.
Christopher Kinsler (02:03:15):
Okay. I think you mentioned this, but the entries that are in pink or magenta, that's for the 4885 phone and that's associated with Aimy Chase; is that correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:03:25):
That's correct, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (02:03:30):
Page 20 of your report, what does this map depict?
Bryan Lacy (02:03:34):
Just continuing to cover the entire timeframe. I left off at 12:00 p.m. on the previous slide. So on September 20th, this slide covers activity from the orange phone ending in 0229 and the pink phone ending in 4885 from 12:15 p.m. on the 20th to 1:47 p.m., just breaking down some of the movement on the phone.
Christopher Kinsler (02:04:01):
Just for the benefit of the jury, the last slide we looked at was a close-up of Hugo; is that correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:04:06):
That's correct.
Christopher Kinsler (02:04:07):
Would you illuminate Hugo on the screen for me?
Bryan Lacy (02:04:09):
Hugo's right there in the center of the screen.
Christopher Kinsler (02:04:12):
Is it fair to say this map is a broader view?
Bryan Lacy (02:04:15):
Yes, this is a broader view. Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (02:04:17):
Okay. I'm sorry, please continue.
Bryan Lacy (02:04:20):
And so the purple box is the address for Cole, and then I also have a green box down here for a Farm and Feed on U. S. 271 in Grant, Oklahoma, that I was asked to look at. But on this slide, what I see here is at starting upper right-hand corner, call-out box here, you see some activity data sessions from the pink phone starting at 12:15. Then you see a data session on the orange phone around 12:20. And then again, orange phone data session at 1:20 and the pink phone at 1:25, all utilizing the same cell tower and sector.
(02:05:10)
Then I see some activity on this cell tower and sector and this cell tower and sector, approximately the same time. So this one has the orange phone at 1:44 p.m. This bottom cell tower and sector indicated is at 1:44 for the pink phone. But then three minutes later, there's some activity off this cell tower and sector for the pink phone at 1:47 p.m.
Christopher Kinsler (02:05:37):
Something I want to draw to your attention. I noticed the top-right call-out box, there's data at 12:20 and 30 seconds, and then there's another data session at 1:20 and 30 seconds, exactly an hour later. Is that significant to you in any way?
Bryan Lacy (02:05:55):
Yeah. AT&T caps its data sessions to one hour. So if you were in the middle of streaming something using a map program, after an hour, they'll cap and restart the data session for billing purposes.
Christopher Kinsler (02:06:09):
And I'm going to move to the next page. Page 22, I think we're looking at either the same or a similar mapped timeframe.
Bryan Lacy (02:06:22):
I'm sorry. You might have skipped a page.
Christopher Kinsler (02:06:24):
I'm sorry. 2021. Is that your next line or next page?
Bryan Lacy (02:06:30):
Yeah. Yeah. So leaving off where we were at last time, the next set of activity, again, starting at 2:22 p.m. on the 20th to 2:30 p.m. on the 20th, showing the orange phone and the pink phone. Same addresses that were called out last time are the same addresses shown in this map. Basically, more or less the same exploded or zoomed-out view. And on this one, we have a bunch of activity around... Well, you have one activity on the pink phone at 2:22. We have some other activity on the pink phone around 2:22, utilizing this cell tower and this cell tower around the same time. And then there's an incoming call at 2:22 to the orange phone that went to voicemail.
(02:07:29)
And then rounding it out, there's some other activity on the pink phone. There's some activity on the orange phone at 2:30 p.m., right around the same time at 2:30 p.m. There's also on the pink phone up here, but there's a couple on the pink phone down here as well, 2:28 and 2:29 p.m. So basically some activity between those cell towers for this timeframe at 2:22. The phones would be somewhere between these two cell towers in the timeframe of 2:22 to 2:30.
Christopher Kinsler (02:08:03):
Page 22 of your report, what additional information is there?
Bryan Lacy (02:08:07):
Yeah, it's obviously very hard to see on the screen, but this is a receipt I was provided by the Beaumont County Sheriff's Office, and it's a receipt from the Farm and Feed on U.S. 271 in Grant, Oklahoma. And this is going to be way too small for me to read, but from my notes in the call-out box, I know that that time on this receipt is September 20th, 2021, at 2:22 p.m., just more or less consistent with the cell phone activity at that time.
Christopher Kinsler (02:08:46):
Page 23 of your report?
Bryan Lacy (02:08:51):
Just continuing forward with the orange phone and the pink phone, a little more zoomed-in this time. Again, we're looking at the same two addresses as well, the Cole address and the Farm and Feed address. We're looking at, on this slide, at 3:17, there's activity on the orange phone, data activity, utilizing this cell tower and sector. There's also data activity on the pink phone, utilizing this cell tower and sector at 3:18 p.m., about a minute apart.
(02:09:29)
And then showing this cell tower down closer to Hugo, in the middle of the screen there. And again, there's data activity on the orange phone at 3:56 p.m. and date activity on the pink phone at 3:57 p.m. So again, within a minute of each other, using the same cell tower and sector.
Christopher Kinsler (02:09:52):
Page 24 of your report?
Bryan Lacy (02:09:55):
Just continuing the timeframe here, the next set of activity we're looking at for both of these phones is at 4:51 p.m. to 6:21 p.m. So starting at 4:51 p.m., the pink phone... Actually from 4:51, start with the pink phone. From 4:52 p.m. all the way down to 6:21 p.m., the pink phone is utilizing the cell tower down there near maybe the center of Hugo. Right around the same time, at 4:51 p.m., there's an incoming call to the orange phone from 3904 number, and that phone number is using a different cell tower.
Christopher Kinsler (02:10:42):
Did I hear you say incoming call?
Bryan Lacy (02:10:44):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (02:10:45):
Is that an incoming call?
Bryan Lacy (02:10:45):
No, I'm sorry. Incoming text message.
Christopher Kinsler (02:10:50):
Okay. And that 3904 number I think you testified is the number associated with Stacey Griffin?
Bryan Lacy (02:10:54):
Yes, that's correct.
Christopher Kinsler (02:10:56):
The text messages that are going between Andrew Griffin's phone and the orange phone, to the extent it's getting text messages or sending text messages, are they all to that number during this timeframe?
Bryan Lacy (02:11:08):
I'm sorry. Repeat that question, please.
Christopher Kinsler (02:11:10):
The text messages that are going back and forth between the Andrew Griffin phone and another phone, is it always Stacey Griffin's phone or is there another number involved?
Bryan Lacy (02:11:19):
There may be another number. I'd have to look at the records to refresh my recollection on that.
Christopher Kinsler (02:11:25):
And I'm sorry, do you have anything else on this page?
Bryan Lacy (02:11:32):
The number we spoke about earlier, there's some outgoing calls to a number ending in 3870 from the pink phone.
Christopher Kinsler (02:11:42):
Page 25?
Bryan Lacy (02:11:48):
So again, continuing to look at the timeframe here, talk about activity on the orange phone 0229 and the pink phone ending in 4885. This is activity from 6: 36 p.m. on September 20th to September 21st at 6:58 a.m. See that the cell towers being used and sectors are in the Hugo, Oklahoma, area. The orange phone again has an outgoing text message to the 3904 associated with Stacey Griffin. There's a couple of incoming and outgoing text messages during this window between that number, but there's also data sessions between both the pink and the orange phone utilizing the cell tower in this window that I'm talking about.
Christopher Kinsler (02:12:45):
And that window being the 20th at 6:36 p.m. through the 21st at 6:58 a.m.?
Bryan Lacy (02:12:53):
Yes. And then there's this other cell tower and sector. There's some usage off of that tower as well during the same timeframe.
Christopher Kinsler (02:13:02):
Page 26?
Bryan Lacy (02:13:07):
So in this one, I was asked to go back and look at where is the red phone when it made a phone call to another number? Where was this when it made its only phone call to the 3870 number? Where was this phone in relation to the known phone number, 0229, for Andrew Griffin? So I'm showing this on the map here. So when this phone call is made to a number ending in 3870 by the target phone, at that point in time, the closest data point I could find was there was an outgoing text message. Approximately two minutes later at 7:05 a.m., there's an outgoing text message to Stacey Griffin from the known phone for Andrew Griffin, and that activity occurred in Hugo, Oklahoma.
Christopher Kinsler (02:14:01):
Okay. And the timeframe of that call was 7:03 and 13 seconds a.m. on the 21st, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:14:12):
Yeah. And I'm also showing some other addresses here.
Christopher Kinsler (02:14:16):
And then that outgoing message from Andrew Griffin's phone, that is at 7:05 and 32 seconds, so about two minutes later?
Bryan Lacy (02:14:24):
That's correct.
Christopher Kinsler (02:14:31):
Page 27?
Bryan Lacy (02:14:35):
So on this phone, we're just looking at the orange phone ending in 0229. We start off at that activity I just spoke about at 7:05 Central Time on the 21st and start off in the bottom call-out box down here. At 7:05 a.m. and 7:19 a.m., there's an outgoing and an incoming text message with the 3905 number associated with Stacey Griffin. There's an incoming call at 8:06 a.m. from a 740 area code number. That call went to voicemail. The next activity on this is at 8:42 a.m. There's an incoming call from area code 918 number. That call also went to voicemail, but it looks like the phone has started to go northward. There's a data transaction at 9:26. Again, heading up closer to Talihina. And then all of this activity in the right-hand box here is utilizing a cell tower near the town of Muse or Whitesboro area. I've shown the Griffin address as a yellow call-out box here. And just to go down through the list here, at 10:03 a.m., there's an incoming call from a 740 number. At 10:32, there's an incoming call from a 304 number and so forth. There's nine incoming calls all the way up until 1:21 p.m. that I'm showing here. The last activity I'm showing on this map, all of those calls went to voicemail.
Christopher Kinsler (02:16:30):
Okay. So none of the calls on the orange phone associated with Andrew Griffin, none of the calls depicted on this slide are outgoing calls?
Bryan Lacy (02:16:37):
That's correct.
Christopher Kinsler (02:16:38):
There are several incoming calls here, here, and... Well, not all of the data in this call-out, but all these are incoming calls that go to voicemail with the exception of any text. I'm excluding text messages, I guess.
Bryan Lacy (02:16:55):
That's correct.
Christopher Kinsler (02:16:55):
Okay. Page 28?
Bryan Lacy (02:17:04):
So now we're looking at a timeframe of 1:48 p.m., the next timeframe of activity on the 21st from 1:48 p.m. to 3:38 p.m. And we're seeing during this time period, just this one cell site and sector had activity on it. At 1:48 p.m. and 10 seconds p.m., there's an outgoing call, the first outgoing call in this entire time period that I've shown to a number starting in 740. And that call was 1,584 seconds long.
(02:17:43)
The next phone call here at 2:15 p.m. on the 21st is an outgoing call to the number that ended in 3870, that U.S. Cellular number. And then at 2:19 p.m., the third line down here, there's an outgoing call of three seconds to 3904, Stacey Griffin's number. And then approximately 10 other phone calls, incoming and outgoing, where there is a duration and it did connect and there is some activity.
Christopher Kinsler (02:18:26):
And I think you mentioned this 1:48 and 10 second p.m. outgoing call. That's the first outgoing call from Andrew Griffin's phone that you've depicted on your report?
Bryan Lacy (02:18:38):
Yes. Prior to or after the 18th, somewhere around the 8:00 p.m. hour.
Christopher Kinsler (02:18:49):
So I think this is your first slide, and walk back to the first slide. What timeframe did you begin your report, at least the part of your report pertaining to Andrew Griffin's phone?
Bryan Lacy (02:19:00):
Yeah, September 18th of 2021 at 8:27 p.m.
Christopher Kinsler (02:19:20):
Okay. So for September 18th, 2021, at 8:27, so 1:48 p.m. on the 21st, at least for that timeframe, there's no outgoing calls from that phone?
Bryan Lacy (02:19:34):
That's correct.
Christopher Kinsler (02:19:41):
Now I believe we're moving on to another part of your report on Page 29.
Bryan Lacy (02:19:46):
Yeah. So in this final section here, we're going to talk about the phone ending in 3904 associated with Stacey Griffin from a time period of September 18th to September 21st of 2021.
Christopher Kinsler (02:20:01):
Page 30?
Christopher Kinsler (02:20:00):
Page 30.
Bryan Lacy (02:20:05):
So, the time period that we started with here was the 18th at 8:27 PM. This corresponded to the activity on the orange phone, the call that connected with the teal phone here, the phone associated with Stacey Griffin. So, I'm showing the location of her phone during that activity. Her phone was utilizing that first call there on the top of the switch at 8:27, outgoing call to the orange phone. Her phone was using a cell site to the west of Hugo, Oklahoma, maybe near a town of Boswell, Oklahoma.
(02:20:46)
And then pretty consistently from the 18th through the 19th up to 7:37 PM on the 19th, Stacey Griffin's phone is utilizing the cell tower here west of Hugo. And I'm showing the activity with the orange phone, where Stacey Griffin's phone was when this activity was occurring with the orange phone.
Christopher Kinsler (02:21:19):
Page 31 of your report.
Bryan Lacy (02:21:23):
So, starting off with the last activity on the previous slide of the 19th at 7:37 PM, I'm using this slide to show movement of a phone. So, the yellow box up here is the Griffin address in Whitesboro. The purple address next down here is an address, Cole address. It's another address, a blue box here for a Griffin address in Mena, Arkansas. And again, all the blue dots are the cell towers. So, if we were to start at the bottom left-hand side of the screen, this is the zoomed out view. Stacey Griffin phone starts off down to the west of Hugo and then kind of moves in the northeast direction. And then the last activity I'm showing here, and these are all data sessions, data activity. The last session I'm showing here is 9:37 PM on the 19th, up near, in the area of the Mena, Arkansas address.
Christopher Kinsler (02:22:33):
Page 32 of your report.
Bryan Lacy (02:22:35):
So, on this slide, I'm more or less zoomed into the Mena, Arkansas address. I'm showing the address associated with Griffin in that area. And then basically just showing activity that the cell phone on September 19th, and this is the Stacy Griffin cell phone from September 19th at 9:37 PM until September 20th at 5:48 PM was consistent with using cell towers in the area or used cell towers in the area of Mena, Arkansas.
(02:23:05)
Also highlighted during those times the activity of when there was some outgoing and incoming text message activity with the orange phone around that time or during that time.
Christopher Kinsler (02:23:20):
Page 33 of your report.
Bryan Lacy (02:23:24):
Then at 5:48 PM on the 20th, Stacy Griffin phone looks like it's moving to the west. So, you start at 5:48 PM in Mena, and then utilizing that cell tower that was in the Whitesboro, Muse area around 6:30 PM. There's an incoming text message to her phone from the 0229, the orange phone at that point in time. That's for the cell tower that was used for that activity.
(02:23:57)
And then we end off at 8:28 on this slide with a data session out near the... Utilizing the cell tower near the Whitesboro, Muse area.
Christopher Kinsler (02:24:12):
Page 34.
Bryan Lacy (02:24:12):
And this is just continuing activity from 8:28 PM. The last activity I shown on the previous slide to 9:01 PM, basically the reverse of what we just own, same cell towers used being utilized. So, at 8:28 PM we start off with the phone having activity over here, this cell tower near Muse or Whitesboro. And then we end up with a cell tower, hitting a cell tower at the end at 9:01 PM in Mena, Arkansas on September 20th. And then-
Christopher Kinsler (02:24:57):
I'm sorry.
Bryan Lacy (02:24:58):
Yup, go ahead.
Christopher Kinsler (02:25:00):
Go ahead. I'm sorry. Page 35.
Bryan Lacy (02:25:02):
Page 35. So, this is showing a timeframe of the September 20th at 9:01 PM to September 21st at 2:23 PM and basically using cell towers and sectors in Mena, Arkansas during this timeframe of reference here. There is again, some text message exchanges outgoing and incoming with the 0229, the orange phone number. Then there's an incoming call, that first incoming call from the orange phone to Stacey Griffin at 2:19:46 PM there's an incoming call. That call went to voicemail on her phone.
(02:25:46)
She didn't answer. And that's what's shown there. And this is the cell tower and sector that was utilized in Mena, Arkansas.
Christopher Kinsler (02:25:59):
And that's the end of your report, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:26:00):
That's correct.
Christopher Kinsler (02:26:00):
I want to back you up to the segment where you were talking about Andrew Griffin's phone. I think this is page 17, this is the first slide where we talk about information data that was gathered in regards to the Andrew Griffin's phone, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:26:16):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (02:26:17):
And on your call-outs, there's obviously data on here. Are there incoming and outgoing voice or text messages to Andrew Griffin's either to Andrew Griffin's phone or originating from Andrew Griffin's phone?
Bryan Lacy (02:26:32):
Say the last part of that again, please.
Christopher Kinsler (02:26:34):
In your call-outs, are there incoming and outgoing text messages from the Andrew Griffin phone?
Bryan Lacy (02:26:40):
Yes, that's correct.
Christopher Kinsler (02:26:41):
And are all those to the same number?
Bryan Lacy (02:26:44):
What I've called out here, yes.
Christopher Kinsler (02:26:45):
Okay. Same question as to page 18, as far as Andrew Griffin's phone goes. I guess here, is it fair to say there's no... You didn't do any call-outs for text messages?
Bryan Lacy (02:27:01):
No, there is an incoming call on this slide and it's not from that... It's not from Stacey Griffin. It's from a different number.
Christopher Kinsler (02:27:13):
And then page 19, same question as to text messages. Are those all the same number or to or from the same number?
Bryan Lacy (02:27:22):
For the phone associated with Andrew Griffin 0229, the text message incoming outgoing that I'm showing here are to the same number Stacy Griffin.
Christopher Kinsler (02:27:31):
Are there additional texts that you're not showing?
Bryan Lacy (02:27:33):
Yeah, there might be. I would have to look at the records to refresh my recollection, look at the raw records to note.
Christopher Kinsler (02:28:23):
The report you prepared, is it based on your training and experience?
Bryan Lacy (02:28:26):
Yes, it is.
Christopher Kinsler (02:28:27):
Is it true and accurate to the data that you used or were provided by law enforcement in regards to this case?
Bryan Lacy (02:28:32):
Yes, it is.
Christopher Kinsler (02:28:35):
Were conclusions derived from call detail records and cellular provider information maintained in the ordinary course of business?
Bryan Lacy (02:28:42):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (02:28:44):
Are all the maps contained in your report fair and accurate visual representations of this historical cell site analysis you performed?
Bryan Lacy (02:28:51):
Yes.
Christopher Kinsler (02:28:59):
No further questions, Your Honor.
Judge (02:29:00):
Thank you. Mr. Shamansky?
Samuel Shamansky (02:29:02):
Thank you, Judge. Agent Lacey, good morning.
Bryan Lacy (02:29:05):
Good morning.
Samuel Shamansky (02:29:09):
As an employee of the Department of Justice, you're committed to certain standards, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:29:18):
That is correct, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:29:18):
And those are the standards that you studied, absorbed, learned, and swore to uphold at Quantico, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:29:27):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:29:28):
And those standards included training about the role of an FBI agent in this country, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:29:35):
Yes, that is correct. Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:29:37):
And you've been taught and... And you'll agree that your commitment is to following the evidence, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:29:43):
That is correct, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:29:44):
Wherever it leads, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:29:46):
That is correct, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:29:47):
And currently you're in the... You didn't start in the gang violence unit, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:29:55):
Where are you referring to?
Samuel Shamansky (02:29:56):
At the FBI. Did you say you're newly assigned there or did I miss that?
Bryan Lacy (02:30:02):
Actually, I started in the Philadelphia division and I actually was assigned to a violent crime and gangs squad in Philadelphia in 2010.
Samuel Shamansky (02:30:09):
Okay. So, when you and I met, I don't know how long ago it's been, but were you also performing that function or were you strictly handling mainly phone and cellular-
Bryan Lacy (02:30:23):
As of 2022, I became CAS certified, and primarily from that point forward, I've been doing CAS cases, assisting law enforcement with CAS, cell phone analysis cases.
Samuel Shamansky (02:30:35):
Got it. So, as we talk about your commitment and that of the agency and the bureau, the Department of Justice and the Bureau, as I said, and I think you'll agree, your job is to follow the evidence, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:30:49):
That's correct, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:30:50):
And that's because you are committed to getting it right as opposed to getting it wrong and having somebody wrongly accused or convicted, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:30:58):
Oh, absolutely, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:30:59):
And you've already acknowledged that the data that you have so carefully analyzed, from what I can tell, doesn't include what we call mesh location data, for example. Is that correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:31:13):
Could you rephrase that?
Samuel Shamansky (02:31:14):
Yeah, so if I'm running around with my... If I'm driving from home to the courthouse today and I got my Waze on, you're going to pinpoint me with GPS satellites every step of the way, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:31:26):
Not necessarily.
Samuel Shamansky (02:31:27):
No?
Bryan Lacy (02:31:28):
No.
Samuel Shamansky (02:31:28):
So, if you examine my cell phone and I've got location data on, you're able to pinpoint where I am, correct or incorrect, based on GPS?
Bryan Lacy (02:31:41):
If you're speaking of GPS that's stored, are you asking about GPS that could be stored on a phone itself or stored by the cell phone companies?
Samuel Shamansky (02:31:49):
Or by the carrier, or by the app owner.
Bryan Lacy (02:31:54):
Right. So, if you have the phone, the device itself, and you have location turned on, if you have the device itself, yes, you can often get latitude and longitude precisely of where a phone was that uses the global positioning satellite system. So, yes, what I've shown in these maps are the cell towers that we used. So, this isn't GPS technology.
Samuel Shamansky (02:32:21):
Correct.
Bryan Lacy (02:32:21):
This is the cell site that was used.
Samuel Shamansky (02:32:23):
And I'm merely differentiating between the two.
Bryan Lacy (02:32:25):
Yeah.
Samuel Shamansky (02:32:25):
And so, had this been a more... Oklahoma is not as dense as say, you know, Cincinnati, Ohio, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:32:34):
Yes, correct.
Samuel Shamansky (02:32:34):
In terms of cell phone tower placement, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:32:37):
Yeah, more or less.
Samuel Shamansky (02:32:38):
So, in Cincy, you would triangulate if you had to try to narrow a cell phone's location, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:32:47):
I don't know if that's the right word in this specific case. I would say in Cincinnati, there would be more cell towers, maybe cover a little bit less of an area than you would see in Oklahoma. Cell towers might be more spread out, cover a larger area.
Samuel Shamansky (02:33:01):
Right. And you've done your level best to pinpoint location based on the tower the signal's pinging off of, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:33:08):
That's based on the activity of the cell phone. Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:33:12):
Correct. And as you correctly stated, one thing that we are not able to glean from this information is who's utilizing the device, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:33:20):
No, I can't say who's utilizing the device from this information.
Samuel Shamansky (02:33:23):
All right. Now, in your role as an agent investigating violent gang behavior, something you're familiar with, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:33:36):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:33:38):
Narcotics traffickers you hunt down and prosecute, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:33:41):
That's correct. That's correct.
Samuel Shamansky (02:33:42):
And you are aware from your own experience that these are oftentimes violent gun-toting killers, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:33:49):
Yes, often.
Samuel Shamansky (02:33:50):
And in your role as an agent, you are duty-bound to make reports and document everything that you're doing, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:34:02):
That's correct, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:34:03):
And for example, when you deal with a witness in a criminal prosecution, you're also duty bound to fill out a 302 or a similar document to chronicle what you're doing, what's been said to you, and the circumstances surrounding the conversation, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:34:20):
Yes, but with a caveat to that.
Samuel Shamansky (02:34:23):
Well, go ahead and lay the caveat on this.
Bryan Lacy (02:34:25):
If I'm assisting a local department in their investigation, they'll do the interview report and... And do the report. I'm not going to write up another report based on that interaction. It's going to be one report.
Samuel Shamansky (02:34:39):
Sorry. And Agent Lacey, I wasn't suggesting that you would, but again, I'm going to focus on your job as an FBI agent and the standards to which you are here. Is that okay?
Bryan Lacy (02:34:46):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:34:47):
And I'm going to ask you again, and you just correct me when I'm wrong or if I misspeak, but in your role as an FBI agent, as a trained law enforcement and highly experienced law enforcement official, if you have an interaction with witnesses, you do a 302 and you record it, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:35:03):
Yes. The FBI would do that, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:35:05):
Right. And your department wouldn't put up with anything less than that, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:35:09):
Again, unless I'm working a case with another agency or another local department, I wouldn't necessarily do a 302. The local department or other agency would do their interview report.
Samuel Shamansky (02:35:20):
Correct. And I'm asking just in your role as an FBI focused inquiry, no cooperation with other agencies, okay?
Bryan Lacy (02:35:27):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:35:27):
Just so we're clear, maybe I'm not being clear, but strictly in your role as an FBI-guided AUSA federal inquiry prosecution, you're going to document what you do with witnesses. That's all I'm asking.
Bryan Lacy (02:35:41):
Correct. That is correct, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:35:42):
Now, sir, in this case, you learned, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you had searched one Jeremy Evans' cell phone number, 304-312-4012, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:36:09):
That is correct, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:36:10):
And you learned that this gentleman's phone was near the Strushen home from your in-depth analysis from approximately midnight on September 21st, 2021 until almost 3:00 AM, correct? And if you want to take a look at your report-
Bryan Lacy (02:36:30):
Yeah, I'd have to record-
Samuel Shamansky (02:36:30):
May I approach the witness, Your Honor?
Judge (02:36:30):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:36:30):
I'm sorry it's up here.
Bryan Lacy (02:36:30):
I think we should [inaudible 02:36:46].
Christopher Kinsler (02:36:30):
Your Honor, may we approach?
Judge (02:36:30):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:38:01):
Agent Lacey, so I asked you about one, Jeremy Evans.
Bryan Lacy (02:38:07):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:38:07):
In reading this report that's prepared by the Belmont County Sheriff's Department, not your report, do you recall this work that you did in the case?
Bryan Lacy (02:38:16):
I do recall this, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:38:17):
All right. And you communicated that information to representatives of the sheriff's office, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:38:23):
I communicated to the Belmont County Sheriff's Office that a phone that you just described, assuming you got... The phone number was right, I don't have his phone number memorized, but the phone associated with Jeremy Evans was in the records of the cell tower dump that we did for leads in the investigation. Yes, that is correct.
Samuel Shamansky (02:38:45):
Okay. Thank you, sir. And then November of 2022, and I know this is years ago, I get it, and this is not your only investigation, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:38:56):
Yes, that's correct.
Samuel Shamansky (02:38:57):
So, if you need some refreshing, just let me know and I'll be happy to help. Hopefully these details will be firm in your memory. You informed representatives of the Belmont County Sheriff's Office that you'd received some information from a paid FBI informant known as Reaper. Does this ring a bell?
Bryan Lacy (02:39:19):
Yeah, that sounds familiar,
Samuel Shamansky (02:39:20):
Yes. Who indicated that there was a rumor to be fair within criminal circles-
Christopher Kinsler (02:39:26):
Objection, Your Honor.
Judge (02:39:26):
Approach.
Christopher Kinsler (02:39:26):
May we approach.
Samuel Shamansky (02:39:26):
Agent... I'm sorry, proceed?
Judge (02:42:49):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:42:51):
Agent Lacey, you've also been tasked at times in this investigation with verifying findings made by the Belmont County Sheriff's Department, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:43:19):
Could you be more specific?
Samuel Shamansky (02:43:20):
Well, I can. The records that you've referenced in government's exhibit, the number's escaping, but it was just referenced on the screen, the compilation of cell phone data. That's not the only work you did in this case, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:43:40):
That's correct, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:43:43):
Okay. You were utilized as a resource by the sheriff's department, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:43:47):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:43:48):
And you performed all tasks that were asked of you, correct?
Bryan Lacy (02:43:53):
Again, you'd have to be more specific.
Samuel Shamansky (02:43:54):
Well, you didn't refuse to do any work. I mean, you were available, you did what was asked, you communicated directly and honestly, right?
Bryan Lacy (02:44:02):
Yeah, for the most part, but I was not involved in every step of the investigation, every interview, every-
Samuel Shamansky (02:44:13):
I understand that.
Bryan Lacy (02:44:13):
Okay. Just to be clear.
Samuel Shamansky (02:44:15):
Well to be clear, I never asked you about were you involved. I mean, you just, when tasked and asked, you did your level best to help.
Bryan Lacy (02:44:21):
If I could, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:44:21):
Right.
Bryan Lacy (02:44:22):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (02:44:23):
That's all I'm asking, and that's all I have. Thank you.
Judge (02:44:27):
Any redirect, Mr. Kinsler?
Christopher Kinsler (02:44:29):
No, Your Honor. Thank you.
Judge (02:44:30):
May this witness be excused?
Christopher Kinsler (02:44:32):
Yes, sir.
Judge (02:44:33):
Thank you, sir.
Bryan Lacy (02:44:33):
Thank you.
Christopher Kinsler (02:44:33):
Got it.
Judge (02:44:34):
Thank you. [inaudible 02:44:46]
Speaker 6 (02:44:46):
Thank you. Approach, Your Honor?
Judge (02:44:53):
Yes. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, based on the state's representations, we've reached a good point here to break for lunch. It's quarter to 12:00. We're going to resume at 1:00. I believe your lunches should get here at about 12:00, those of you who decided to place an order. Remember my orders, and also remember that you're not locked in that jury room.
(02:45:54)
If you want to stretch your legs, I think the sun's out. I can't tell with the blinds down, but just remember the orders. And most important in that is have no discussions with anyone about this case, nor let anyone have a discussion in front of you about this case. So, with that said, I'll see you back here in the jury room about five till one. Thank you. Mr. Vavra, we're outside the presence of the jury. Any issues the state needs to address?
Joe Vavra (02:46:52):
No, Judge.
Judge (02:46:53):
Mr. Shamansky?
Samuel Shamansky (02:46:54):
No. Thank you, sir.
Judge (02:46:55):
All right. As you heard me advise the jury, I want to resume at 1:00, so make sure all the parties are back here a couple of minutes beforehand. With that said, we'll be in recess at this time.
Speaker 7 (02:55:00):
(silence)
Joseph Vavra (02:55:00):
[inaudible 04:01:03].
Speaker 9 (02:55:00):
[inaudible 04:01:10].
Joseph Vavra (02:55:00):
We don't have to [inaudible 04:01:11].
Speaker 9 (02:55:00):
Oh, it's Saturday.
Joseph Vavra (02:55:00):
[inaudible 04:01:13].
Speaker 9 (02:55:00):
[inaudible 04:01:20]. It's exactly what we expected [inaudible 04:01:45].
Judge (04:02:04):
Please everyone be seated. You ready Krista?
Krista (04:02:15):
Yes.
Judge (04:02:15):
We're back on the record in State of Ohio versus Andrew Griffin. Mr. Griffin is present in the courtroom with his counsel, State of Ohio is present, and the jury is present. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, hope you enjoyed your lunch. Did you have any issues following my orders? No one has raised their hand. Mr. Vavra, we're still at the state's case-in-chief. Are you ready to proceed with your next witness?
Joseph Vavra (04:02:40):
Yes, Judge. The state calls Dave McKinzie.
Speaker 8 (04:02:45):
Dave McKinzie. [inaudible 04:02:45] just right there.
Judge (04:02:46):
Stand here a step, please. Can you raise your right hand, please? Do you swear the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Dave McKinzie (04:03:11):
Yes, I do.
Judge (04:03:12):
Have a seat, please.
Dave McKinzie (04:03:13):
Thank you.
Judge (04:03:15):
Sir, before you begin, do you object to being filmed?
Dave McKinzie (04:03:17):
No.
Judge (04:03:23):
And, Mr. Vavra, when you are ready.
Joseph Vavra (04:03:24):
Thank you, Judge.
(04:03:25)
Sir, can you tell us your name?
Dave McKinzie (04:03:27):
Yes, it's Dave McKinzie, and it's spelled M-C, capital K-I-N-Z-I-E. Excuse me.
Joseph Vavra (04:03:33):
And are you currently employed?
Dave McKinzie (04:03:35):
Yes, I am.
Joseph Vavra (04:03:36):
Where do you work?
Dave McKinzie (04:03:37):
I am employed with Citizens Bank as a investigator, but I also am working through the Cold Case Foundation.
Joseph Vavra (04:03:45):
What do you do for Citizens Bank?
Dave McKinzie (04:03:48):
I'm doing internal fraud investigations involving embezzlements, any kind of fraud you can think of with the employees.
Joseph Vavra (04:03:59):
And do you work at a particular location?
Dave McKinzie (04:04:01):
Yes, I'm located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Joseph Vavra (04:04:06):
Are there different bank locations that you're involved with?
Dave McKinzie (04:04:09):
I can handle all of the bank locations throughout our whole footstep. Generally, they try to keep me as close to Pittsburgh as possible, but I have worked cases all the way over into the New York area.
Joseph Vavra (04:04:22):
And how long have you held that position?
Dave McKinzie (04:04:24):
I've been with Citizens Bank just a little over seven years.
Joseph Vavra (04:04:28):
And prior to that, where were you employed?
Dave McKinzie (04:04:31):
Prior to that, I worked for PNC Bank for two and a half years.
Joseph Vavra (04:04:34):
And what were you doing for PNC Bank?
Dave McKinzie (04:04:35):
I worked in anti-money laundering, doing investigations, financial.
Joseph Vavra (04:04:42):
The entirety of your seven years with Citizens, were you in the position that you're in now?
Dave McKinzie (04:04:46):
Yes, except for a small break. I was also working in check fraud for a period of time.
Joseph Vavra (04:04:52):
Prior to, you said PNC, where were you employed?
Dave McKinzie (04:04:56):
I was working for the Internal Revenue Service. I have 29 years with them. My first little over six years was as a ...
Dave McKinzie (04:05:00):
... 29 years with them. My first little over six years was as a revenue agent. After that, I was a special agent in law enforcement.
Mr. Vavra (04:05:10):
And what kind of investigations did you assist with the IRS?
Dave McKinzie (04:05:13):
Well, with the IRS, obviously we were doing tax fraud, but I also worked a lot of grand jury investigations, which involved money laundering.
Mr. Vavra (04:05:22):
It's fair to say your world is the finance world?
Dave McKinzie (04:05:25):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:05:26):
You mentioned the Cold Case Foundation.
Dave McKinzie (04:05:28):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:05:29):
What is the Cold Case Foundation?
Dave McKinzie (04:05:31):
The Cold Case Foundation was started roughly about 10 years ago by two retired FBI agents. And what they do is they come in to assist law enforcement with their investigations, especially where they're having trouble finding enough evidence or where they're having financial trouble where they're not able to do enough research and background checks on potential suspects.
Mr. Vavra (04:06:01):
And how long have you been associated with the Cold Case Foundation?
Dave McKinzie (04:06:03):
Just a little over two years.
Mr. Vavra (04:06:08):
In your history of investigations, can you just kind of tell us some of the investigative steps you're familiar with taking, some of the things that you look at when you're looking for inconsistencies in financial records, things like that?
Dave McKinzie (04:06:24):
Yeah. Basically what I'm looking at is I'm always going into the bank statements, all the financial records involved, just trying to see if I can find any kind of inconsistencies, any kind of problems. If I'm seeing areas where something should be happening and it's not, then I know that that's like a red flag going off. Or if there's something that's happening that should not be happening, I know there's a red flag. An instance like that is somebody writing out checks from the business account to pay for their own personal expenses. It's things like that. And I'm always trying to make comparisons to see in the area, if that business is operating in the same way any other business similar to that is operating.
Mr. Vavra (04:07:07):
We've talked a lot about businesses. Is that your primary area that you look at?
Dave McKinzie (04:07:12):
That was one of our primary areas. I mean, obviously I was also doing individual investigations, but the businesses, those were always big for us because that's where, when I was with the IRS, a lot of the unreported income was.
Mr. Vavra (04:07:33):
And in your history, have you had occasions to investigate businesses and restaurants?
Dave McKinzie (04:07:39):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:07:41):
And do you recall how many you've done?
Dave McKinzie (04:07:46):
Off the top of my head, I can remember there were two. Both of them were involved with money laundering and drugs.
Mr. Vavra (04:07:55):
Can you just give us an example of what you looked at in those cases with respect to the restaurant businesses?
Dave McKinzie (04:08:00):
Yeah. We were looking again at the bank deposits. We're looking at where they're writing their checks to and trying to figure out why these things are happening because they generally don't go in line with that type of business, and it also depends. In some businesses you expect to see a lot of cash deposits, especially those that run a lot of cash, like restaurants, bars, things like that. And if you're not seeing that, then you know there's something wrong, something's up because these places always are gathering cash.
Mr. Vavra (04:08:34):
Tell us about that then. If you were expecting to see cash deposits, what are you expecting to see from a restaurant?
Dave McKinzie (04:08:40):
From a restaurant, you're usually going to see cash deposits at least once a day, if not two times a day, because a lot of them do not want to have that cash just sitting there in their restaurant. They're afraid that obviously somebody come in and rob them, they don't want to lose their cash and they could be handling in some instances anywhere from five to ten thousand dollars in cash at one time.
Mr. Vavra (04:09:10):
Was there a point where you got involved with the Belmont County Sheriff's Office and an investigation involving the death of Thomas and Angela Gresham?
Dave McKinzie (04:09:20):
Yes, there was.
Mr. Vavra (04:09:21):
Do you recall roughly when that was?
Dave McKinzie (04:09:24):
I don't remember off the top of my head, but I know it was basically about two years ago.
Mr. Vavra (04:09:30):
And was this through your work with the bank or through Cold Case?
Dave McKinzie (04:09:33):
It was my work through the Cold Case.
Mr. Vavra (04:09:36):
And at that time, what were you brought in to take a look at?
Dave McKinzie (04:09:40):
I was brought in to take a look at the financials to try and see if there was anything that stood out, anything at all that caught our eyes and anything unusual.
Mr. Vavra (04:09:50):
And were you provided with documents that the Belmont County Sheriff's Office had obtained?
Dave McKinzie (04:09:57):
Yes. We were given all the bank statements so that we could go through those. We were given some of the canceled checks, deposit items and things like that.
Mr. Vavra (04:10:05):
And in particular, was there a business or businesses you were looking at?
Dave McKinzie (04:10:12):
Yeah, we were looking at Salsa Joe's. We did look at the Belmont a little bit, but we were definitely looking at the Salsa Joe's on Elm Grove.
Mr. Vavra (04:10:20):
And why was that?
Dave McKinzie (04:10:23):
Because we could see right off the bat that there were some inconsistencies and also, because there was the tie between Andrew and Thomas, so we knew that there was going to be... We needed to see what was happening there.
Mr. Vavra (04:10:39):
When you say Andrew, you mean Andrew Griffin?
Dave McKinzie (04:10:41):
Yes, I do.
Mr. Vavra (04:10:42):
Okay. And the tie between them was that business, is that what you're referencing?
Dave McKinzie (04:10:44):
Yes, they were partners.
Mr. Vavra (04:10:47):
And you said you were provided with some financial records to look at?
Dave McKinzie (04:10:50):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:10:51):
Were you provided with all of Andrew Griffin's financial records?
Dave McKinzie (04:10:54):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:10:55):
Okay. Judge, at this time I would ask permission to display State's Exhibit 155.
Samuel Shamansky (04:11:15):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge Chris Berhalter (04:11:16):
Thank you. You may proceed, Mr. Griffin.
Mr. Vavra (04:11:19):
I'm sorry, Judge. I misspoke. This will be State's Exhibit 137.
Judge Chris Berhalter (04:11:22):
Mr. Shamansky, does that change anything?
Samuel Shamansky (04:11:25):
It does not, Your Honor.
Mr. Vavra (04:11:35):
All right. So I'm showing you on the screen now what's been marked as State's Exhibit 137. Is that a document or the start of a document that you recognize?
Dave McKinzie (04:11:45):
Yes, I do.
Mr. Vavra (04:11:46):
And from the top there, it would appear this page, this document is about 819 pages.
Dave McKinzie (04:11:54):
Yeah, I see that, yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:11:56):
Okay. And when we talk about the entirety of Andrew Griffin's bank records, we're talking about a bank from Oklahoma, Arkansas area by the name of Arvest?
Dave McKinzie (04:12:07):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:12:08):
Okay. And we're not going to siphon through all this right now, but in your investigation, did you actually look at the entirety of these records?
Dave McKinzie (04:12:20):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (04:12:21):
So you looked at the entire 819 page document?
Dave McKinzie (04:12:24):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (04:12:26):
And there's multiple accounts there, fair to say?
Dave McKinzie (04:12:28):
Yes, there is.
Mr. Vavra (04:12:29):
Personal account, business account, some others?
Dave McKinzie (04:12:32):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:12:33):
Okay. And you looked through all of that in your investigation?
Dave McKinzie (04:12:36):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:12:42):
Were you also provided with all of the bank records for AJS Holdings?
Dave McKinzie (04:12:49):
Yes, I was.
Mr. Vavra (04:12:50):
Okay. And as it relates to Elm Grove Salsa Joe's, what particular bank were they associated with?
Dave McKinzie (04:12:57):
Belmont Savings.
Mr. Vavra (04:12:59):
Okay. And if I can show you State's Exhibit 155. Permission, Judge?
Samuel Shamansky (04:13:06):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge Chris Berhalter (04:13:07):
Then yes, you may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (04:13:09):
Now, are you familiar with this document?
Dave McKinzie (04:13:11):
Yes, I am.
Mr. Vavra (04:13:12):
And what are we looking at here?
Dave McKinzie (04:13:13):
We're looking at the statements for AJS Holdings. It's the bank statements.
Mr. Vavra (04:13:21):
And you were able to look at the entirety of these records?
Dave McKinzie (04:13:24):
Yes, I was.
Mr. Vavra (04:13:24):
What's your understanding for the length of time that this account existed?
Dave McKinzie (04:13:29):
It opened up in March of 2021 and we went through September of 2021 when Thomas and Angela Strussion both died.
Mr. Vavra (04:13:42):
So your review was for that timeframe?
Dave McKinzie (04:13:45):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:13:45):
Okay. And do you have an understanding as to when that business actually opened and operated?
Dave McKinzie (04:13:53):
The account itself opened up in March. The business itself started operating in May, May 25th of 2021.
Mr. Vavra (04:14:03):
And do you know when it closed or?
Dave McKinzie (04:14:06):
My understanding was is that it closed September 21st when they died.
Mr. Vavra (04:14:16):
Did you have occasion to look at some other financial records as well?
Dave McKinzie (04:14:19):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:14:20):
And I'm not going to show these to you, but you looked at community bank records?
Dave McKinzie (04:14:26):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (04:14:27):
And is that AJS Holdings, the Belmont Salsa Joe's location?
Dave McKinzie (04:14:33):
Yes, it is.
Mr. Vavra (04:14:33):
You used that bank?
Dave McKinzie (04:14:34):
Yes, we did.
Mr. Vavra (04:14:35):
Okay. Did you look at some US Bank records?
Dave McKinzie (04:14:41):
Yes, we did.
Mr. Vavra (04:14:42):
Okay. And was there personal accounts of Thomas and Angela?
Dave McKinzie (04:14:45):
Yes, there was.
Mr. Vavra (04:14:46):
Okay. Did you look at First United Bank of Oklahoma?
Dave McKinzie (04:14:53):
Yes, we did.
Mr. Vavra (04:14:54):
And to your understanding, were those the accounts of Brett Cole?
Dave McKinzie (04:14:57):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:15:00):
And did you look at a Main Street Bank account in Wheeling, West Virginia as well?
Dave McKinzie (04:15:05):
Yes, we did.
Mr. Vavra (04:15:06):
Was that a joint account held by Andrew and Stacy Griffin?
Dave McKinzie (04:15:09):
Yes, it was.
Mr. Vavra (04:15:10):
Did you also take a look at some financial investment accounts or online investment accounts?
Dave McKinzie (04:15:16):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:15:16):
And what agency did that involve?
Dave McKinzie (04:15:18):
That was through Robinhood and some of it was dealing with Bitcoin, Coinbase.
Mr. Vavra (04:15:22):
And do you recall whose records those were?
Dave McKinzie (04:15:28):
Yeah, they actually, we had both. We had Andrew Griffin's and then we had Thomas Strussion's.
Mr. Vavra (04:15:39):
Now in looking at the information you looked at, were you able to determine the start of a business relationship between Mr. Griffin and Mr. Strussion?
Dave McKinzie (04:15:47):
Yes. We determined the initial check from Andrew was in January of 2021 and it was written out to Thomas.
Mr. Vavra (04:16:01):
Was it written out to Tom individually or to one of the businesses?
Dave McKinzie (04:16:03):
It was written out to AJS Holdings and it was deposited into the AJS Holdings in Belmont.
Mr. Vavra (04:16:12):
That's the community bank?
Dave McKinzie (04:16:14):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:16:14):
So not the Belmont Savings Bank?
Dave McKinzie (04:16:15):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:16:16):
Okay. Based upon everything you compiled and looked at, did you believe there to be some issues with this business?
Dave McKinzie (04:16:25):
Yes, there was.
Mr. Vavra (04:16:27):
Okay. We're going to get into your report here shortly, but can you kind of just give us a bird's eye view?
Dave McKinzie (04:16:32):
Yeah. What we could see was that the entire time this business was operating, there were no cash deposits associated with the business. They were not making cash deposits on a daily basis, not on a weekly basis. We thought that was very suspicious and very unusual.
Mr. Vavra (04:16:54):
And again, when you're talking about a cash deposit from the business, what are you talking about?
Dave McKinzie (04:16:58):
This would be business proceeds that they got from food sales, liquor sales, whatever the case is. It would've been all business proceeds.
Mr. Vavra (04:17:09):
So you go in, you order burger and fries, a couple beers, and your bill's $36.75 and you pay with cash. The business collects $3675 cash.
Dave McKinzie (04:17:22):
Right.
Mr. Vavra (04:17:22):
Multiply that by how many customers were there that night, that business brings in that amount of cash for that night?
Dave McKinzie (04:17:29):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:17:30):
What would you expect to see happen with that cash?
Dave McKinzie (04:17:32):
I would expect to see that being deposited into the bank either through a night deposit or in the morning, the following morning.
Mr. Vavra (04:17:40):
And did you ever see anything like that?
Dave McKinzie (04:17:42):
No, I did not.
Mr. Vavra (04:17:45):
All right. Again, we talked about this as a part of your investigation, you compiled a report or presentation, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:17:53):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:17:59):
That's in the form of a PowerPoint, is that fair to say?
Dave McKinzie (04:18:01):
Yes, it is.
Mr. Vavra (04:18:02):
At this time, Judge, I would ask permission to display State's Exhibit 140C.
Samuel Shamansky (04:18:12):
Can you approach, Your Honor, please?
Judge Chris Berhalter (04:18:12):
All right.
Mr. Vavra (04:20:56):
Yeah. All right. Mr. McKenzie, can you tell us what we're looking at here?
Dave McKinzie (04:21:07):
Yeah, this is the presentation that we put together for this trial. It's all based on our review of the financial records, what we found, and what we feel were some items that kind of caught our eye, kind of unusual.
Mr. Vavra (04:21:30):
All right. Can you walk us through this slide?
Dave McKinzie (04:21:32):
Yeah. And I did want to say too, what we're trying to show here is that there were a lot of transactions that occurred, financial transactions that were a detriment to Andrew Griffin and that really could show that Thomas Strussion appears to have taken a substantial amount of money from the business. Now, this first slide here was something that we learned was that Andrew Griffin first met Angela and Tommy Strussion in October of 2020. We found this out through the Cold Case Foundation interview of Lisa Strussion Balog. Their belief was that Andrew was brought in to work at Salsa Joe's Belmont for approximately a year under Tommy's guidance. And then from there, he was then going to go to work at Salsa Joe's Elm Grove and try to run that on his own after he had been trained.
Mr. Vavra (04:22:40):
This slide.
Dave McKinzie (04:22:41):
Okay. This is the only document that we found that was some form of a contract between Andrew Griffin and Tommy Strussion. And basically what this is saying is that everything is being split fifty fifty. They are going to split fifty fifty all the funds that need to go into the business as their investment. They're going to split fifty fifty all of the profits and losses of the business and that they're going to split fifty fifty after expenses of the income that's coming from this, which included inside dining, the bar, the inside catering, outside catering, and inside gaming, which they had some machines inside the restaurant. And this was supposed to be valid for one year and it would start from the date of opening, which was May 25th of 2021.
Mr. Vavra (04:23:38):
And at the bottom, we've got some signatures that would appear.
Dave McKinzie (04:23:42):
Yes. The signatures appear to be Andrew Griffin and Tommy Strussion, and that was on March 17th of 2021.
Mr. Vavra (04:23:49):
And this document was provided by the sheriff's office?
Dave McKinzie (04:23:53):
Yes, it was.
Mr. Vavra (04:23:54):
Okay. And is there some reference to some startup funds there as well?
Dave McKinzie (04:23:59):
Yeah, there's a reference up there that $10,000 was supposed to be given by Andrew Griffin to AJS Holdings doing business as Salsa Joe's, and this was supposed to be for administrative consulting and accounting. We tracked this check into the business account, but we never saw anything coming out to cover those expenses.
Mr. Vavra (04:24:19):
And does it reference that they jointly purchased a smoker?
Dave McKinzie (04:24:24):
Yes. I did not see anything to indicate that purchase. We just went ahead and assumed that it had been done since it was in the contract.
Mr. Vavra (04:24:35):
And again, as you indicate, all profits to be split fifty fifty, all losses to be split fifty fifty?
Dave McKinzie (04:24:39):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:24:44):
All right. Next slide here. Can you tell us what we're looking at?
Dave McKinzie (04:24:47):
Yeah, this is just basically an investment breakdown, just trying to give you an idea as far as what we went through. We knew that there was a joint partnership venture between Andrew Griffin and Thomas and Angela Strussion through AJS Holdings, that we did a breakdown of the investments from January 28th to September 8th of 2021. This included cash deposits, check deposits, a personal loan, and some purchases. Then there's a mention in there of a $49,465 loan that was taken out. We were questioning this because initially we did not know who took out the loan. We didn't know if it was Thomas Strussion personally or if it was the business. If it was the business, then there was no increase in their investment.
(04:25:39)
If it was Tommy, then it would've been an increase in his investment. We later learned that it was Thomas that did this, so we gave him the benefit of the doubt and increased his investment into the business. You'll see also as we're going through here, and it sounds a little funny, but Tommy and Angela actually invested $ 48,534 more than Andrew Griffin did. But later on, you'll see what happened and why this was such a big difference, because the charts don't reflect the misappropriation of the cash from the business, nor does it reflect any kind of payment back to Tommy through checks. And that's pretty much it.
Mr. Vavra (04:26:26):
You said images for items from Belmont Savings weren't provided or not all images?
Dave McKinzie (04:26:31):
Not all. Yeah, they gave us statements saying these were cash deposits, but they never gave us the deposit slip that showed that it was a cash deposit.
Mr. Vavra (04:26:43):
Okay. All right. Now you have in here, this is called an investment summary breakdown?
Dave McKinzie (04:26:48):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:26:48):
Can you talk to us about this? So we have some dates, we have some entries. Go ahead and walk us through.
Dave McKinzie (04:26:52):
Yeah. Now you'll see that's the very initial investment is January 28th. That's $10,000 from Andrew Griffin. It was supposed to be for startup costs. It was deposited into the Belmont Salsa Joe's account. And as I stated, we couldn't see that money coming back out to pay for any kind of expenses associated with Elm Grove. All right. You'll also notice when we come down to the next one, March 11th, that's when the business account was opened. They both put in $40,000. $40,000 check by Andrew, $40, 000 cash by Tommy.
Mr. Vavra (04:27:33):
Before we move on, I'm going to show you a couple other documents here. So you had mentioned again a startup date for the business.
Dave McKinzie (04:27:45):
Right.
Mr. Vavra (04:27:46):
And here we have a bank statement. We've heard some testimony from Belmont Savings already about this, but it would appear the start date is March 11th.
Dave McKinzie (04:27:54):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:27:55):
And it would appear that initial deposit is $80,000?
Dave McKinzie (04:27:58):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:27:58):
Okay. And did you locate Andrew Griffin's deposit for this?
Dave McKinzie (04:28:03):
Yes, we did.
Mr. Vavra (04:28:04):
Okay. And what about Tom Strussion or Angela Strussion?
Dave McKinzie (04:28:09):
All we know is that it was a $40,000 cash deposit. We don't have any additional records.
Mr. Vavra (04:28:23):
All right. Now, in looking at these deposits, you see some checks here?
Dave McKinzie (04:28:26):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:28:27):
And would these appear to be from Andrew Griffin's Arvest bank accounts?
Dave McKinzie (04:28:31):
Yes, they are.
Mr. Vavra (04:28:31):
So you had referenced a January check for $10,000?
Dave McKinzie (04:28:34):
Yes, that's the check.
Mr. Vavra (04:28:36):
This is that check?
Dave McKinzie (04:28:36):
Yes, it is.
Mr. Vavra (04:28:37):
And the back indicates deposited to Community Bank-
Dave McKinzie (04:28:41):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:28:41):
... as you indicate? And this check is dated the 12th of January, it looks like, but it was deposited the 28th.
Dave McKinzie (04:28:50):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:28:50):
So in your report, you've indicated that was on the 28th?
Dave McKinzie (04:28:53):
Yes. We take it from the date it was deposited.
Mr. Vavra (04:28:57):
And then moving down, we see another check, appears to be from Andrew's Arvest account.
Dave McKinzie (04:29:05):
Yes, it is.
Mr. Vavra (04:29:06):
And that is for $40,000?
Dave McKinzie (04:29:08):
Yes, it is.
Mr. Vavra (04:29:08):
March 11th?
Dave McKinzie (04:29:09):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:29:10):
So that's the startup of that Belmont Savings Bank?
Dave McKinzie (04:29:14):
That's when Belmont Savings started, the account there.
Mr. Vavra (04:29:22):
All right. Go ahead and walk us through the remainder of this document.
Dave McKinzie (04:29:32):
Yeah, now you'll see we also ran what the account looked like when these deposits were coming in. Obviously when the accounts first opened up, you got the full 80,000 going in, and you can see that to the right-hand side. Then you look here, there were no additional investments in April. And in May, you have two investments, one from Tommy for 20,000 in cash, one from Andrew, $20,000 check. But you'll notice when May... On May 6th, when Tommy puts that $20,000 check in, the account has already dropped down to $25,800. So there were a considerable amount of funds taken out of that account, and I will touch on that in a little bit as far as what some of those funds went to.
Mr. Vavra (04:30:16):
And at this point, that business was not open and running yet?
Dave McKinzie (04:30:19):
It was not open and running yet, no. It... It opened up May 25th, and you can see there were some additional investments going in at that time, May 6th, May 12th, May 24th.
Mr. Vavra (04:30:33):
And the deposit on May 6th from Tom Strussion, 20,000 cash, again, the business isn't running yet.
Dave McKinzie (04:30:39):
Right.
Mr. Vavra (04:30:40):
And I'm sorry, I said cash. How did you understand that deposit to be made?
Dave McKinzie (04:30:43):
We understood it was cash. We were told by Belmont Savings that this was cash deposit.
Mr. Vavra (04:30:48):
Could not find a check anywhere?
Dave McKinzie (04:30:50):
No.
Mr. Vavra (04:30:52):
And you said Andrew deposited another 20 on May 12th?
Dave McKinzie (04:30:55):
Yes, he did.
Mr. Vavra (04:30:56):
And then you have a May 24 deposit there that is from both of them?
Dave McKinzie (04:31:08):
I'm trying to remember now. This one I think was the $5,000 check from Andrew. I know there was a split deposit. I can't remember if it was this one or not.
Mr. Vavra (04:31:24):
Well, let me ask you this. Andrew's deposits, were they mostly made by check?
Dave McKinzie (04:31:28):
Yes, they were all made by check.
Mr. Vavra (04:31:29):
Okay. And again, going back to this account here, we talked about this $40,000 check.
Dave McKinzie (04:31:35):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:31:38):
Do you recognize that check there?
Dave McKinzie (04:31:40):
Yeah, that's $20,000 investment by Andrew.
Mr. Vavra (04:31:46):
And what's the date on that?
Dave McKinzie (04:31:48):
That's May 12th, 2021.
Mr. Vavra (04:31:52):
And you confirmed then this was deposited into that account?
Dave McKinzie (04:31:55):
Yes, we did.
Mr. Vavra (04:31:57):
Next check?
Dave McKinzie (04:31:59):
Next check is the $10,000 check, which was June 7th of 2021, also from Andrew Griffin. Again, another investment.
Mr. Vavra (04:32:09):
And the next check?
Dave McKinzie (04:32:11):
The next check is June 11th. It's $5,000 check from Andrew Griffin, dated June 11th, like I said, June 11th, 2021.
Mr. Vavra (04:32:21):
All right. So we turn back to this document. I asked you about May 24. Didn't look like there was a... Apologize. Yeah, so it didn't look like there was a check around that time from Andrew Griffin. So you had mentioned it was a possible cash deposit?
Dave McKinzie (04:32:41):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:32:42):
Okay. And is that 5,000 from each of them?
Dave McKinzie (04:32:47):
That would've been 5,000 from Thomas, and our understanding was, is that it was for both of them.
Mr. Vavra (04:32:55):
For both of them?
Dave McKinzie (04:32:55):
For both of them.
Mr. Vavra (04:32:57):
And the balance went from, it looks like 20,000 to a little over 31 around that time?
Dave McKinzie (04:33:02):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:33:03):
So do you think that was 5,000 each or 5,000-
Dave McKinzie (04:33:06):
5,000 each. Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:33:11):
All right. Now you referenced here a June 11, $5,000 investment, Andrew to Tom.
Dave McKinzie (04:33:17):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:33:18):
Do you recall what that was for?
Dave McKinzie (04:33:19):
Yeah, that was a check that Andrew wrote to Tommy, Thomas Strussion, that was not deposited. I mean, a check for an investment, but it was not deposited. And it was we found cashed by Tommy Strussion.
Mr. Vavra (04:33:37):
So was it made out to AJS?
Dave McKinzie (04:33:38):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:33:39):
And that was from Andrew to Tom?
Dave McKinzie (04:33:40):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:33:41):
And you could not find... I'm sorry. It did not get deposited into Belmont Savings?
Dave McKinzie (04:33:46):
It did not.
Mr. Vavra (04:33:47):
Cashed by Tom?
Dave McKinzie (04:33:48):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:33:56):
Next, on June 14th, we have something from Tom.
Dave McKinzie (04:34:00):
Yeah, that's another $10,000 cash deposit.
Mr. Vavra (04:34:04):
And then June 15th, $5,000 from Andrew?
Dave McKinzie (04:34:08):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:34:10):
Now, July 7th, what are we looking at there?
Dave McKinzie (04:34:12):
July 7th was what I had touched on earlier about a loan. This was a $49,465 loan taken out through Belmont Savings. Tommy Strussion had taken out the loan and the money went into the business account.
Mr. Vavra (04:34:29):
And then we have three more deposits off from Tom Strussion, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:34:34):
Correct. All cash.
Mr. Vavra (04:34:36):
August 19th, $5,020?
Dave McKinzie (04:34:38):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:34:39):
August 23rd, 5,000?
Dave McKinzie (04:34:41):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:34:42):
And September 8th, 20,000?
Dave McKinzie (04:34:43):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:34:44):
And what's your understanding of when Andrew Griffin was no longer associated with the business?
Dave McKinzie (04:34:54):
He was removed from the business in August of '21, taken off the... He no longer had signature rights to the business checking account.
Mr. Vavra (04:35:06):
Now you have couched these contributions from Tom Strussion in cash as investments.
Dave McKinzie (04:35:13):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:35:14):
Tell us about what you mean by investment versus a cash deposit from the business.
Dave McKinzie (04:35:19):
Well, what we're trying to say is we can't tie this to anything dealing with the business itself. We know it's money that's coming from Tommy. We know it's cash. We were told by the bank it's cash, but we have absolutely no evidence whatsoever to prove that these were actually from the restaurant itself, that this was their proceeds. So in essence, what we did was say, you're putting the money in, so obviously you're investing into this business.
Mr. Vavra (04:35:51):
If you see... These are pretty round numbers.
Dave McKinzie (04:35:54):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:35:55):
Cash deposits from revenue from the business, would they usually look like that?
Dave McKinzie (04:35:59):
No. No, they would not.
Mr. Vavra (04:36:00):
Explain that.
Dave McKinzie (04:36:02):
With revenue from the business, you're going to see a lot of extra dollars and cents going in. It could be $5,525.30. I mean, you're not going to be depositing round figures of 5,000, 10,000, 20,000.
Mr. Vavra (04:36:24):
Tell us what we're looking at here on page six.
Dave McKinzie (04:36:27):
This is our computation of how we came up with, and it's called capitalization. Capitalization is really just the investment in the business. It's the investment on Andrew's side of this and the investment on Tommy's side of this. And it's how we came up with how much they actually put into the business. And I had mentioned a little bit earlier about how there was a big difference between the two. This one shows the difference.
Mr. Vavra (04:36:57):
Okay. Let's walk through Andrew Griffin's transactions and let's talk about those. So we have the... See the $10,000 deposit, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:37:06):
Right, right. That's the one that went into the Salsa Joe's Belmont.
Mr. Vavra (04:37:10):
$40,000. We know that was the March 11th initial deposit, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:37:15):
Right.
Mr. Vavra (04:37:16):
Or startup for the Elm Grove location.
Dave McKinzie (04:37:18):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:37:19):
You have there a couple lease payments. Tell us about that.
Dave McKinzie (04:37:21):
Yeah. The next two are lease payments that were made for the location of the restaurant. He paid for it out of his own pocket. It was not the business that paid for it. So we gave him credit saying that that's an investment for him for the business.
Mr. Vavra (04:37:39):
We got, again, the 5/13, $20,000 check deposit that we already saw, right. Now 5/24, this is what we looked at before, I think. They each put five cash?
Dave McKinzie (04:37:51):
Yeah, it was 5,000 cash that went in.
Mr. Vavra (04:37:54):
That's your understanding based on how the bank explained it?
Dave McKinzie (04:37:57):
Right.
Mr. Vavra (04:37:58):
No check, didn't track that?
Dave McKinzie (04:38:00):
No.
Mr. Vavra (04:38:04):
Okay. We have a $10,000 deposit from Andrew, which was documented via check.
Dave McKinzie (04:38:07):
Yep.
Mr. Vavra (04:38:08):
And then you have the $5,000 check. Is that the one you talked about before that was written out to AJS-
Dave McKinzie (04:38:15):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:38:16):
... but Tom cashed it?
Dave McKinzie (04:38:17):
But Tommy cashed it, yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:38:19):
So you gave Andrew credit for that?
Dave McKinzie (04:38:21):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:38:21):
And the last item on there for Andrew, what is that?
Dave McKinzie (04:38:26):
You talking about the $9,500?
Mr. Vavra (04:38:29):
Yes.
Dave McKinzie (04:38:29):
That was the purchase of a smoker. He had purchased one in Tennessee. We gave him credit for it because at the time we did not know if that smoker came back to the business or if it stayed with him and went out to Oklahoma. So we gave him credit for it saying, "We think it stayed with the business." We did later on find out that he took it to Oklahoma.
Mr. Vavra (04:38:53):
Okay. So you credited him that and you have a total there for what you've credited his investment in the business?
Dave McKinzie (04:39:00):
Yes. His investment was $106,466.
Mr. Vavra (04:39:04):
Now let's talk about Tom and Angela's contributions. Are all the deposits on there cash deposits?
Dave McKinzie (04:39:12):
Yes, they are.
Mr. Vavra (04:39:15):
And again, you indicate you believe these to be investment deposits, not-
Dave McKinzie (04:39:21):
Not proceeds.
Mr. Vavra (04:39:23):
.... business sale proceeds?
Dave McKinzie (04:39:24):
Right.
Mr. Vavra (04:39:24):
And you've explained why, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:39:26):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:39:27):
Personal loan, you have on there, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:39:29):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:39:29):
All right. And then there's a few more cash deposits there. October 23rd was around the time Andrew left the business, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:39:40):
August 23rd.
Mr. Vavra (04:39:41):
I'm sorry. August 23rd?
Dave McKinzie (04:39:42):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:39:43):
And then September 8th is after that as well, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:39:46):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:39:48):
And is that all the investment income you saw going into this business?
Dave McKinzie (04:39:51):
That's all the investment we saw. Tommy put in $154,485.
Mr. Vavra (04:39:57):
And roughly 50,000 of that was the loan?
Dave McKinzie (04:40:03):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:40:00):
Roughly 50,000 of that was the loan.
Dave McKinzie (04:40:03):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:40:06):
What are we looking at with this slide?
Dave McKinzie (04:40:07):
All right. We received a quarterly report from Fiserv. Fiserv was running basically a computer program that took the information from Salsa Joe's computer, which would've been their register, and broke it down. And it gave it to us as cash, credit and debit cards and gift cards. And you'll see the big thing that jumps out was that there was $89,975 of cash sales during the time they were operating this business. This is just the breakdown on the graph.
Mr. Vavra (04:40:49):
So you have it broken down from dates. So from May 23rd, is that the date of opening?
Dave McKinzie (04:40:53):
That's the date of opening.
Mr. Vavra (04:40:55):
Until the end of June, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:40:56):
Yeah, it would be the first quarter.
Mr. Vavra (04:40:58):
And then June 1 through September 30th?
Dave McKinzie (04:41:01):
Yeah, it'd be July 1 through September 30th. That's the second quarter.
Mr. Vavra (04:41:04):
Sorry. Thank you for correcting me. So total cash sales in that timeframe, as you indicate, were 89,975?
Dave McKinzie (04:41:12):
89,975, correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:41:14):
Gift cards just about 600 bucks, 641?
Dave McKinzie (04:41:17):
Yeah.
Mr. Vavra (04:41:18):
And then the credit card sales was much larger, 286,000?
Dave McKinzie (04:41:26):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:41:27):
And as far as that breakdown, did that look normal to you?
Dave McKinzie (04:41:31):
Yeah. I had actually done a computation on my own before we got these records just to try to get an idea using a percentage based on the type of restaurant that it was. It came fairly close to this. I was off a few thousand dollars, but it did seem like it was fairly close.
Mr. Vavra (04:41:47):
So that didn't cause you any concerns seeing those figures?
Dave McKinzie (04:41:49):
No, it did not.
Mr. Vavra (04:41:56):
Go ahead and walk us through this slide here.
Dave McKinzie (04:41:57):
Yeah, this is a monthly breakdown of the sales for Salsa Joe's, Elm Grove, but it's only the credit and debit side of this. We did not have a breakdown for the cash. We weren't given that. But we could show that when they opened on May 23rd through May 31st, they had almost $32,000 worth of sales in the business, 604 customers. And you can see going through just how much they had in sales each month and how many customers that they had each month, credit card customers, debit card customers.
Mr. Vavra (04:42:36):
So this is just the debit, credit transaction?
Dave McKinzie (04:42:38):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:42:42):
What are we looking at here?
Dave McKinzie (04:42:43):
This is just a breakdown of this by month, the same thing, of the debit and credit card sales activity.
Mr. Vavra (04:42:53):
Looks like it peaked in June.
Dave McKinzie (04:42:56):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:42:56):
And then pretty well slowly, steadily declined through September.
Dave McKinzie (04:43:02):
Yes, it did.
Mr. Vavra (04:43:08):
Tell us what we're looking at here.
Dave McKinzie (04:43:10):
Okay. Obviously we went through, got all the investments, but we wanted to see if there were any kind of distributions made to the partners to make sure that we could calculate what their percentage was of their return on capital, as they call it, in this business. And what we saw was that we saw the initial investment, which we've talked about, but we also saw check payments from AJS Holdings to Tommy Strussion with no explanation at all of what they were for. We saw check payments to Andrew Griffin, but they were marked right on the check that they were reimbursements for expenses that he had paid for out of his own pocket. So we gave him the benefit of the doubt on that and said this was not a disbursement to him, so it's not going to cost him any money on this.
Mr. Vavra (04:44:02):
That wouldn't be income to him because it's just getting money back that he... If he paid a bill himself, he gets reimbursed from the business.
Dave McKinzie (04:44:10):
Correct. Right? You also see there were some cash withdrawals that were made by Thomas Strussion. And as it says on the bottom, if these things are going into Tommy's personal account, then they are, as I said, reducing his paid in capital or his investment.
Mr. Vavra (04:44:35):
Is this going to further break down what we're talking about as far as these withdrawals and payments and distributions from the business?
Dave McKinzie (04:44:43):
Yes, it is. This is a breakdown you can see starting January 28th all the way through July 7th. And you'll notice under Andrew Griffin, they're all zeros. There were no distributions made to him except for paycheck. And paycheck, you're allowed to get a paycheck from your partnership. Andrew and Tommy were both paid $1,000 a week and then taxes were withheld from that. Andrew received seven checks of a total of $6,536.
Mr. Vavra (04:45:14):
And was that kind of payroll?
Dave McKinzie (04:45:16):
That was the payroll, yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:45:18):
That was for being a manager of the business?
Dave McKinzie (04:45:19):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:45:19):
So that's not considered a withdrawal or a distribution of proceeds or profits?
Dave McKinzie (04:45:26):
No, it's not.
Mr. Vavra (04:45:27):
Walk us through Tom's side of things.
Dave McKinzie (04:45:29):
Okay. Tom's side, the first check was that $10,000 check. It went into his other business account. It did not go into anything associated with the Elm Grove restaurant. So we took that as a distribution to Tommy and then he put it into his other business. They're not associated. They're not related. So we said that's a distribution. After that, you have three checks, and I had mentioned this when we were talking earlier. Right after they put in the 80,000, there were some checks that came out. We found three of them that totaled roughly $24,000 that went to Tommy. And there really wasn't an explanation on them as to what they were for.
(04:46:13)
So we said that's another distribution to Tommy. It went to him personally. We didn't see any money coming out of there for the restaurant. Then we see cash withdrawals made by Tommy, and then there's another check you can see on May 17th for $3,000. That was another check that came out of a Elm Grove account that went to Tommy with no explanation as to why.
Mr. Vavra (04:46:41):
So that totals for him around 43,950?
Dave McKinzie (04:46:45):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:46:46):
And then he was getting paid a salary just like Andrew was?
Dave McKinzie (04:46:49):
Yes, he was getting paid $1,000 a week, having taxes withdrawn. He received 14 payments for a total of $13,487.
Mr. Vavra (04:46:59):
So the total that he received in this timeframe of his income as a manager and then these withdrawals you're pointing out, 57,437?
Dave McKinzie (04:47:08):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:47:10):
Does this account for the cash not deposited in the business?
Dave McKinzie (04:47:13):
No, it does not. It does not. It does not take that into consideration on this.
Mr. Vavra (04:47:20):
Tell us what we're looking at here.
Dave McKinzie (04:47:21):
All right. Towards the end of the business operation, we were curious to see where Andrew was financially, because we understood that he had taken some losses and we wanted to see what his accounts looked like. And what it's showing was that at the end of August, beginning of September, he only had $16,000 left in his accounts and that included what was left in his cryptocurrency.
Mr. Vavra (04:47:55):
And did you look at the entirety of his cryptocurrency records?
Dave McKinzie (04:47:58):
Yes, we did.
Mr. Vavra (04:47:59):
Was there a period where the balance was much higher?
Dave McKinzie (04:48:01):
Yes, there was.
Mr. Vavra (04:48:02):
And do you recall how high?
Dave McKinzie (04:48:04):
There were times where he was up over 500,000.
Mr. Vavra (04:48:12):
All right. And what are we looking at here on this slide?
Dave McKinzie (04:48:15):
This is a breakdown by account of what his balances were. And you can see going down, it's his personal account, it's the joint account with his wife, it's Robinhood accounts, and it's also his business farm account. It's Arvest, Robinhood, Main Street.
Mr. Vavra (04:48:37):
So amongst all the financial accounts you had for him, that was his overall liquid-
Dave McKinzie (04:48:43):
Liquid, right. Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:48:44):
... at the end of August 2021?
Dave McKinzie (04:48:48):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:48:49):
And you also looked at how much money Salsa Joe's Elm Grove had at that point, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:48:55):
That's correct. That would've been from... At the point when Angela and Tom had died, that was what was left in the account, $40,193.56 by Thomas Strussion, broken out throughout the months and that... We also have the loan involved in there of the $49,465.
Mr. Vavra (04:49:22):
And again, here, these are the cash deposits you've indicated?
Dave McKinzie (04:49:25):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:49:26):
From Tom?
Dave McKinzie (04:49:27):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:49:27):
And I think we... Again, a couple of those were in September after Mr. Griffin is no longer associated with the business?
Dave McKinzie (04:49:35):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:49:38):
All right. Now, did you also look at Mr. Griffin's records after he left the business?
Dave McKinzie (04:49:45):
Yes, I did. Right before Tommy and Angela had been murdered, we were looking at to see what kind of activity was going on in Andrew's accounts.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:02):
And what did you note of interest?
Dave McKinzie (04:50:06):
We saw that there were four cash withdrawals made end of August into the middle of September, totaling $12,000.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:16):
So there was one on August 31?
Dave McKinzie (04:50:17):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:18):
For how much?
Dave McKinzie (04:50:19):
5,000.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:20):
And you've indicated you actually have a slip signed by Mr. Griffin?
Dave McKinzie (04:50:23):
Yes, we do.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:25):
September 10th, we have another $2,000 cash withdrawal?
Dave McKinzie (04:50:28):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:29):
September 15th, 4,000?
Dave McKinzie (04:50:31):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:32):
And the 18th, 1,000?
Dave McKinzie (04:50:34):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:35):
And you actually said you saw these withdrawal slips?
Dave McKinzie (04:50:38):
Yes, we did.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:41):
Judge, at this time I would ask permission to display State's Exhibit 137BB.
Samuel Shamansky (04:50:49):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (04:50:51):
You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:54):
Now, are these the cash withdrawal slips you're talking about?
Dave McKinzie (04:50:56):
Yes, they are.
Mr. Vavra (04:50:57):
Okay. So the first one here, towards the bottom, we've got the date, 8/31/21?
Dave McKinzie (04:51:04):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:51:04):
5,000, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:51:05):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:51:08):
Signed by Mr. Griffin, it would appear?
Dave McKinzie (04:51:09):
Yes, it is.
Mr. Vavra (04:51:12):
The next one, as you've indicated, 2,000 taken out September 10 of '21?
Dave McKinzie (04:51:18):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:51:18):
And signed by Mr. Griffin?
Dave McKinzie (04:51:22):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:51:24):
Okay. Next one, 4,000, as you previously indicated, on September 15th of '21?
Dave McKinzie (04:51:28):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:51:29):
And then finally, we have a $1,000 cash withdrawal on September 18th of '21.
Dave McKinzie (04:51:35):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:51:56):
All right. Now, what are we looking at here?
Dave McKinzie (04:52:01):
What we're looking at here are payments from Andrew Griffin to Brett Cole and Dalton Ray, just showing that there was some form of a relationship between all three of them.
Mr. Vavra (04:52:15):
And did you actually look at checks from the accounts to confirm this?
Dave McKinzie (04:52:18):
Yes, we did.
Mr. Vavra (04:52:23):
And then finally, your final slide.
Dave McKinzie (04:52:25):
Okay. Now this is where we tried to tie everything together. We know in the figure one, we talked about how much was invested by the two of them. We have Andrew Griffin investing $106,466. We have Tommy Strussion investing $154,485. We showed the slide, you saw how it was all done, where we came up with the computation. Next, we come into... We made the assumption there was no profit or loss. No tax return was filed. We have no idea if there was a profit or loss for this business. We don't have the business records to be able to calculate it on our own, so we left that alone.
(04:53:03)
Then the next line you'll see are the withdrawals. Those were those items we went over, which were the cash withdrawals, the check withdrawals, totaling $43,950. Then the final thing that you'll see are the missing proceeds, the cash that's missing from the business. It was $89,975. Our understanding was is that Thomas Strussion was the one that took care of the cash at the end of the night. He counted everything out. It is also believed that he also took that money, and there's no other instance that we can see where somebody else took this money.
Mr. Vavra (04:53:45):
You said took the money. He was the one who handled the cash at the end of the night?
Dave McKinzie (04:53:49):
He handled all the cash, yes. So you'll see the total disbursements are $133,925 for Thomas Strussion and zero for Andrew Griffin. So at the end, total investment, net capital, however you want to say it, for Andrew Griffin was $106,466. For Thomas Strussion, it was $20,560. So you can see that Thomas took a lot of money out of that business.
Mr. Vavra (04:54:25):
Part of his contribution too was the loan taken out, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:54:30):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:54:42):
And at the end of August, that business had $40,193, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:54:50):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:54:50):
And without that loan, the business would've been insolvent?
Dave McKinzie (04:54:53):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:54:54):
Fair to say, based on the math?
Dave McKinzie (04:54:55):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:54:56):
Okay. However, if the cash deposits that you were aware of were being made, the business is probably making a profit?
Dave McKinzie (04:55:03):
Yes, the business would've been positive.
Mr. Vavra (04:55:19):
[inaudible 04:55:19]. Judge, at this point, I ask permission to display... [inaudible 04:55:25].
Samuel Shamansky (04:55:24):
Judge, we're going to stipulate these series of financial documents from Mr. Cole and Mr. Ray.
Judge (04:55:30):
All right. You may proceed, Mr. Vavra. What are the numbers?
Mr. Vavra (04:55:32):
State's exhibits one... It's just one exhibit, 137CCC. So again, you said you looked at these basically to see if there was a relationship of any kind between Mr. Griffin, Mr. Ray, and Mr. Cole?
Dave McKinzie (04:55:47):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:55:48):
And you did find a number of payments, but specifically some checks?
Dave McKinzie (04:55:52):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:55:55):
[inaudible 04:55:55]. All right. And just if we're looking here, we have a check from Mr. Griffin's account to Dalton Ray for $300 in August of '21?
Dave McKinzie (04:56:05):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:56:06):
And a check in August 12th, '21 to Brett Cole?
Dave McKinzie (04:56:11):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:56:12):
And that's... Is that 200 bucks? Yeah.
Dave McKinzie (04:56:15):
Yeah, $200.
Mr. Vavra (04:56:17):
And then another check to Mr. Ray, $200 on August 12th, '21?
Dave McKinzie (04:56:21):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:56:25):
Check to Brett Cole for Mr. Griffin on August 19th, '21 for $260?
Dave McKinzie (04:56:30):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:56:30):
And that indicates dozer repair?
Dave McKinzie (04:56:32):
Correct. And they all had little notations on there as far as what they were for.
Mr. Vavra (04:56:38):
One to Mr. Ray, $250 on August 19th of '21?
Dave McKinzie (04:56:41):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:56:42):
For Hay. One to Mr. Ray on August 24, 2021?
Dave McKinzie (04:56:50):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (04:56:51):
Is it fair to say there were a number of these smaller dollar checks to Mr. Ray and Mr. Cole?
Dave McKinzie (04:56:56):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (04:57:03):
No further questions, Judge.
Judge (04:57:04):
Mr. Schamansky, do you wish to undertake any cross-examination?
Samuel Shamansky (04:57:10):
I do, Your Honor. May I?
Judge (04:57:14):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (04:57:14):
Good afternoon, sir.
Dave McKinzie (04:57:15):
Good afternoon.
Samuel Shamansky (04:57:17):
So you're an experienced financial analyst, of course?
Dave McKinzie (04:57:21):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (04:57:22):
And it's no secret to you, based on your experience, that there's a certain group of restaurateurs who use the operation basically as just a cash money grab, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:57:35):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:57:36):
A typical restaurateur, as you have indicated, needs cash for operating revenue, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:57:43):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:57:43):
Because the very nature of a restaurant is that the margins are small.
Dave McKinzie (04:57:47):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (04:57:48):
The expenses are ongoing, such as food, liquor, rent, utilities, and salaries, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:57:56):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:57:57):
And so in order to maintain an appropriate balance sheet, you can't stuff the cash money in your pocket, the currency, you take it to the bank, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:58:05):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:58:05):
In this instance, and correct me if I'm wrong, the Strussions were the holders of the LLC that controlled the corporation, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:58:17):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:58:18):
And they enticed, or however it happened, they took about $106,000 plus for Mr. Griffin, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:58:27):
That's what it looks like when you look at the spreadsheet, yes.
Samuel Shamansky (04:58:30):
Yes, sir. Capitalized their business, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:58:34):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:58:34):
Opened the doors, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:58:36):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:58:36):
Gave him some measly salary, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:58:38):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:58:39):
And cannot account for about 85 plus thousand dollars in cash, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:58:46):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:58:47):
Now, as we sit here today, you don't know what Mr. Strussion or his wife did with that money, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:58:55):
That's correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:58:55):
There's no way you could, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:58:56):
No, you can't trace cash.
Samuel Shamansky (04:58:58):
Right. And we have all kinds of hypotheticals. He could have split it with Griffin, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:59:03):
It's possible.
Samuel Shamansky (04:59:03):
Possible.
Dave McKinzie (04:59:05):
Mm-hmm.
Samuel Shamansky (04:59:05):
It's also possible that he kept it all for himself, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:59:08):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:59:09):
Which would have the effect of bankrupting the business, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:59:12):
That's correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:59:13):
I mean, given the margins, there's no way you run without putting your cash in the bank, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:59:17):
That's correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:59:18):
At least on this establishment.
Dave McKinzie (04:59:19):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (04:59:20):
And that's why we saw the steady demise, correct?
Dave McKinzie (04:59:22):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (04:59:24):
And it's also common for people of the Strussions' ilk to try to obtain working capital from private individuals, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:59:31):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (04:59:32):
And that's because it's extraordinarily difficult to finance an operation such as this through conventional means, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:59:38):
That's correct.
Samuel Shamansky (04:59:38):
In fact, banks are low, very, very... Unless you have an established track record, you're not going to get some loan to open a restaurant in St. Clairsville or anywhere around here, right?
Dave McKinzie (04:59:49):
No.
Samuel Shamansky (04:59:50):
All right. Now, sir, one last area of inquiry, you did a good job of analyzing bank accounts in order to determine what you believed or what the records indicated regarding Mr. Griffin's cash on hand at the time that this venture tanked or at the time that he was forced out, right?
Dave McKinzie (05:00:14):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (05:00:15):
That number was around $16,000.
Dave McKinzie (05:00:17):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (05:00:19):
You by no means are trying to indicate to this jury that that was his net worth, correct?
Dave McKinzie (05:00:25):
No.
Samuel Shamansky (05:00:26):
Because were you to do such an analysis, you would be looking at real property, personal property, other sources of assets, correct?
Dave McKinzie (05:00:34):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (05:00:35):
All right. That's all I have. Thank you.
Judge (05:00:38):
Any redirect?
Mr. Vavra (05:00:39):
No, Judge.
Judge (05:00:41):
May this witness be excused?
Mr. Vavra (05:00:41):
Yes, Judge.
Judge (05:00:42):
Thank you, sir.
Dave McKinzie (05:00:43):
Thank you.
Judge (05:00:43):
Mr. Vavra, Mr. Schamansky, will you approach?
Samuel Shamansky (05:00:43):
Yes, sir.
Judge (05:01:28):
All right. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, to allow the state to prepare or get ready for the next witness, we're going to take a 15-minute recess.
(05:01:34)
Mr. Vavra, we're outside the presence of the jury. Any issues you need to raise?
Mr. Vavra (05:02:17):
No, Judge.
Judge (05:02:17):
Mr. Schamansky?
Samuel Shamansky (05:02:18):
Good. Thank you, Your Honor.
Judge (05:02:20):
All right, then the court will be in recess for 15 minutes.
Judge (05:31:41):
All right. We are back on the record in the State of Ohio v. Andrew Griffin. Mr. Griffin is present in the courtroom with his counsel. The State is present as well as the jury.
(05:31:51)
Mr. Vavra, we're still at the State's case in chief. Are you ready to proceed with your next witness?
Mr. Vavra (05:31:56):
Yes, Judge. The State calls Jordan Blumling. May we approach while he's coming up, Judge?
Judge (05:32:01):
Yes. Do you swear the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:32:43):
Yes, sir.
Judge (05:32:46):
Detective, do you have any issue with being filmed?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:32:48):
No objection, sir.
Judge (05:32:49):
All right. Thank you. And Mr. Vavra, whenever you're ready to proceed.
Mr. Vavra (05:32:55):
Thank you, Judge. Good afternoon, sir.
Judge (05:32:59):
Good afternoon, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:32:59):
I know you've testified in this matter already, but could you just tell the jurors your name again?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:33:10):
Sure. My name is Jordan Blumling. It's B-L-U-M-L-I-N-G, and I work for the Belmont County Sheriff's Office in St. Clairsville.
Mr. Vavra (05:33:19):
You are Detective Sergeant?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:33:21):
Yes, sir. I am.
Mr. Vavra (05:33:22):
You have been one of the primary detectives involved in this case throughout, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:33:30):
Yes, sir, one of.
Mr. Vavra (05:33:31):
You testified the other day about some investigative steps you have already taken, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:33:37):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:33:38):
Okay. One such step was to issue a subpoena for Apple iCloud information relative to Mr. Griffin. Fair to say?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:33:47):
Fair to say.
Mr. Vavra (05:33:48):
Did you receive that information?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:33:49):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (05:33:51):
How does that come? Does it come paper? Does it come electronic?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:33:54):
So all Apple backup response data is all electronic. So it comes in the form and then I use a decryption to decrypt the data.
Mr. Vavra (05:34:03):
Did you in fact receive a response from Apple in this matter?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:34:06):
Yes, I did, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:34:07):
You did encrypt as you indicate?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:34:11):
Decrypt, yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:34:11):
Decrypt, sorry.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:34:13):
Sorry. Decrypt.
Mr. Vavra (05:34:15):
What was the purpose of doing that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:34:18):
The purpose as the investigation moved forward, we wanted to start drawing associations and connections with persons of interest. The defendant was a person of interest in this investigation. So ultimately, legal process was sought to get the iCloud backup for this gentleman.
Mr. Vavra (05:34:44):
Judge, at this time, the State would ask permission to display State's Exhibit 162.
Judge (05:34:49):
And what is that?
Mr. Vavra (05:34:50):
That is the iPhone backup information that he's testifying about.
Defense Attorney (05:34:56):
All right. Your Honor, incorporating our previous discussion in chambers, no objection moving forward given the court's ruling.
Judge (05:35:04):
Understood. Thank you.
Defense Attorney (05:35:05):
Yes, sir.
Judge (05:35:05):
You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (05:35:16):
All right. So we're looking at State's Exhibit 162. Do you recognize that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:35:20):
Yes, sir. I do.
Mr. Vavra (05:35:21):
So when you decrypt the information from Apple, is this how it appears?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:35:25):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:35:25):
Okay. Then if we click on these boxes moving forward, it will lead us down a path, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:35:32):
Yes sir, a file path.
Mr. Vavra (05:35:34):
Can you tell us why there's two file folders here?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:35:37):
There's two different associative Apple identifications. So there's one email address that's associative with the account, but there are subcategories, and that's why there's two different files.
Mr. Vavra (05:35:48):
So when we click on the top one moving forward, what do we see?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:35:52):
The Apple ID, which is andrewgriffin690@yahoo.com.
Mr. Vavra (05:35:59):
When we click on that, we get to a folder called contacts, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:36:06):
Yes, sir. That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:36:08):
Clicking there, it goes to vCards?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:36:10):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:36:11):
What does contacts mean, if you know?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:36:14):
It's persons who are entered into the device as, you know, whoever... Everybody has contacts in their phones, so you've got names, numbers, and any other identifying information that the person chooses to input.
Mr. Vavra (05:36:25):
Then we've got vCards, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:36:27):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:36:27):
What is that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:36:28):
It's just basically how Apple stores that data. They call it in the form of a vCard.
Mr. Vavra (05:36:33):
We take a step further, we see an entire list. Is that fair to say?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:36:37):
Fair to say, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:36:39):
Is this the contacts we're talking about?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:36:42):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:36:43):
Okay. Then from there, you can click on these and open them. What do you see when you do that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:36:48):
Commonly, you'll see the person's name, anything that the user would input into there, such as a contact, an email, their birthdate, stuff of that nature. A phone number as well.
Mr. Vavra (05:37:02):
So for our purposes, if we go to Logan Mays, that's how it's stored in the individual's... All right. In this case, in Mr. Griffin's cloud?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:37:18):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:37:19):
Okay. Open this up, what are we seeing?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:37:27):
This is the response data from that vCard here. So basically it will input a name, a phone number, and again, as we discussed earlier, any type of user-inputted data.
Mr. Vavra (05:37:37):
Okay. Do we have a telephone number here?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:37:39):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:37:40):
Okay. The area I'm highlighting, does that appear to be a telephone number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:37:44):
It appears so.
Mr. Vavra (05:37:45):
And what is Mr. Mays' phone number here?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:37:47):
1-580-665-9297.
Mr. Vavra (05:38:01):
Now backing back out to the beginning, again, you talked about having two folders. Going into the second one, are we seeing similar information?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:38:10):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:38:11):
We get to the email account, andrewgriffin690@yahoo.com?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:38:16):
Yes, sir. That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:38:17):
Click again into contacts, vCards, and we get our list of contacts, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:38:21):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:38:21):
Okay. We're going to talk about a few of these, so just bear with me.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:38:30):
[inaudible 05:38:31].
Mr. Vavra (05:38:31):
If I pull up Axel Spears and open that, similar information to before?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:38:38):
Similar information.
Mr. Vavra (05:38:39):
We've got a telephone number, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:38:41):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:38:42):
What is Mr. Spears' stored telephone number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:38:47):
580-786-6824.
Mr. Vavra (05:39:05):
All right. Moving here, we have an entry Brad Hunter Next Door, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:39:12):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:39:15):
Opening that, can you tell us the information stored for Brad Hunter?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:39:20):
Yes, sir. The telephone number is 740-312-0024.
Mr. Vavra (05:39:31):
Through the course of your investigation, did you determine who Brad Hunter is or did that name come up?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:39:36):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:39:36):
Who is Brad Hunter?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:39:37):
Brad Hunter is the gentleman that lives next to the Strussions at the time of the event.
Mr. Vavra (05:39:51):
During the course of the investigation, did you identify Andrew Griffin's mother?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:40:00):
Yes, sir. I did.
Mr. Vavra (05:40:01):
Just by name?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:40:01):
By name.
Mr. Vavra (05:40:03):
Do you recall her name?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:40:05):
Diana McFarlane.
Mr. Vavra (05:40:07):
Now in this context, we have a storage for Mom. Does that look right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:40:12):
Correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:40:13):
And if I open that, we get a phone number for Mom, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:40:17):
Correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:40:18):
What is Mom's phone number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:40:20):
918-421-0503.
Mr. Vavra (05:40:35):
Heather Eddington. We open that. What is the number for Ms. Eddington?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:40:41):
502-500-4721.
Mr. Vavra (05:40:57):
We have an entry for a Lisa. If we open that, what number do we have there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:41:07):
740-310-7377.
Mr. Vavra (05:41:13):
There's also some other identifying information in this. Is that fair to say?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:41:17):
Fair to say.
Mr. Vavra (05:41:18):
What's that information? Is there other identifying information, I should say?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:41:24):
Sure. It says Salsa Joe's, Tommy's sister.
Mr. Vavra (05:41:51):
If I type up here in the search bar, does it help me find these things faster?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:41:56):
Sometimes it can.
Mr. Vavra (05:42:02):
All right. If we open up an entry for Chris Weaver, we get a phone number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:42:09):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:42:10):
What is that number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:42:15):
740-827-3080. Additional identifier is Elite Tire Ohio.
Mr. Vavra (05:42:27):
We have an entry for a Missy Murphy, yes?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:42:30):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:42:33):
Opening that. We have a telephone number.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:42:36):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:42:37):
What's that number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:42:39):
740-312-5378. Additional identifier, Salsa Joe's.
Mr. Vavra (05:42:53):
We have an Ox Ewing. Open that. Telephone number.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:43:03):
740-827-3260. Additional identifier, Salsa Joe's.
Mr. Vavra (05:43:17):
Luke Sorgi or Sorgi. Open that. Telephone number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:43:23):
740-526-6568.
Mr. Vavra (05:43:36):
We go Bill Kalaney. Open that. What's the telephone number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:43:42):
304-780-9961.
Mr. Vavra (05:43:59):
Jason Hupp, open that. Telephone number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:44:03):
304-238-8100.
Mr. Vavra (05:44:13):
There's an entry for Bill, Gun Guy, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:44:18):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:44:19):
Tell us that number.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:44:22):
479-216-5565.
Mr. Vavra (05:44:36):
We have a David Johnson, Gun Guy.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:44:50):
479-216-3594.
Mr. Vavra (05:44:52):
All right. There's a number in here for State Farm Insurance, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:45:08):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:45:11):
What is that number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:45:16):
918-465-3646.
Mr. Vavra (05:45:26):
Jim Wakums, if we open that, what do we see?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:45:33):
Phone number, 304-639-7423.
Mr. Vavra (05:45:46):
Dalton Ray, what's our number there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:45:52):
580-236-8062.
Mr. Vavra (05:46:08):
Justin Monroe. Do you have a number there.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:46:10):
918-635-0118.
Mr. Vavra (05:46:24):
then we have an entry for Brett Cole, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:46:26):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:46:29):
How is Brett Cole stored?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:46:31):
580-372-3870.
Mr. Vavra (05:47:25):
All right. I'm going to show you what the State has already marked as 25A. It's a document we've seen before. This is the phone record from that US Cellular account that we talked about?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:47:45):
That's correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:47:45):
The name on the left, Carolyn Babcock?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:47:48):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:47:49):
The number on the right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:47:50):
580-372-3870.
Mr. Vavra (05:47:58):
In your investigation, did you identify Carolyn Babcock?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:48:01):
Yes, sir. I did.
Mr. Vavra (05:48:02):
Who is that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:48:03):
Carolyn Babcock is the mother of Brett Cole.
Mr. Vavra (05:48:14):
As a part of your investigation, we talked before about all the evidence that was collected, the steps that were taken. There were a number of items sent to BCI to be tested, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:48:27):
That's correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:48:28):
Can you kind of run us through what BCI was looking for?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:48:33):
So working in consultation with Special Agent Matt Austin, he collected a series of fingerprints and DNA standards and samples from the crime scene. That stuff was primarily sent to the laboratory for testing.
Mr. Vavra (05:48:53):
When you sent it to the lab to be tested, you get a report back, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:48:57):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:48:57):
Let you know if there's anything of interest?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:48:59):
Yes, sir.
Defense Attorney (05:49:01):
We're going to stipulate all these BCI NI reports, your Honor, and no objection to them being public.
Judge (05:49:07):
Mr. Vavra, what are their numbers?
Mr. Vavra (05:49:09):
The first one, Judge, will be State's Exhibit 1. I'll identify each one as we go, Judge.
Judge (05:49:15):
All right.
Mr. Vavra (05:49:16):
State's Exhibit 1, do you recognize that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:49:18):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:49:18):
This is a fingerprint report, it indicates.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:49:22):
Yes, sir. That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:49:23):
And there's some items that were submitted, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:49:26):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:49:27):
What are those items?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:49:28):
Item 1, which was four money bags, three bundles of receipts, one bundle of receipts, money bags, money bags, coins, and miscellaneous debris, a sauce pan, four knobs, and a wooden box.
Mr. Vavra (05:49:42):
Out of all those items, the only one that was found to have anything of value was the bundle of receipts had a fingerprint?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:49:49):
Yes, sir. That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:49:50):
Actually, Mr. Strussion was excluded as being the person who placed that fingerprint?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:49:55):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:49:56):
That's what this report indicates?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:49:57):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:50:00):
Now State's Exhibit 3 is another fingerprint-
Mr. Vavra (05:50:00):
Now, State's Exhibit 3 is another fingerprint report.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:50:04):
Yes, sir. That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:50:05):
And again, we're talking about the same... And because they found this print, you kept submitting new potential suspects as possible contributors of this print?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:50:17):
Yes. As the investigation progressed and we found persons of interest that could be relevant, we submitted their fingerprints for analysis with the fingerprint that's listed on the report.
Mr. Vavra (05:50:27):
Okay. And this was the receipts from the Budweiser box?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:50:31):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:50:32):
Okay. Did you guys have a lot of hope this was going to turn out something?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:50:35):
No.
Mr. Vavra (05:50:36):
And why is that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:50:37):
Well, if you refer back to what you've heard so far, primarily the scene was chaotic in the sense of there was destruction, there was fire, there was water. There was a variety of environmental factors that made it very challenging for this type of forensic evidence to be processed or collected.
Mr. Vavra (05:50:58):
This lab report three, some other folks were tested against that fingerprint, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:51:04):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:51:05):
And they were all excluded, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:51:06):
They were.
Mr. Vavra (05:51:07):
Who were those individuals?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:51:09):
Angela Strussion, Anthony Dibacco, and Miana Smith.
Mr. Vavra (05:51:14):
And we know who Angela is, of course. Who were Anthony and Miana?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:51:19):
Those individuals in question were part of another investigation involving the extortion of Tom Strussion.
Mr. Vavra (05:51:25):
Okay. And they were both prosecuted for that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:51:28):
They were.
Mr. Vavra (05:51:31):
Exhibit 6 is another fingerprint report, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:51:34):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:51:35):
All right. And at this point, there were a number of fingerprints submitted, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:51:41):
There were.
Mr. Vavra (05:51:41):
All excluded?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:51:42):
All excluded.
Mr. Vavra (05:51:43):
Can you run through the names of exclusions?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:51:45):
Sure. Steve Michael Ingram, Jeremy Evans, Justin Evans Decker, Jill West, Brittany Zielinski, Wilbur Barr, Daquan Bass, and Ashley Bruce.
Mr. Vavra (05:52:03):
State's Exhibit 9, similar report on prints and testing against that same bag, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:52:09):
Correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:52:12):
I should say that the receipts that were in the bag.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:52:14):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:52:16):
Exclusion?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:52:17):
Exclusion.
Mr. Vavra (05:52:18):
Who's this individual?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:52:19):
Larry Davies.
Mr. Vavra (05:52:22):
Again, a number of items submitted for testing for prints, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:52:27):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:52:28):
Again, we're also looking at the same issue with the bag?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:52:31):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:52:34):
And I don't see any exclusions here. Was this just looking for more prints?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:52:40):
Yes, more prints.
Mr. Vavra (05:52:41):
Okay. And if we're looking at the other items submitted, I think we heard Matt Austin talk about these, but do you recognize what some of those other ones are?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:52:52):
Yeah, there were some digital prints that were submitted there. Small... I'm sorry.
Mr. Vavra (05:53:08):
And there was a bag from the master closet shelf?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:53:10):
Yes. There was a variety. Yeah. A variety of different other things that were sent off to be tested.
Mr. Vavra (05:53:15):
Nothing shown?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:53:16):
Nothing probative, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:53:18):
State's Exhibit 13. We have some exclusions here, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:53:23):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:53:23):
Who are the two exclusions on that bundle of receipts?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:53:26):
Jacob Bichakowski and Andrew Griffin.
Mr. Vavra (05:53:29):
And State's Exhibit 16. Again, we're looking at fingerprints. Exclusions?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:53:34):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:53:34):
Who was excluded in this report?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:53:36):
Brett Cole and Dalton Ray.
Mr. Vavra (05:53:41):
Per your knowledge, was that print ever matched to anyone?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:53:45):
No, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:54:05):
All right, Judge. Similarly, I have another series of BCI reports to work through and I can identify them as we go. I'd like to display them.
Judge (05:54:12):
What's your first number?
Mr. Vavra (05:54:15):
The first number would be four.
Judge (05:54:18):
Mr. Shamansky?
Mr. Shamansky (05:54:19):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (05:54:20):
All right. You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (05:54:29):
State's Exhibit 4, does that appear to be a firearms report?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:54:33):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:54:33):
And what does this report indicate or what was tested against what?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:54:39):
This report indicates that there were bullets that were recovered from the scene, additionally from the forensic autopsy of Tom and Angela Strussion. Those items were sent off to the ballistics laboratory at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Mr. Vavra (05:54:55):
All right. And there was a firearm that was located at some point tested against these bullets to see if there was a match?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:55:02):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:55:02):
Do you recall whose firearm that was?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:55:07):
I want to say Wilbur Barr was one of the individuals we seized the firearm from.
Mr. Vavra (05:55:11):
And no matches per this report?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:55:14):
No matches.
Mr. Vavra (05:55:16):
Actually, there was a source exclusion for one of them?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:55:19):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:55:23):
All right. Now State's Exhibit 2, we're now talking DNA reports, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:55:27):
Correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:55:28):
A number of items submitted here?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:55:30):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:55:31):
Can you just try to quickly move through what was submitted? We have 19 items.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:55:38):
Yes, so the brown paper bag containing money bags and soot, money bags from the kitchen, the sauce pan, the oven knobs from the oven from the crime scene, the glove compartment latch of Mr. Strussion's vehicle, a doorknob from the cabinets closest to the stove where that was, the blood card from the forensic autopsy by Dr. Lee, also the blood card from Angela Strussion from the same situation, the wooden box from the scene as well, some touch DNA from the dresser doorknobs, the bedroom dresser knobs, and the TV dresser knobs.
Mr. Vavra (05:56:27):
All right. And that was all submitted and there's a lot of language on here.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:56:34):
Sure.
Mr. Vavra (05:56:34):
Scientific language, but is it accurate to say there were no hits on what was submitted?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:56:40):
Correct, sir. And exclusions as well.
Mr. Vavra (05:56:42):
And at this point you submitted DNA for... Or blood that led to DNA for Tom and Angela?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:56:48):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:56:49):
They were actually excluded from all these items as well?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:56:51):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:56:52):
All right. State's Exhibit 5, another DNA report, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:56:57):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:56:58):
More items were submitted to be tested, yes?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:57:00):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:57:01):
All right. We also have DNA from other folks, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:57:10):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:57:11):
Anthony Dibacco, Miana Smith, Jeremy Evans?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:57:13):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:57:14):
Okay. And now those, again, no matches, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:57:20):
No matches.
Mr. Vavra (05:57:21):
Now we talked about the rubber glove that was found by Deputy Nixon on the ground near the house.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:57:29):
Yes sir, that's correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:57:30):
There was actually a contributor found to that glove, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:57:33):
There was a profile, yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:57:34):
And that was tested against multiple folks, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:57:37):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:57:37):
Here we have Tom, Angie, Anthony Dibacco, Miana Smith, Justin Evans Decker, Jeremy Evans, Wilbur Barr. No contributors?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:57:47):
No, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:57:50):
State's Exhibit 7, we have some additional... Similar to the fingerprints, we're not trying to match something to this glove, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:57:58):
Correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:57:59):
All right. And we have a couple more folks that are excluded, Joe West and Steve Ingram.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:58:05):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:58:07):
State's Exhibit 8, again, glove with the contributor, Larry Davies is excluded?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:58:16):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:58:20):
Similarly, Jacob Fijakowski, we heard his name before, he's excluded.
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:58:24):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:58:25):
And that's State's Exhibit 10?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:58:26):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:58:28):
State's Exhibit 12 are a couple more swabs, it looks like?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:58:32):
Yes, the negative DNA.
Mr. Vavra (05:58:35):
This is the kitchen pots and the kitchen drawer?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:58:39):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:58:39):
And no luck there getting any DNA?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:58:41):
No, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:58:43):
State's Exhibit 14, more folks tested against the glove, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:58:47):
Correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (05:58:48):
Here it's Andrew Griffin?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:58:50):
He was excluded.
Mr. Vavra (05:58:53):
And then State's Exhibit 15, we saw, I think the photograph, the swab from the doorframe of-
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:59:01):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:59:01):
... something and there was no DNA profile there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:59:04):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (05:59:04):
Okay. We talked before about a lot of the steps investigators took. DNA and fingerprints weren't really leading anywhere, fair to say?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:59:12):
Fair to say.
Mr. Vavra (05:59:31):
One of your investigative steps, once Amy Chase was identified-
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:59:37):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:59:37):
... you subpoenaed her records?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:59:39):
I do.
Mr. Vavra (05:59:40):
Her phone records?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:59:41):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (05:59:42):
Okay. And did those come from AT&T?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:59:43):
They did.
Mr. Vavra (05:59:45):
Okay. And I'm not going to ask you about those. We have marked them as exhibit 17 and 17A, and you did review them?
Det. Jordan Blumling (05:59:51):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (05:59:52):
Okay. And for the record, this court previously indicated that you are... Declared that you are an expert with relation to call detail record analysis, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:00:04):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:00:07):
Okay, so you looked at Amy Chase's phone records?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:00:10):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:00:25):
We've heard talk of the cell phone purchased in Walmart, Marion, Illinois, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:00:31):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:00:32):
Did you handle the process of subpoenaing or issuing a warrant for the registration records associated with that phone?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:00:40):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:00:40):
Okay. And who did you subpoena for those records?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:00:46):
AT&T was the primary company that does those records, but it was a Cricket Wireless phone.
Mr. Vavra (06:00:52):
And did you receive a response from your subpoena?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:00:55):
Yes, sir. I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:00:57):
And that's marked as State's Exhibit 19C, permission to display?
Mr. Shamansky (06:01:01):
No objection.
Judge (06:01:03):
You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (06:01:09):
All right. 19C, is this a response that you received?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:01:15):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:01:15):
This is subscriber information?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:01:17):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:01:18):
And who's the name financial liable for this phone?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:01:21):
James Jobe, J-O-B-E.
Mr. Vavra (06:01:25):
And what is the address?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:01:27):
1622 Washington Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Mr. Vavra (06:01:35):
And we have an activation date?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:01:37):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:01:37):
What's that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:01:38):
September 19th, 2021.
Mr. Vavra (06:01:43):
Billing party, same information on Mr. Jobe?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:01:45):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:01:46):
And user information, we have the telephone number there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:01:50):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:01:51):
The IMSI number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:01:54):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:01:54):
What is that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:01:55):
International mobile subscriber identity. It's a unique identifier for each subscriber on their network.
Mr. Vavra (06:02:07):
Okay. All right, so you obtained this information and I think it was Detective Oller who further investigated this, fair to say?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:02:14):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:02:24):
Okay. Now, did you also subpoena the phone records for Brett Cole's phone number?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:02:31):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:02:32):
And you received a response for that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:02:35):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:02:36):
And we marked that as Exhibit 25, 25A. I'm not going to show you those items at this time, but you did get the records?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:02:46):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:02:47):
And we saw some of those earlier, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:02:49):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:02:55):
And we've heard testimony those did not include location data?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:02:58):
They did not.
Mr. Vavra (06:02:59):
Can you tell us why?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:03:01):
Throughout the investigation, as it progressed and different persons of interest became probative and non-probative, we identified Brett Cole as a person of interest or a person associated with the investigation, so by the time we had learned as the investigative team that this person was needed, when we issued the warrant out to US Cellular, the data was already gone. Their retention rate was over on that. It's usually one year they keep those records.
Mr. Vavra (06:03:29):
As opposed to AT&T, who we saw a lot of records for earlier, how long does AT&T keep their records?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:03:35):
At least 36 months. I don't have the exact timeframe, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:03:38):
Yeah. And we've seen the call detail records that were sent. We can still see numbers dialed, numbers received, who's calling, who's making calls, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:03:57):
Yes, sir. That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:03:58):
It's just the location data.
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:04:00):
Yeah, the towers that were utilized are not on those billing records.
Mr. Vavra (06:04:11):
Approach, Your Honor?
Judge (06:04:12):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:04:12):
Approach the witness.
Judge (06:04:13):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:04:18):
I'll show you what we've marked as State's Exhibit 38. Do you recognize that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:04:22):
Yes, sir. I do.
Mr. Vavra (06:04:23):
What is that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:04:24):
This is Tom Strussion's iPhone that was collected at the crime scene by Special Agent Matt Austin of BCI.
Mr. Vavra (06:04:31):
Is that the one we saw sitting on the bathroom counter, I think it was?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:04:34):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:04:35):
Okay. And did you conduct a complete Cellebrite extraction of that phone?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:04:44):
There was, yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:04:45):
You've talked about that before when you testified that that's basically a copy of everything in that phone?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:04:50):
Yes, a digital copy.
Mr. Vavra (06:04:52):
All right. And did you find communications between Mr. Griffin and Mr. Strussion?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:04:57):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:04:58):
And we have marked that as State's Exhibit 160, I believe is the Cellebrite extraction.
Mr. Shamansky (06:05:16):
There's no objection to any portion of this, which Mr. Vavra wishes to publish.
Judge (06:05:22):
Thank you, Mr. Shamansky. Are you introducing that now?
Mr. Vavra (06:05:25):
Yes, Judge.
Judge (06:05:25):
All right.
Mr. Vavra (06:05:37):
Okay, so we're looking at State's Exhibit 160. Do you recognize that, Jordan?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:05:43):
Yes, I do.
Mr. Vavra (06:05:45):
And what are we looking at there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:05:47):
This is the last communication known to the defendant, Andrew Griffin, from Tom Strussion.
Mr. Vavra (06:05:53):
Okay, so this is Tom texting Andrew?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:05:55):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:05:56):
And do you see a date and time there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:06:01):
August 26, 2021 at 11:01 PM.
Mr. Vavra (06:06:08):
And this is the last time you found any communication between the two of them?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:06:14):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:06:14):
Can you just go ahead and read what Tom's text is to Mr. Griffin?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:06:19):
Okay, "Hello, Andrew. Thank you. Life/things can change all in one day or one hour. As we met later that evening, my brother passed. It's been very sad few days here. As you know, my brother was fighting addiction. I gave him money to make sure he could buy parts and glands for his season. Unfortunately, it did not happen. Now I've got thrown into his world to make sure BuckStik has a season and keep the orders filled. I had to purchase today products to secure the season. This was not in the plan. Thank God we had one open credit card. This is the only way I could save the money I gave him a month ago.
(06:07:20)
With that said, maybe we can talk next week as I would have you be an exclusive distributor for BuckStik down your way. You would be a natural to move this product. Plus, this is a way to get you some money in your pocket. It could be a lot. You never know. I trust you and I know would represent BuckStik well. I think it's worth the conversation if you want. I look forward to continuing to working with you. Stay well. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks."
Mr. Vavra (06:08:04):
Again, no response, no further communication in any records you saw?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:08:08):
To my knowledge, no.
Mr. Vavra (06:08:18):
Approach, Your Honor?
Judge (06:08:19):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:08:21):
I'm going to hand you what we've marked as State's Exhibit 110. Do you recognize that document or that item?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:08:34):
Yes, sir. I do.
Mr. Vavra (06:08:35):
What is it?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:08:37):
This is a Tracki device that was given to law enforcement by Stacy Griffin.
Mr. Vavra (06:08:44):
Okay. Is that the first... We've heard talk about two different times Trackis were provided. From your knowledge, is that the first time she provided it?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:08:52):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:08:53):
And do you recall when that was?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:08:56):
I don't recall that information, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:09:02):
Now, once you received this item, did you take any action with it?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:09:10):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:09:10):
And is that how it came, how it is in the package?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:09:19):
It came as the separate pieces here. We had put it in evidence bags and followed chain of custody for it.
Mr. Vavra (06:09:24):
Sure. Was there a box with it when it came?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:09:26):
Not initially.
Mr. Vavra (06:09:27):
Okay. Could you identify, or is there any identifying information on that item?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:09:35):
Yes, sir. Inside of the tracking device, there is a IMEI number. This enables investigators to subpoena the telephone provider or the telecommunications provider servicing this tracking device.
Mr. Vavra (06:09:56):
And once you received that item, what did you do?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:09:59):
I drafted a search warrant and sent it off to Tracki.
Mr. Vavra (06:10:03):
Were you familiar with Tracki before this?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:10:08):
No.
Mr. Vavra (06:10:09):
Have you since become familiar with it?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:10:11):
Oh yeah.
Mr. Vavra (06:10:11):
What is Tracki?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:10:13):
Tracki is a company that makes GPS devices that you can place on a variety of products and services there, so it comes in a variety of ways. There are magnets, you can magnetize it to the bottom of something, you can place it any which way. There's different options to work with this.
Mr. Vavra (06:10:34):
And you sent off a subpoena or a warrant to Tracki?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:10:36):
A search warrant, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:10:38):
Okay. And did you receive a response?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:10:40):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:10:40):
Okay. And the items were provided to you?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:10:42):
They were.
Mr. Vavra (06:10:43):
Okay. I'm not going to have you talk about those, but you did receive information?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:10:50):
I did, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:11:03):
Okay. Did there come a time where some additional Tracki devices were presented to you?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:11:08):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:11:09):
Do you recall roughly when that was?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:11:13):
I'm sorry, sir. I don't recall.
Mr. Vavra (06:11:19):
Where did they come from?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:11:20):
Stacy Griffin.
Mr. Vavra (06:11:21):
Okay. And did she first send you a photograph of them?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:11:25):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:11:26):
Okay. And was this roughly springtime of this year?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:11:28):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:11:29):
Okay. Approach the witness, Your Honor.
Judge (06:11:32):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:11:36):
I'm just going to hand you what we marked as State's Exhibits... Is that C, D and E?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:11:42):
C, D and E.
Mr. Vavra (06:11:43):
Okay. Does that appear to be the items that Ms. Griffin photographed?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:11:48):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:11:49):
And she then shipped them to us, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:11:51):
She did.
Mr. Vavra (06:11:52):
And does that appear to be what she shipped?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:01):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:04):
All right. And did you attempt to secure... Or did you secure a search warrant for each of those items?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:11):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:11):
Okay. And sent it to Tracki?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:13):
I did, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:13):
Did you get any responsive documents from those?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:15):
No, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:17):
Okay. Why not?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:18):
By the time we had obtained this information there, their responsive records had been purged from their system, so they no longer had them.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:24):
And this would've been, again, spring of this year?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:27):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:28):
Your first subpoena, was it sent out earlier in the investigation?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:32):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:35):
And we just heard some testimony from the last witness about financial records, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:41):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:42):
Mr. Griffin's?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:43):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:44):
And did you have a chance to look through Mr. Griffin's records?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:47):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:48):
Okay. And these are the Arvest Bank records?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:12:50):
They are.
Mr. Vavra (06:12:54):
Judge, at this time I'd ask permission to display State's Exhibit 137 BBB, which is a bank statement from Arvest for Mr. Griffin's account.
Mr. Shamansky (06:13:02):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (06:13:04):
You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (06:13:13):
Detective Blumling, again, we're looking at 137 BBB, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:13:16):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:13:17):
And does this appear to be Mr. Griffin's statement?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:13:19):
Yes, sir. That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:13:20):
And we have a balance last statement there, 4/22/21?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:13:25):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:13:26):
We're moving past that date, it would seem?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:13:29):
We are.
Mr. Vavra (06:13:30):
And May of '21?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:13:32):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:13:33):
Did you identify in this record any information associated with Tracki?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:13:38):
There is a purchase for Amazon that was associated with the Tracki purchase.
Mr. Vavra (06:13:44):
Okay, so we have an Amazon purchase for Tracki devices?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:13:47):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:13:47):
Okay. Now, in fairness, does that indicate anything associated with Tracki or is it just an Amazon purchase?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:13:54):
It is an Amazon purchase.
Mr. Vavra (06:13:57):
Is this the one you're talking about, May 13th?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:14:00):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:14:01):
Amazon Marketplace purchase $121.99?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:14:05):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:14:06):
Okay. Was there something on here particular to Tracki as well?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:14:13):
5/17, there was a purchase for $239.40.
Mr. Vavra (06:14:19):
And the identifier on there is Tracki, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:14:22):
It is Tracki.
Mr. Vavra (06:14:23):
That is the same spelling, name, company as what's on the devices?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:14:28):
Yes, this is the same spelling.
Mr. Vavra (06:14:52):
Now, do you recall receiving a phone from Stacy Griffin around the same time I think you got the Tracki devices?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:14:59):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:15:02):
Okay. And were you able to run a Cellebrite extraction on that phone?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:15:08):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:15:08):
Okay. And were you able to identify ownership information in that phone or account information?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:15:15):
Associative, yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:15:17):
What did the records indicate that... Who did the records indicate that phone belonged to?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:15:21):
The Apple ID cloud... The Apple ID account is consistent with the defendant, Andrew Griffin.
Mr. Vavra (06:15:27):
No, sorry. Going back to when you received the phone from Ms. Griffin, along with the tracking device, when those were provided, she testified she found them in her car?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:15:40):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:15:41):
Okay. That phone is what I'm talking about.
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:15:43):
I'm sorry, I got confused.
Mr. Vavra (06:15:44):
Sure. And we'll get there. That phone-
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:15:47):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:15:47):
... identifying information?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:15:49):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:15:51):
What was it?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:15:52):
The information from that mobile device came from Brett Cole's Apple ID identifier.
Mr. Vavra (06:16:01):
Was there also... You heard testimony about paperwork that she found?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:16:05):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:16:06):
Did you go through that paperwork?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:16:07):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:16:08):
Okay. And did you identify any documents of interest?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:16:11):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:16:12):
This was the contract of billing. Judge, at this time, I'd ask permission to display state's exhibits 118 A and B.
Mr. Shamansky (06:16:20):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (06:16:22):
20?
Mr. Vavra (06:16:24):
118 A and B.
Judge (06:16:25):
And you may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (06:16:32):
118 A, did you find this document in the paperwork that Ms. Griffin found?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:16:39):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:16:40):
And this appears to be the contract that Mr. McKenzie already testified about?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:16:44):
Correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:16:45):
Between Mr. Griffin and Mr. Strussion?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:16:47):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:16:48):
Okay. Now there's some other... Some additional pages and some writing, numbers, things like that. Did you ever make anything out of any of that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:17:01):
No, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:17:01):
And do you even know who wrote on that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:17:03):
I do not know.
Mr. Vavra (06:17:06):
State's exhibit 118 B, this was another item in that paperwork?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:17:10):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:17:11):
And why did you pull this out or why did you feel this was of interest?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:17:17):
The information on the billing address for the defendant was located on this bill.
Mr. Vavra (06:17:24):
And what is that address for Mr. Griffin on that bill?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:17:27):
13 Oak Circle Drive, Wheeling, West Virginia.
Mr. Vavra (06:17:38):
Now, one of the things... Again, you got Mr. Griffin's bank records, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:17:44):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:17:44):
And we saw like a 900 some page document that was kind of all encompassing, fair to say?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:17:49):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:17:50):
Why did you want to look at Mr. Griffin's bank records?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:17:54):
In order to complete a comprehensive investigation, we need to do a financial, digital, forensics, everything we can do in order to do the... A way of eliminating people, bringing people into the investigation, so ultimately, the defendant's bank records were subpoenaed along with before and during the homicide event in order to establish any possible connections or information associated with it.
Mr. Vavra (06:18:24):
And you conducted that review?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:18:26):
I did.
Mr. Shamansky (06:18:26):
[inaudible 06:18:41].
Mr. Vavra (06:18:41):
Judge, at this point, the parties have previously stipulated to information being provided to the jury by the court. We would ask that that be read at this time.
Judge (06:18:50):
Mr. Shamansky?
Mr. Shamansky (06:18:52):
It's a joint stipulation. No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (06:18:54):
And that would be stipulation nine, correct?
Mr. Vavra (06:19:01):
Yes, Judge.
Judge (06:19:02):
All right. Thank you. It is the party's request that the court read that agreed language at this time.
Mr. Vavra (06:19:08):
Yes, Judge.
Judge (06:19:10):
All right. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm reading you a stipulation that has been reached between the parties. The parties agree and stipulate that there was only one bank transaction that occurred between the dates of September 19th to the 21st, 2021, utilizing any Arvest account. That transaction was on nine /20/21 at a Shell gas station in Hugo, Oklahoma. Mr. Vavra, I believe that's the entire stipulated language.
Mr. Vavra (06:19:47):
Agreed, Judge. Thank you. As a part of this as well, you subpoenaed Mr. Cole's Facebook account?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:20:07):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:20:08):
We heard some testimony about that yesterday, the communication between he and Mr. White?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:20:14):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:20:14):
Okay. I'm going to show you state's exhibit-
Mr. Shamansky (06:20:20):
[inaudible 06:20:27].
Mr. Vavra (06:20:26):
Mm-hmm.
Mr. Shamansky (06:20:27):
Judge, we're going to stipulate this exhibit. No objection to the jury seeing it.
Judge (06:20:31):
Thank you. What's the number, Mr. Vavra?
Mr. Vavra (06:20:32):
146 C. This was the title transfer paperwork?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:20:40):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:20:41):
Okay. And the bottom part, the new owner information, we have a name, we have an address, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:20:47):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:20:48):
The phone number written down, was that of particular interest to you?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:20:52):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:20:52):
Why is that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:20:55):
The number that is listed on the paperwork is 918- 318-0228. Now, this is of importance because, at least from an investigatory standpoint, the defendant's phone number is 918-318-0229.
Mr. Vavra (06:21:18):
The number written on this form is one digit off Mr. Griffin's known phone number at the time?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:21:22):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:21:31):
Next, we heard testimony earlier today about some photos that were obtained from RiverLink.
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:21:37):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:21:38):
And we saw those photos and the quality's not the best, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:21:44):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:21:45):
Did you take any steps or did you ask anyone else to take any steps to try to enhance those photographs?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:21:51):
Yes, sir. Once we had identified those photographs in question there, I had submitted those photos to the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission. They have software that is able to enhance those photographs to make them a little bit more clear in order to advance our investigation.
Mr. Vavra (06:22:12):
They were sent away for that purpose?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:22:13):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:22:14):
And did they in fact conduct those enhancements?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:22:18):
They did.
Mr. Vavra (06:22:19):
Okay. And they sent information back to you?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:22:22):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:22:22):
And would that have been Brandon Moeller who did that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:22:26):
That's correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:22:28):
All right. Permission at this point, Judge, to play or show State's Exhibits 154 A, B, C, D, and E?
Mr. Shamansky (06:22:34):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (06:22:35):
What's the number again?
Mr. Vavra (06:22:37):
154 A, B, C, D, and E.
Judge (06:22:42):
You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (06:22:48):
154 D, is that the enhanced photograph of the back of the motorcycle?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:22:56):
Yes, sir. That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:22:58):
I'm sorry. First we have 154 A, and this appears to have all their identifying information on it?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:23:07):
Consistent, yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:23:09):
From RiverLink?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:23:09):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:23:10):
And this is the enhanced version of that photo?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:23:12):
It is.
Mr. Vavra (06:23:13):
154 B, this is their enhanced version of that original photo?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:23:18):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:23:19):
154 C, same thing, their enhanced version of that photo?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:23:23):
Correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:23:24):
And then in addition, did you also, I guess, take some snapshots, zoom in snapshots of this?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:23:30):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:23:32):
Okay. And we have 154 D, that would've been your zoom in snapshot?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:23:35):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:23:35):
And 154 E, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:23:38):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:24:01):
Now, you started to testify a little earlier about other cellphones Stacy had sent you.
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:24:06):
There's been a lot of phones, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:24:07):
Did Ms. Griffin send you those phones, I think, in July of '26?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:24:11):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:24:11):
Okay. And these were her explanations, she found them in the home?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:24:16):
Yeah. She explained them she found them in the home, yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:24:18):
And reached out to you, thought they might be of interest?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:24:20):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:24:21):
And you asked her to ship them?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:24:22):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:24:24):
Approach, Judge.
Judge (06:24:25):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:24:33):
And you marked previously State's Exhibits 166 D and E.
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:24:44):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:24:46):
Are D and E the phones that she sent to you?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:24:50):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:24:52):
Okay. And did you reach out to anyone to conduct searches on them in a timely fashion?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:25:02):
I contacted the Ohio-
Mr. Vavra (06:25:00):
... in a timely fashion.
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:25:02):
So I contacted the Ohio State Highway Patrol Computer Crimes Unit and requested an expedite for forensic Cellebrite extractions of the two devices in my hand.
Mr. Vavra (06:25:13):
And who conducted those?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:25:14):
Haley McDougal with the OSHP CCU unit.
Mr. Vavra (06:25:31):
And are those packages open?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:25:35):
They are.
Mr. Vavra (06:25:39):
166E, can you get that one out just quickly? Recognize that? Have you seen something like that before?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:25:56):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:25:57):
And is it an iPhone?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:25:58):
It is.
Mr. Vavra (06:25:59):
What version?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:26:00):
iPhone 5S.
Mr. Vavra (06:26:01):
Okay. Was Cellebrite conducted on that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:26:05):
It was.
Mr. Vavra (06:26:06):
Anything of value?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:26:07):
Nothing of evidentiary value on this device.
Mr. Vavra (06:26:11):
Was a similar Cellebrite extraction done on 166D?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:26:18):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:26:18):
Can you just get that one out? Is that an iPhone?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:26:21):
It is.
Mr. Vavra (06:26:21):
What version?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:26:23):
iPhone 8.
Mr. Vavra (06:26:25):
And was an extraction completed on that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:26:28):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:26:30):
Did it appear that there was evidentiary value in that extraction?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:26:35):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:26:36):
Did Ms. McDougal provide you with a report with respect to that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:26:39):
She did.
Mr. Vavra (06:26:43):
Judge, at this time I'd ask permission to display exhibits 166A, B, and C.
Samuel Schamansky (06:26:49):
Your Honor, just for the record, similar objection that we had back in your office. I understand the court's ruling is going to apply to this as well, so we're good.
Judge (06:26:58):
Your objection is noted. It is overruled. You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (06:27:08):
All right. So we're looking at 166A. Have you seen a document like this before?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:27:13):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:27:14):
And what is it?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:27:15):
This is a Cellebrite device preliminary report.
Mr. Vavra (06:27:20):
We have an IMEI number there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:27:22):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:27:22):
And we have indication of device name. What is that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:27:27):
Andrew iPhone.
Mr. Vavra (06:27:29):
And you said again, iPhone 8?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:27:33):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:27:34):
And can you see an IMEI number on the actual physical phone?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:27:39):
So if you take the SIM tray out of this IME... I'm sorry. If you take the SIM tray out of this phone, there is an IMEI that is etched into the SIM tray.
Mr. Vavra (06:27:53):
And is it the same as contained in this document?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:27:56):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:28:00):
166B, have you seen this document before?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:28:04):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:28:04):
What is this?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:28:05):
This is an extraction report for that device.
Mr. Vavra (06:28:08):
And again, anything... You indicated there was some value here, investigative value. What did you find here?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:28:16):
While conducting a search through the Cellebrite data, I located a contact from Facebook on this device associated with Andrew iPhone.
Mr. Vavra (06:28:25):
And what was the name of the contact?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:28:28):
James Jobe, J- O-B-E.
Mr. Vavra (06:28:33):
And we're seeing that here in the middle of the screen?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:28:35):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:28:37):
166C, is that just Ms. McDougal's report-
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:28:41):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:28:42):
... of what she did?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:28:43):
Correct, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:28:58):
During your investigation, when you indicate that Mr. Griffin became a person of interest, investigative steps were taken, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:29:06):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:29:08):
At a certain point, did you apply for a wiretap warrant for Mr. Griffin?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:29:14):
Yes, I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:29:16):
And can you give us the timeframe or period as to when that was occurring?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:29:21):
July of 2024.
Mr. Vavra (06:29:23):
And how does the wiretap warrant work?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:29:27):
So electronic surveillance warrants are very complicated in the sense of you have to have obviously probable cause to get a warrant issued. You also have to confer with the Ohio Attorney General's office to see if they concur with that electronic interception warrant. If they do, the court signs off on it and it is transmitted to the electronic communications provider to start the interception.
Mr. Vavra (06:29:49):
Is there a particular time limit on these warrants?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:29:53):
They are limited to 30 days only.
Mr. Vavra (06:29:58):
Okay. And if you want to keep going, you have to do the whole process over again?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:30:00):
The renewal process. Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:30:02):
In this situation, you conducted two, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:30:05):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (06:30:06):
One from, what, July? Give us the times.
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:30:09):
So it was July of 2024 to August of 2024. There was a little bit of a break due to other investigative avenues, and then it was reapplied back in September of 2024 to October of 2024.
Mr. Vavra (06:30:27):
And once you secure the warrant, what happens?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:30:32):
I begin surveilling the defendant's known phone number and conduct the wiretap.
Mr. Vavra (06:30:39):
I guess, how does it work? You say you're surveilling his known phone. Where are you?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:30:48):
So I'm at the Belmont County Sheriff's Office. It was one of the points or listening stations there. So ultimately, working in connection with the telecommunications provider, they set up a link for... It's called a trap and trace and a wiretap interception program. It routes the call through there and it routes it through the network. So it's kind of like if you would consider you got two people on one end, you're the person in the middle. So they call it the man in the middle. So I'm the interception person, I'm the man in the middle.
Mr. Vavra (06:31:18):
And can you listen in live to conversations that he is then having?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:31:22):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:31:23):
Okay. And does it also record the conversations?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:31:27):
They do.
Mr. Vavra (06:31:27):
So you have it for a later date?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:31:29):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:31:30):
Okay. And you said this warrant, you had one warrant for 30 days, another for another 30?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:31:34):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:31:35):
Do you have any idea how many calls were made during that time?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:31:40):
No, sir. I don't recall how many. There were a lot.
Mr. Vavra (06:31:43):
Did you listen to all of them?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:31:45):
In conjunction with other detectives, yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:31:49):
Okay. Did you listen to them live? Did you listen to them after? How did it work?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:31:55):
So we listened to them as they come in through... The interception starts, we then put on a set of headphones. We began listening, taking notes, conducting minimization instructions as per the order.
Mr. Vavra (06:32:11):
And again, you kept recordings of all of these calls?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:32:14):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:32:14):
Okay. And do the recordings have dates and times as to when they occurred?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:32:18):
They do.
Mr. Vavra (06:32:22):
Judge, at this time I would ask permission to play... We have a series of calls, but at this time I would ask permission to play 150A.
Samuel Schamansky (06:32:31):
No objection.
Judge (06:32:32):
You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (06:32:42):
All right. So here we have, again, we have marked 150A. We have a date. Is that accurate?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:32:48):
It is.
Mr. Vavra (06:32:49):
And what is the date there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:32:50):
July 12th, 2024.
Mr. Vavra (06:32:53):
And what is the time that this started?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:32:57):
6:19, or 1819.
Mr. Vavra (06:32:58):
Okay. Military Time?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:33:01):
Yes, Military Time.
Mr. Vavra (06:33:02):
So 6:19 PM?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:33:04):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:33:04):
All right. And we have a duration down here. This call was over an hour?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:33:08):
That's correct.
Mr. Vavra (06:33:10):
Okay. I'm going to play initially at one second.
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:33:15):
Sorry. [inaudible 06:33:19].
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:33:20):
Oh, man?
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:33:26):
Yeah, because usually they call me so much earlier than this, and there are never any ready.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:33:26):
Well, what are you going to do now? Are you just got to sit around and wait basically?
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:33:33):
Yeah. I literally have to sit around, stay awake, have my phone on ringer. I can't drink a beer. And I'm getting paid $2 an hour.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:33:44):
$2 an hour?
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:33:45):
I know. I'm like, "Yeah, you can keep that. I don't need that."
Mr. Vavra (06:33:49):
Pausing at 35. We hear a male voice. We hear a female voice.
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:33:53):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:33:55):
Were you able to identify the female?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:33:57):
No.
Mr. Vavra (06:34:00):
Okay. How many of Mr. Griffin's calls have you listened to?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:34:04):
I don't have an exact number, but it's quite a bit.
Mr. Vavra (06:34:07):
You're familiar with his voice?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:34:08):
Yeah.
Mr. Vavra (06:34:09):
Is that his voice?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:34:09):
It is.
Mr. Vavra (06:34:13):
This time, Judge, I'm going to jump ahead a little ways at 37:59.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:34:24):
... to her for two and a half year-
Judge (06:34:30):
Hold on one second. Mr. Schamansky, any objection to doing so?
Samuel Schamansky (06:34:30):
No, sir.
Judge (06:34:31):
All right. You may proceed.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:34:31):
...before I filed for divorce.
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:34:31):
Yeah. [inaudible 06:34:35].
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:34:35):
And how I did that, I stayed gone all the time.
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:34:39):
Yeah. Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:34:43):
Okay? All right? And then, so she is a conspiracy theory type of person, okay?
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:34:48):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:34:55):
And she goes so far and so... There's literally stories about this online that was on international news at one time. So some crazy stuff happened and I just disappeared, right? I just went missing for six months, okay? And I knew what was going on, but I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know the extent of how... I didn't know how to deal with any of this stuff. You know?
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:35:29):
Yeah, that's crazy [inaudible 06:35:32] shit.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:35:33):
And I was going to file for divorce. Well, all this stuff happened and I owned all of this real estate and all of this property and she's not going to get to 10% of it, 20% of it, right?
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:35:47):
Right.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:35:48):
And anyway, so she said she went and made up... She found these cold cases, called the FBI and said that I was a... She said that I had supposedly killed people, multiple, multiple people. Then she said that I kidnapped her. She said that I had raped her and used her and all of these different things, right?
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:36:18):
What?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:36:19):
So I'm serious. I am dead serious. Okay? So I have to hire this lawyer, this federal lawyer. And a woman can claim anything, I found out. Not anyone, but a woman can claim anything. So I dated this person for eight years. Okay? I was with her for eight years, and she changed.
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:36:39):
Mm-hmm.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:36:40):
And I don't have a speeding ticket on my record. I don't have anything on my record at all, and never been in any kind of trouble, and I've always had a really good job, owned a business or two. I've always gone to extreme lengths. I mean, I pay my tithe at church kind of guy.
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:37:03):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:37:03):
And I pay my taxes. I feed hungry children when they're hungry. You know?
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:37:11):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:37:12):
I buy clothes for kids that don't have clothes.
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:37:15):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:37:16):
And so I'm out of the United States and I have to hire this attorney that's a really good attorney, and I'm on the phone going like, "Dude, I don't know what to do about this. I'm not having this. I don't know what she's doing or what she's capable of doing." And he's just like, "Dude, all of this stuff will just go away if you come back." I'm like, "I'm not coming back and going to jail for all this stuff that I didn't do." He's like, "Well, you're going to go to jail no matter what, because she's already said all this stuff and then they filed this stuff."
(06:37:56)
So I come back and I know I'm going to get arrested, so I get arrested. I get arrested and I have to go sit down. I know this is a lot. And I have to go to the FBI interrogation room and they're like, "Dude, you're like the busiest person we talked to. We have to talk to you because... We talked to your wife." I'm like, "Yeah, I'm going through this crazy divorce." And the guy's like, "Yeah, we know. We know. We know, man."
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:38:21):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:38:22):
They're like, "We need your DNA. And by the way, we know you didn't do it, but we have to do this now." Okay?
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:38:29):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:38:31):
I'm like, " Okay." So they take my DNA. They do all this stuff. They clear me of everything she's accused me of, and then I still have to go to jail because she said that I kidnapped her and all this stuff. Well, I had to go to court. They threw out the kidnapping. And then she said that I raped her, but then she said, "Well, actually, we didn't have sex. He fondled me." Then she changed it from fondling saying that I kissed her on her cheek and neck while we were married, and she didn't want that. So it said that I kissed her, my wife, on the cheek and neck while we were married.
(06:39:11)
And it's literally the stupidest, craziest, crappiest thing that I can imagine happening.
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:39:22):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:39:22):
And then she said that I abused her, but I have never hit her, is what she said. And I'm just like, "Can this stop already?" You know?
Audio: Speaker 6 (06:39:35):
Totally. Oh, that's crazy.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:39:38):
Yeah. And so just...
Mr. Vavra (06:39:45):
Pausing at 43:13. Permission to play State's Exhibit 150B, Judge?
Samuel Schamansky (06:39:57):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (06:39:58):
You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (06:40:04):
150B here, Detective Blumling, date?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:40:08):
July 19th, 2024 at 16:01.
Mr. Vavra (06:40:16):
Playing at one. Do we know who this call is to, or do you need to listen to it a little first?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:40:21):
I need to listen to it, sir.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:40:22):
[inaudible 06:40:23].
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:40:22):
How you doing?
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:40:22):
I'm coming back from the city. I helped Liz up there to get a car.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:40:33):
Oh, yeah?
Mr. Vavra (06:40:34):
You recognize now?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:40:35):
That's the defendant's mother, sir?
Mr. Vavra (06:40:38):
Playing at 13.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:40:38):
[inaudible 06:40:40].
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:40:42):
Yeah. Yeah. A friend of hers helped her out or a friend of a friend helped her out.
Mr. Vavra (06:40:48):
Pausing at 22. With permission of the court, defense counsel, I'll jump ahead to...
Samuel Schamansky (06:40:53):
No objection.
Mr. Vavra (06:41:00):
... 3:27, pressing play.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:41:02):
I'm going to start killing people [inaudible 06:41:04]
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:41:03):
Well, isn't that what your uncle Chris is working on?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:41:06):
[inaudible 06:41:07] working on, Mom.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:41:06):
Okay.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:41:06):
Right now. So that's where we're at.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:41:17):
Well, don't... We're hoping and praying you're not killing people.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:41:20):
Well, I can't get any money [inaudible 06:41:22] just fucking die already, or just not be a good person in life and not try to do all this evil shit to me, then that would go a long way. You know?
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:41:34):
Well, you just set yourself up for disappointment. She is who she is now.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:41:47):
I'm going to pray like that song says. I pray a rock falls on your head and I pray that you run off the road dead. And I pray that you fricking hit a train and I pray that some guy that she thinks is some wonderful person or something like that picks her up and just decides to they're going to freaking drop her in a ditch somewhere. [inaudible 06:42:05]. So I'll pray for those things for her. Because that's what she's doing.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:42:06):
Well...
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:42:09):
I don't fight for her, Mom. And that's why [inaudible 06:42:13] because I'm tired of being pursued for a bunch of shit that I haven't done to this woman, like kidnapping and raping and domestically abusing and freaking murder.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:42:22):
I know.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:42:23):
No, I mean, I'm done. I'm done. I am fucking done.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:42:31):
I know. I get it. I get it. It's horrible to have people tell lies about you and you get in trouble for their lies. Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:42:37):
And I know because I'm like whatever y'all want to do, y'all just make plans and do it. The water's turned on, power's turned on, the cabin's there. I'm just trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing in life right now, and then I'm going to doing.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:42:39):
Where are you right now?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:42:39):
In Mena, Arkansas.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:42:39):
In Mena?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:42:39):
Yes. I'm in Mena, Arkansas right now.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:42:39):
What are you doing there?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:42:39):
I come over here to a drug test.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:42:39):
For what?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:42:39):
For a job.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:42:39):
For a job?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:42:39):
Yeah.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:42:39):
Where do you think you might go to work?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:42:40):
Somewhere in Texas maybe.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:43:16):
Okay. All right. Well, that'll be good. So if you aren't locked up on next Thursday, then that's what you're looking to do?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:43:23):
If I go to jail one fucking time against this woman, she's fucking dead [inaudible 06:43:27] dead. Still praying. I'm going to pray for it. [inaudible 06:43:31] what happens if I pray for it. [inaudible 06:43:31] pray for it. [inaudible 06:43:31]. Yeah, I know it's bad of me to say so. So I really don't mean it. I really don't mean it. It pisses me off though, okay?
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:43:44):
I know. I get it. I get it.
Mr. Vavra (06:43:45):
Pausing at 6:09, Judge. Moving forward, 7:49.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:43:53):
... to know that your child is hurting, you can't do anything about it, because I can.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:43:57):
No. Then it's-
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:43:57):
He can.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:44:04):
Then let him do it. Make him do something because I'm going to tell you right now, I promise you, you will never see me again if I go to prison for any of this shit. I love you and I don't want this to happen, but I'm like-
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:44:13):
I get it.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:44:15):
... fricking I'm done. I am done. I am on the edge and if I got to go for a bunch of shit that I haven't done... I drove off with the pickup. I did do that. But you know what? The rest of it?
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:44:28):
I know.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:44:33):
Her entire existence will be gone and everybody that's attached to her will be gone to it. Everybody helps her will be gone. I'll be gone with them. So anyways, that's my peace. That's my fucking peace. If I get out of this mess, then I get out of this mess and everybody will be just fine and dandy and nothing will happen. And I won't be lying about it. I'll just be like [inaudible 06:45:06] all this stuff, you know? So I hope she sleeps good, just [inaudible 06:45:11].
(06:45:10)
You know what? Now she's going to do it for me, but if I get out of this mess, I'm fine. I'll be good. If I get locked up and get those charges on my name, my name is not good anymore... If I get all these charges, my name will be never good ever anywhere I go. And I might as [inaudible 06:45:23] stop life right now and start cleaning house because I'm not going to live the rest of my life. I'm going to live 31 years, 32 years with what I [inaudible 06:45:32] the next 50 or 60 years on my knees. Because I ain't doing it. I am not there.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:45:38):
I know.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:45:41):
[inaudible 06:45:41] and everybody will have a bullet right through their fucking head.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:45:48):
You need to get on your knees for somebody and you need to stay there, Andrew. And I'm not good. I just sling up prayers. I fling up prayers, I fling up prayers, I fling up prayers. And I don't have that relationship with God that I'm supposed to have. I do not. And it's just, I don't know, laziness. I'm just so busy. I don't know what it is. I don't know how. I don't know what. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know. But regardless, I'm still struggling there too.
(06:46:22)
But I do pray, I do beg, I do believe. And I do believe with all my heart that if it's meant to work out, it will, that you are where you are supposed to be right now for some reason. And I know you're going through hell. I know you're going through hell, but there's something to be marked here, so be still and look around.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:46:53):
I've been being still, Mom, and I've been looking around and [inaudible 06:46:54] any of this. But every time I go somewhere, it's like something else bad happens, all got to do with her because she's trying so hard to get me put away and ruining my entire existence. She's trying so fucking hard and what-
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:47:14):
I know.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:47:14):
[inaudible 06:47:19].
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:47:20):
And she thinks she's getting away with it, so she's just going to keep on keeping on. But she's going to learn a lesson too.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:47:29):
[inaudible 06:47:26] fucking does this to me. I mean, I'm not kidding here. You can't do-
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:47:29):
I know. I get it. I know you're not kidding.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:47:29):
You know? But I'm in prison? Uh-uh, this will not be good.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:47:29):
I know.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:47:45):
So you will never see me again. If they sentence me, I will die before I go to prison. You know?
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:47:46):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:47:51):
[inaudible 06:47:51] then guess what? I'll be in Costa Rica. Right? Whatever.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:47:59):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:47:59):
These people are evil. This is some evil, evil, evil stuff. I already had somebody try to kill me. She tried to kill me, and guess what? It's all got to do my stuff, because she planned this a long time ago.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:48:14):
Oh yeah, I'm sure.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:48:17):
Anyhow, she's got recordings that she's apparently in for years and years and years, Mom, of me supposedly abusing her and it's her fucking fault for whipping my ass.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:48:26):
Yeah, that's probably why she wanted to get married was so she could start putting this plan into action. And so she was just like, "I'm getting older and I need to get ahold of somebody to do whatever." I mean, I'm still in disbelief.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:48:44):
[inaudible 06:48:53].
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:48:56):
Well, I'm home and I got to go back to work.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:48:56):
Love you.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:48:56):
I love you too. I'll talk to you soon. And so let me know if you get that job or whatever. You going to stay in McAlester until you go to court Thursday or what?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:48:56):
I can't stay my cabin. I can't [inaudible 06:49:12].
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:49:15):
Well, you're what they call home cooked. You were born at home. But I do like to stay home and cook. My dream job would be taking care of my kids and grandkids and nieces and nephews and just staying at home and gardening and canning and whatever. I was supposed to can pickles today, but I didn't get it done. I took your sister to get a car. And we need it because she's been using mine for the last two weeks, so we've been having to share.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:49:39):
Well, I love you. All right.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:49:39):
I love you too. You be careful. I'm praying for you, hon. There's something... It's all going to work out like it's supposed to. I believe that.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:49:39):
If I get one charge out of this, [inaudible 06:49:58] out of here. One of them, just one of them, it's all over. It's all over for fucking everybody involved.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:50:07):
Well, as long as you don't have to go to jail, one charge wouldn't be too bad after all you've got to get through. But as long as you don't have to go to jail.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:50:13):
[inaudible 06:50:16].
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:50:19):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:50:19):
If I get a charge, if I get a bunch of domestic abuse charges for stuff that I haven't been doing to her, you know?
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:50:23):
Uh-huh. That's crap. I don't understand. I was wondering today, Andrew, why she cannot be charged with attempted murder for what she did to your truck.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:50:31):
I don't know, mom, but I guarantee you this, I will freaking hunt her down like she is the last freaking Comanche Indian on plane that's been freaking...
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:50:42):
But have you asked your attorney that?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:50:45):
Well, [inaudible 06:50:47] she's a woman and she's a DA, and she [inaudible 06:50:48], "I'm a victim. I'm a victim." Once the [inaudible 06:50:48] as a victim, she's always the victim. It doesn't matter if she shot me or not. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. I'm just an asshole guy that made a lot of money and worked his whole life and-
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:51:01):
Andrew, stop. Get off your soap box. I do not understand if somebody tries to kill you, why you cannot file attempted murder charges on them. That sounds like a crock of shit.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:51:11):
All right. Well, we'll find out if it's a crock of shit. Because if I feel like if it wasn't a crock of shit, then I would've already done it. But I can't do it, okay? So that's where we're at. All right?
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:51:27):
Now, I don't like it when things don't make sense. It pisses me off.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:51:32):
I don't either. It pisses me off too. Listen, I'm going to start killing people today if we don't get off the phone. I can't talk about this.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:51:34):
Okay. Well, there's other things we can talk about.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:51:34):
Hold on.
Audio: Speaker 7 (06:51:34):
What?
Mr. Vavra (06:51:42):
Stopping at 15:36. State's Exhibit 150C. Permission to play, Judge?
Judge (06:51:48):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:51:51):
All right. Detective Blumling, we got a date and time here?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:51:53):
7/25/2024, 16:10.
Mr. Vavra (06:52:00):
Before we play this, was there a period where you and Detective Aller were in Oklahoma around this time?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:52:04):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (06:52:05):
Okay. And did you attend a divorce hearing involving Mr. Griffin and his wife?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:52:12):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (06:52:13):
Okay. And what was the purpose of being there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:52:15):
The purpose was to interact with the defendant and give him a chance to talk to law enforcement about the investigation.
Mr. Vavra (06:52:33):
I'm pressing play at 59 seconds in.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:52:38):
... 45, 50 days [inaudible 06:52:42]. He's like, "Maybe we can get some of this money out of here." He told the judge the situation and [inaudible 06:52:52] fucking FBI walked in the room, sat down next to me. That was crazy.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:52:54):
Yep. That's a good one. That's a good one. Told you, ask your attorney.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:52:54):
They probably went out there and bugged my truck and phone tapped my phone and [inaudible 06:53:08] on it.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:53:12):
No, that's illegal. They got to have warrants. You can look up the warrants.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:53:15):
Not for the FBI stuff.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:53:17):
Yes. Yeah. I mean, they ain't got to tell you about the warrants, but Cody Dolling can look up the warrants. There has to be an active warrant. They can't fucking tap your shit. If they do, it's inadmissible in court.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:53:30):
Huh.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:53:31):
I mean, they can listen to you, but they can't use any of it against you.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:53:33):
I was like, "What the do they want?" You know what I mean?
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:53:37):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:53:37):
Hey, I got nothing to say.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:53:41):
Yeah, exactly. I think they still just ain't got no leads, and I think her dad won't leave that shit alone. And so I think he's just having to come down here because, fella, you're the only person left in that deal.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:53:54):
I shouldn't be in the deal.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:53:58):
Yeah, exactly. But I mean, they got to look for somebody.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:54:01):
[inaudible 06:54:06].
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:54:05):
I'm not saying it's you. I'm thinking they want leads from you. But if your lawyer won't talk to him, then I damn sure wouldn't talk to him. I wouldn't talk to him anyways without a lawyer.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:54:25):
Well, yeah, I'm not going to. I told Jeff, I said, "I don't know what it's about, dude." I said, "Hell, if it was some big deal or something," I said, "I'd be in handcuffs already."
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:54:27):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:54:27):
So...
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:54:31):
Yeah. If they had anything on you, they'd done got you.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:54:47):
What'd you do? I mean, I don't even know if I want to know, to tell you the truth.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:54:47):
No. Yeah, I wouldn't say nothing. Look, I mean, I wouldn't talk to him anyways. But I damn sure wouldn't call him or nothing like... Did he give you a card or anything to call him?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:54:53):
No. He just said, "Do you remember me?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "I reached out to your lawyer a few times. They ever reach out to you?" I said, "[inaudible 06:55:05], I'll be in town till Monday if you want to talk."
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:55:11):
I thought you told me he never got ahold of your lawyer.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:55:12):
My lawyer's never talked to him. He said he called him.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:55:17):
Oh.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:55:18):
Yeah. I texted my lawyer. My lawyer said he'll call me tomorrow.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:55:22):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:55:25):
I'll send a lawyer to ask him what he wants. You know?
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:55:27):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:55:31):
That's what we're going to do here. I mean, I don't got nothing to say.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:55:35):
I wouldn't do nothing unless that dude pursues your lawyer.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:55:40):
Legally... Legally, I don't think I have to answer anything.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:55:43):
You don't have to without a lawyer present. And then you still don't have to unless they subpoena you.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:55:46):
Yeah. Yeah.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:55:54):
No, you don't have to say shit. I wouldn't say shit. I mean, was he nice to you? Was he nice about it?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:55:59):
No, he was nice about it. There was another one standing over my shoulder and a bunch of hot post standing there and all kinds of other people. And I was like, "Damn, dude, are they freaking fixing to bring in a newscast here? And am I famous all of a sudden? What's the deal here? What's going on?"
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:56:15):
I wonder if he's talked to Belote before.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:56:15):
Belote said he never has talked to him and-
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:56:19):
I bet that's why he showed up, because he wanted to figure out which lawyer you were using for that.
Mr. Vavra (06:56:23):
I'm pause at 4: 50. Jump to 5:59.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:56:37):
[inaudible 06:56:43]
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:56:43):
Yeah, we'll be here. By the time you get here, we should be getting out of that thing or close to it.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:56:48):
I wonder why she drove today. Because, hell, her vehicle wasn't out there. Her red Dodge wasn't out there.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:56:55):
Yeah. I thought you said she bought something else.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:56:58):
Well, she had a white truck, but then she got that red truck. She's been parking that red truck over there.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:57:02):
Yeah?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:57:06):
[inaudible 06:57:06], you know? I saw her little lawyer there. But I didn't see her though. Dude, I bet you... I mean, I'm sure that I know the FBI [inaudible 06:57:23]. You know what I mean?
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:57:23):
Yeah. No, I'm sure. Because she's the only one that's willing to talk. [inaudible 06:57:34], yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:57:30):
Yeah. She's probably over there saying all kinds of shit and they like, "Ma'am?"
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:57:51):
What's that?
(06:57:51)
Yeah, I'm sure they went and talked to her, but I don't think... Everybody's told him she's a fucking lying piece of shit. So I bet he don't take nothing she says seriously.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:58:01):
I mean, even if you do, how can you? You know what I mean?
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:58:05):
Yes.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:58:05):
How can you? I mean, you're going to say some shit about somebody, it's like what are you going to have to paint somebody in that picture anyway? I can say all day long that you went and robbed the bank. I can say you did it.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:58:22):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:58:33):
And I can make up a story that sounded legit or illegit or whatever.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:58:35):
Then again, it doesn't matter what she says if she ain't got no proof. Because what's her fucking proof?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:58:42):
What is proof for something that big anyway?
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:58:44):
That's basically a murder weapon.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:58:44):
Yeah. Yeah.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:58:50):
I mean, that's it. If they haven't come at you yet with something else, then they don't have anything else.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:58:56):
Well, I damn sure ain't got one of those.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:59:01):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:59:01):
You know? And they got my fucking DNA and my fingerprints, so maybe... They kicked her off too. We ain't got the got.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:59:05):
That's it. That is it, sir.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:59:16):
Well, I feel a lot better leaving that place.
Audio: Justin Monroe (06:59:18):
Yeah. Heck, yeah.
Mr. Vavra (06:59:19):
Pausing at 8:37. Detective Blumling, I may not have asked you. Did you identify who the other party on this call is?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:59:27):
Justin Monroe.
Mr. Vavra (06:59:31):
All right. Permission to play 150D, Judge?
Judge (06:59:37):
Mr. Schamansky, there's no...
Samuel Schamansky (06:59:39):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (06:59:40):
All right. Then yes, you may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (06:59:41):
Date and time on this one?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:59:43):
7/25/24, 16:33.
Mr. Vavra (06:59:49):
Do you know right now who this call is between?
Det. Jordan Blumling (06:59:52):
Not immediately.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (06:59:57):
... I'm driving for 20... I'm between Hodgen and [inaudible 07:00:00] right now driving.
Audio: Speaker 9 (07:00:02):
Wait, you going to your cabin?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:00:00):
... picked Peter right now, I'm driving.
Speaker 10 (07:00:02):
Wait, you going to your cabin or are you going to host town?
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:00:05):
Well, I was solving, I was going to go to host town. Then [inaudible 07:00:09], I'm not going to make it time for them, then why am I going to the cabin? But I'm not going to now. Not with all this shit going on. [inaudible 07:00:16].
Mr. Vavra (07:00:20):
Probably at 20, I'm jumping ahead to 1:10.
Speaker 10 (07:00:28):
... [inaudible 07:00:27] and try to get this divorce done.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:00:30):
Well actually, that's what he said. He said it'd take another lawyer. Had done forever to get caught up to speed on this. I'm like, "Well, yeah." And shit, there was more that got done today actually in the divorce, than the whole time. Because her-
Speaker 10 (07:00:44):
I think so too.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:00:46):
Her and Paul were all in the same room together. And I think both of them know it's just bull shit. But I'm sure Paul sat in there with Stacy, and the FBI went in there and talked to her.
Speaker 10 (07:00:58):
Yeah.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:01:01):
Because he [inaudible 07:01:02] did all that shit up there. He probably knows that she killed them fuckers. She did tell them that. That [inaudible 07:01:10]. She's the one that fucking said all that.
Speaker 10 (07:01:17):
She's a crazy mother fucker. I tell you what, that note from that guy there, Weston, is your ticket out of there.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:01:22):
Yeah. Yeah, I think you're right man.
Speaker 10 (07:01:26):
Weston is your best fucking bet in the world. It's your salvation. But the other thing they done today on the charges because [inaudible 07:01:35] recused him. To leave her out.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:01:36):
Well, he's drawing out or possibly going to draw out, and being pushed back. And so now, there's 60 days until she has to get up there and testify against me. And that's not even the trial. But [inaudible 07:01:52] said, "Andrea, because it's written [inaudible 07:01:55]."
Mr. Vavra (07:01:55):
Stopping at 2:38. Did you identify who the other part of that was?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:02:00):
Joe Painter, P-A-I-N-T-E-R.
Mr. Vavra (07:02:09):
1:50E, Judge. Permission to play?
Samuel Shamansky (07:02:11):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (07:02:12):
Thank you. You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (07:02:14):
Date and time, Detective?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:02:16):
7/26/2024, 17:51.
Mr. Vavra (07:02:32):
Sir, playing at 2:01.
Speaker 11 (07:02:38):
[inaudible 07:02:38]. Anyway, so I'm like, "Are they fixing to freaking do something to me? Are they going to try to interrogate me, arrest me?" He's like, "No." So I don't know why, but these are all the thoughts that go through your mind, right?
Speaker 12 (07:02:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (07:02:55):
You show up to deal with this and you get this other bull shit coming into your life also again. And my wife is sitting with her attorney in another room. Her attorney shouldn't even be there because it's not her attorney that's trying to prosecute me, it's the DA. And her attorney has no reason to be there other than to talk to this FBI agent, or try to get me in trouble. And for her not to be in trouble, right?
Speaker 12 (07:03:22):
[inaudible 07:03:25].
Speaker 11 (07:03:26):
So this is what's going on. And I'm like, makes all the sense in the world now. You know what I mean?
Speaker 12 (07:03:36):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 11 (07:03:38):
And so I walk out of that place, talk to my lawyer. I talked to my lawyer a minute ago, and he said, "My recommendation is that you don't talk to them." And he said, "Even if they say you're not a suspect or they're trying to [inaudible 07:03:55] you're a suspect, you are a suspect." He said, " In their eyes, you're a suspect because she's just said these things and done these things. And sure, they're going to say, "Just trying to clear you." Whatever. But also you don't talk to the police ever. Because something like that, you say something wrong or you play on words, even though you think you don't say something wrong, and you haven't done anything wrong, you just never really know." So the best thing is not to talk to them at all. And he said, "Even if you're completely innocent, everything, everything. You just don't ever know. It's not that they're trying to help you. They're trying to put a name in a book that just needs to go for this so-called crime." You know what I mean? It's not about who's actually innocent. So he's like, "My recommendation is don't talk to them. You can talk to them if you want to, but my recommendation is not talk to them." So I said, "Well, I'm going to take your advice and not talk to them ever."
Speaker 12 (07:05:05):
Sounds like good advice to me.
Speaker 11 (07:05:11):
Yeah. And I'm thinking-
Mr. Vavra (07:05:12):
Pausing at 4:39. Detective, do you know who this call is to?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:05:18):
Not off the top of my head, sir. I'd have to refer to my report.
Mr. Vavra (07:05:33):
Playing at 5:56.
Speaker 11 (07:05:35):
Just screwed up. Because if this is in there saying that I did all of these things, right? She's saying I did all these things, but there's no proof of me doing anything. What does that mean?
Speaker 12 (07:05:51):
She's a liar.
Speaker 11 (07:05:53):
Well, yeah. And then the other part of the coin is, why the hell would you drive from Ohio to Oklahoma to come in and check? You know what I mean?
Speaker 12 (07:06:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (07:06:12):
Why? Why would you do that? Sure, preferably, would I like to personally? Yeah. I would be like, "Hey, I would love to clear my name and you guys never ever have to think about me again." But the realistic thing is that they're going to try to trick you and play you on words, and try to paint you into a corner somewhere.
(07:06:34)
And they've already arrested four or five people over that thing up there, and they haven't been able to charge them or convict them.
Speaker 12 (07:06:41):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 11 (07:06:42):
I'm not trying to be the fifth or sixth or seventh, or whatever guy I am.
Speaker 12 (07:06:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (07:06:57):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 12 (07:06:57):
Well enough.
Speaker 11 (07:06:57):
What a fucking mess, right?
Speaker 12 (07:06:57):
Yep.
Speaker 11 (07:06:57):
What a mess, dude.
Speaker 12 (07:06:57):
Don't talk to that dude.
Speaker 11 (07:07:06):
No, and then I'm like, "Is my phone tapped? Is my truck tapped? Do they have GPS on me?" I mean, they can figure out anything. I guarantee you they already pulled my phone records. They pulled my debit cards and credit cards years ago. You know what I mean?
Speaker 12 (07:07:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (07:07:19):
I already guarantee that they did that.
Mr. Vavra (07:07:24):
Pausing at 7:44. Playing at 16:20.
Speaker 11 (07:07:36):
It's still 10 years. They sent me a deal today that said, "16 years in prison." I'm like, "Fucking [inaudible 07:07:37]." [inaudible 07:07:37] be okay. Anyway, my question was this. Of course, I don't know what you have to have for that whole FBI bull shit. Going down here and talking to my wife and everything. It's like, what would somebody have to have to file a warrant to arrest me for capital murder? What do you got to have for that? If I go up the road here to the DA and say, "Hey, this Shawn guy over here murdered this guy named Manny Ben down the road here, and there just so happens to be a guy named Ben that's shot in a ditch down the road." I mean, is that enough? You'd have to have, I think, something very significant.
Speaker 12 (07:08:44):
I don't know. Yeah, it depends on the DA.
Speaker 11 (07:08:53):
Yeah. Especially if the case is as old as this is, but I don't know if age matters, you know what I mean?
Speaker 12 (07:09:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (07:09:00):
So there's no-
Mr. Vavra (07:09:03):
Stopping at 17:49. 150F, Judge, permission to play?
Samuel Shamansky (07:09:08):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (07:09:09):
You may proceed.
Mr. Vavra (07:09:11):
And Detective, that last call, did you ever identify the caller?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:09:14):
I don't believe so.
Mr. Vavra (07:09:14):
Or the other party?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:09:16):
I don't believe so.
Mr. Vavra (07:09:18):
This call, 150F. Date and time?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:09:21):
7/30/2024, 22:25.
Mr. Vavra (07:09:30):
Do you know right now who this call is between?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:09:33):
I believe it's to the defendant's brother, Zach Griffin.
Mr. Vavra (07:09:36):
Playing at 52.
Zach Griffin (07:09:42):
Yeah, I [inaudible 07:09:43] on my own. I see bad news all over the place, but you just lay it on out.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:09:47):
All right. Well, you can imagine how, as the nicest guy as I am, how much pissed off I must be to think about going and possibly assassinating a bunch of fucking people, okay?
Zach Griffin (07:10:03):
Okay.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:10:03):
Yeah, that's what I though about today. Okay?
Zach Griffin (07:10:03):
Okay.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:10:10):
Of course, I would never do anything like that, but that was my thought today.
Zach Griffin (07:10:13):
I know you wouldn't do that, but the thought occurred. The thought [inaudible 07:10:20]. There's a lot of things that pop into our mind that we would never do.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:10:23):
Exactly. Exactly.
Mr. Vavra (07:10:27):
Pausing at 1:40. You said before you thought this was Mr. Griffin's brother? Do you believe that to be his brother now?
Samuel Shamansky (07:10:33):
We'll stipulate the same.
Judge (07:10:33):
Stipulation is noted.
Mr. Vavra (07:10:49):
Okay, at 27:05.
Audio: Andrew Griffin (07:10:51):
That the Bible versus today in real life, in a lot of different ways. But I really appreciate you being really respectful of me. [inaudible 07:11:09]. I'm not saying I'm one of them or not one of them, but I'm saying this. I might have screwed some random girl that I find somewhere occasionally. I [inaudible 07:11:45]. I get it. I absolutely get it.
(07:11:50)
Anger is wrong. Anger is bad. [inaudible 07:11:54] back to your house and [inaudible 07:11:54]. But also, there's nothing wrong with defending your property and killing their ass right there too. Especially if you think they might just be keep on doing that thing. [inaudible 07:12:08]. Next door neighbor and they stop them. [inaudible 07:12:12].
Mr. Vavra (07:12:18):
Pause at 28:26. Just a few more questions, Detective. The testimony earlier about the Apple iCloud contacts. Do you recall the timeframe that those contacts came from?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:12:32):
During the 2021 time period.
Mr. Vavra (07:12:36):
The phone that Mr. Griffin, his known phone number that he would've had at that time, did you ever locate that phone?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:12:43):
No.
Speaker 13 (07:12:43):
[inaudible 07:12:54].
Mr. Vavra (07:13:01):
Based on your investigation with Agent Lacey, what you also found, did you suspect or identify a particular vehicle you expected to be involved?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:13:15):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:13:15):
What type of vehicle?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:13:17):
A motorcycle.
Mr. Vavra (07:13:18):
And with the information from Agent Lacey about this phone purchased at Walmart, were you able to... I guess, how did you determine a timeframe to ask for pictures from RiverLink?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:13:34):
So ultimately working in conjunction with Agent Lacey from the FBI, we knew a range of time that we were looking for, for that LPR photo because we could follow the track of the phone. So it's leaving Illinois, it's coming into Kentucky, Indiana, all that. We know that there's a specific point in time between tower to tower that this motorcycle could have crossed in that area. And ultimately, that was the records that we subpoenaed.
Mr. Vavra (07:14:01):
And did you give a timeframe to RiverLink?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:14:06):
I don't understand your question.
Mr. Vavra (07:14:07):
Number of minutes.
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:14:09):
20 minutes.
Mr. Vavra (07:14:11):
And how did you determine that 20 minute period?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:14:14):
So ultimately, we had those records, like I said earlier, from Agent Lacey. I wanted to do a little bit before that time and a little bit after that time, so that way if there was some sort of time inconsistency, I wouldn't have missed that information.
Mr. Vavra (07:14:31):
And based on the report we saw from Agent Lacey, the time period could have been shorter than that, fair to say?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:14:37):
Fair to say.
Mr. Vavra (07:14:40):
That phone bought at Walmart, registered to Mr. Joby, was it ever located?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:14:47):
No.
Mr. Vavra (07:14:48):
And you looked at those phone records?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:14:59):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (07:15:00):
How many total phone calls did that phone make?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:15:03):
One.
Mr. Vavra (07:15:05):
Is that the phone call to Brett Cole's phone number at the time?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:15:11):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:15:15):
Andrew Griffin's known phone at the time, did it make any outgoing calls on September 19th or 20th?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:15:22):
No.
Mr. Vavra (07:15:23):
Did it make any outgoing calls for the morning hours of the 21st?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:15:29):
No.
Mr. Vavra (07:15:30):
Do you recall the first phone call, roughly time that that call made on the 21st?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:15:35):
1:48 Central Time.
Mr. Vavra (07:15:40):
Were there any calls placed to that phone that were answered on the 19th or 20th?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:15:45):
No.
Mr. Vavra (07:15:46):
Up until 1:48 on the 21st?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:15:48):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (07:15:59):
A couple more questions. We talked earlier about a purchase on Mr. Griffin's bank card or account on the 20th, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:16:11):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (07:16:12):
I'm going to show you State's Exhibit 137CC1.
Speaker 14 (07:16:20):
This is the bank record?
Mr. Vavra (07:16:21):
Yeah.
Samuel Shamansky (07:16:22):
No objection, Your Honor.
Judge (07:16:23):
All right. You may proceed, Mr. Donovan.
Mr. Vavra (07:16:29):
So this is Mr. Griffin's, one of the statements for this transaction?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:16:33):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:16:34):
The purchase date, 9/20, is it 10:43, around that time?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:16:39):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (07:16:40):
Okay. And does it indicate where this purchase was made?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:16:43):
At a Shell service station in Hugo, Oklahoma.
Mr. Vavra (07:16:48):
And it was in the amount of how much?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:16:51):
$59.
Mr. Vavra (07:16:53):
As a part of your investigation, did you also subpoena and obtain Brett Cole's bank records at that time?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:00):
I did.
Mr. Vavra (07:17:01):
And is he with First United?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:02):
He is.
Mr. Vavra (07:17:04):
I'm going to show you what state's marked as 138A. Does this appear to be a bank statement for Mr. Cole? The date of it's 10/4/ 21.
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:19):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:17:19):
The dates are 9/13?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:21):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:17:22):
So September?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:22):
Correct.
Mr. Vavra (07:17:23):
Okay. The very first purchase there, do you see that there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:29):
I do.
Mr. Vavra (07:17:29):
And where is that purchase made?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:32):
Shell Service Station. Hugo, Oklahoma.
Mr. Vavra (07:17:36):
And the amount of that one?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:39):
$24.17.
Mr. Vavra (07:17:42):
Let's jump down real quick here. 9/20 is the date of entry, but there's a purchase there indicated. Do you see that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:49):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (07:17:50):
And what is the date of the purchase there?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:53):
September 19th, 2021.
Mr. Vavra (07:17:56):
And does there indicate where the purchase was made?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:17:59):
Walmart Supercenter. Hugo, Oklahoma.
Mr. Vavra (07:18:02):
And do we have a time?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:18:04):
19:20.
Mr. Vavra (07:18:08):
Military time?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:18:09):
Military time.
Mr. Vavra (07:18:10):
So 7:20 PM?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:18:10):
7:20 PM.
Mr. Vavra (07:18:13):
All right. So we talked about this first entry, Hugo Shell Service Station. Coming down just a little bit, the entry I've highlighted here. Can you talk about that purchase?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:18:24):
It appears to be another purchase at a Shell Service Station in Hugo, Oklahoma.
Mr. Vavra (07:18:30):
And purchase here, can you identify this one I've highlighted?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:18:35):
It appears to be a purchase from a Shell Service Station in Hugo, Oklahoma.
Mr. Vavra (07:18:41):
And then the one directly under it.
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:18:43):
It appears to be a purchase from a Shell Service Station in Hugo, Oklahoma.
Mr. Vavra (07:18:49):
And I know it says 914 on the left one. In the information, it's got 913, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:18:55):
Yes, sir.
Mr. Vavra (07:18:55):
And what is the amount of that last one you looked at?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:18:59):
$59.
Mr. Vavra (07:19:00):
Even?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:19:01):
Even.
Mr. Vavra (07:19:02):
Based on your investigation and everything you looked at, would Mr. Cole have needed to purchase gas on September 13th?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:19:09):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:19:10):
Why?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:19:12):
It is under the investigation here that he went to Texas to purchase a motorcycle with Dalton Ray.
Mr. Vavra (07:19:22):
No further questions, Your Honor.
Judge (07:19:25):
Mr. Shimanski, do you wish to undertake any cross-examination?
Samuel Shamansky (07:19:28):
I do, Your Honor. Thank you.
Judge (07:19:29):
You may proceed when you're ready.
Samuel Shamansky (07:19:31):
I'm ready, Judge. Thanks. Detective, good afternoon.
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:19:33):
Good afternoon, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:19:34):
I know it's been a long day, so I'll try to get right to it. Detective Lacey spoke about really gold standard investigative techniques, which you of course, employ, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:19:47):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:19:47):
So for example, in any kind of case, whether it's a low level felony or a case as important as this, you are particularly careful. Number one, to the manner in which you gather evidence, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:20:09):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:20:10):
So your department, and frankly, every major county in Ohio pays careful attention to the manner in which evidence at a crime scene is collected, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:20:25):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:20:26):
And the reason you do that is to maintain the integrity, not only of your investigation, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:20:32):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (07:20:33):
But also the manner in which the evidence is collected and stored for future examination, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:20:39):
Correct, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:20:40):
That's super critical, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:20:42):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (07:20:43):
And you wouldn't employ anybody but professionals to perform that most important task, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:20:50):
Fair to say.
Samuel Shamansky (07:20:52):
Now, if there is criminal activity afoot and it's outside of your jurisdiction, but related to an investigation that you're undertaking, you have the duty and ability to ask for a sister agency to help you, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:21:10):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (07:21:10):
Law enforcement folks cooperate all the time, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:21:13):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:21:13):
That's the way we get things done, ensure the safety of the community, and make sure that we're accusing the right person, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:21:21):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:21:22):
Okay. Now, you've obviously done a very careful job of gathering evidence in this case, right? That's the understatement of the year, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:21:40):
I did my best, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:21:42):
Right. And it's reflected in this work product, that's for sure. But despite all of the efforts that you and your colleagues have undertaken, there's some things that you're unfortunately, from a law enforcement perspective, unable to figure out, right? Just by the nature of all this digital technology, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:21:59):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (07:21:59):
Like for example, we, the royal we, let's say, are unable to tell who inputted information into a contact list, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:22:11):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (07:22:12):
So you've got a phone, you're not sure unless you're right there, who types in this information and how it gets transmitted, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:22:20):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (07:22:21):
And that's no shortcoming of you or your department. It's just you can't figure it out unless you're there, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:22:27):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:22:27):
Okay. And so what you do is you use other identifiers to try to get sort of the best handle on it you can. As you've done here, like, "Gee, I see that there's an Apple account in Andrew Griffin's name. Here are the contacts." And you went through them very carefully with Mr. Batter, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:22:42):
I did, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:22:43):
Okay. Now, we also know that this most important investigation, started in September of '21, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:22:57):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:22:57):
And you and your colleagues and representatives of the prosecutor's office have been on it from the beginning. Right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:23:03):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (07:23:04):
And as you've moved through the investigatory process, you've been doing your level best to continue to gather evidence, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:23:13):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:23:14):
And for example, if you wanted to, let's say, search Stacey Griffin's residence. And she gave you permission, you wouldn't need a search warrant, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:23:27):
No.
Samuel Shamansky (07:23:27):
Okay. And lastly, sir, and I want you to correct me if I'm mistaken, the phones that were sent to you in July of 2026, you used the resources that we just spoke about. You engaged the sister agency, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:23:56):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (07:23:56):
OSP, and you asked them to plug those phones into a Cellebrite, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:24:00):
Correct, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:24:01):
And from that Cellebrite, on the first phone, you came up snake eyes. And on the second phone, you got the name of Joby. Whether it's Jobe or Joby. I don't know how you pronounce it.
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:24:10):
James Joby, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:24:11):
James Joby, right. And that's the same gentleman that you went to Tennessee earlier to figure out, knocked on the door and said, "Hey, is there any Joby here," right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:24:19):
Sir, Detective Alder performed that.
Samuel Shamansky (07:24:20):
Okay. One of your colleagues, forgive me. I got mixed up.
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:24:22):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:24:23):
And significantly, sir, that was the extent of the investigation into Joby's whereabouts, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:24:32):
I don't understand your question.
Samuel Shamansky (07:24:35):
As far as I can tell from this mountain of work that you guys did, you actually made the trip down there physically, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:24:42):
Detective Alder did, sir. Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (07:24:43):
Okay. All right. That's what I'm asking. And with respect to the iPhone that yielded the information regarding Joby, as with the other phones in this case. You don't know who inputted that contact information, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:25:00):
I do not.
Samuel Shamansky (07:25:01):
You're only able to tell that the electronic record exists?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:25:04):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:25:05):
All right. May I have one second, Your Honor?
Judge (07:25:05):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (07:25:05):
[inaudible 07:25:07].
Speaker 13 (07:25:05):
[inaudible 07:25:15].
Samuel Shamansky (07:25:21):
Oh, forgive me. Yes, sir. Very quickly. I'm sorry. You paid careful attention to the tracking devices in this case, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:25:29):
Yes, sir.
Samuel Shamansky (07:25:29):
And tell the ladies and gentlemen of this jury, when that tracking information... Do you have that exhibit close or handy? There was an exhibit that we've seen that the reference number's escaping me, but it had a list of those tracking data from Strussion's vehicle, right? Do you recall that?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:25:54):
No. I'm sorry, I don't.
Samuel Shamansky (07:25:55):
Okay. You did collect it, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:25:59):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (07:26:00):
And the evidence will speak for itself as to when that tracking activity discontinued, right?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:26:06):
Yes.
Samuel Shamansky (07:26:06):
It's fair to say that he wasn't being tracked days or weeks prior to he and his wife's death, correct?
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:26:14):
Correct.
Samuel Shamansky (07:26:14):
Okay. That's all I have, Your Honor. Thank you.
Judge (07:26:18):
Mr. Batter, any redirect? Yes?
Mr. Vavra (07:26:24):
One second, Judge.
Judge (07:26:25):
Yes.
Mr. Vavra (07:26:38):
No questions, Judge.
Judge (07:26:40):
All right. May this witness be excused?
Mr. Vavra (07:26:41):
Yes, Judge.
Judge (07:26:41):
Detective, you may step down.
Det. Jordan Blumling (07:26:42):
Thank you, sir.
Judge (07:26:43):
Mr. Batter, will you collect your exhibits, please?
Mr. Vavra (07:26:48):
Yes.
Judge (07:26:48):
And what's the position of the state of Ohio?
Speaker 14 (07:26:53):
We have no further witnesses to present today, Judge.
Judge (07:26:57):
Mr. Shimanski, any opposition to resting for the day?
Samuel Shamansky (07:27:01):
No, sir.
Judge (07:27:02):
Okay. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we're going to stop here today. I hate to keep repeating these, but bear with me. You leave here with the admonitions. Once again, have no discussions with anybody about this case. Do not let anybody have a discussion in front of you about this case. Do not watch any stories on the media about this trial or this case. Do not undertake any independent investigation on this case on your own, and do not post anything online about this case. With that said, thank you all for being so attentive as you were here today. Please be here by 8:45 AM tomorrow. You are excused.
Samuel Shamansky (07:27:46):
[inaudible 07:27:47]. List, oh, here it is. Okay. You know, my favorite [inaudible 07:28:10]. Good. Between Justin Monroe. Do a two strike from [inaudible 07:28:20].
Judge (07:28:22):
Thank you, Deputy.
(07:28:22)
We're outside the presence of the jury. Before we rest for the day, Mr. Batter, any issues that the state of Ohio needs to address?
Mr. Vavra (07:28:29):
No. You objected to the [inaudible 07:28:42].
Samuel Shamansky (07:28:40):
Oh yeah. No, no, I'm fine. I was just saying [inaudible 07:28:53].
Mr. Vavra (07:28:59):
Okay, as to [inaudible 07:29:02].
Samuel Shamansky (07:29:07):
Yeah, I don't [inaudible 07:29:08].
Mr. Vavra (07:29:07):
Yeah. I think we're good, Judge.
Judge (07:29:08):
All right. And Mr. Shimanski, I'm going to ask you the same question. Any issues you need to address?
Samuel Shamansky (07:29:13):
No, sir. Thank you.
Judge (07:29:16):
Okay then, court will be in recess and I expect the parties to be here by 8:30 AM.
Samuel Shamansky (07:29:17):
Okay. So we have...