CA - school janitor kills student update
Mark Denman
Experts Testify Thomas Did Not Rape Student
The jury in the trial of a Sacramento school janitor accused of murder is
beginning to hear from the defense.
On Tuesday, defense experts contended that Alex Thomas did not rape student
Michelle Montoya before he killed her. Whether or not Montoya was forcibly
raped is a key point in the trial, because the combination of both rape and
murder convictions could mean the death penalty for the defendant.
Defense witness Brent Turvey, the author of a book on forensics, testified
Tuesday that Montoya was strong-willed and would have fought any rape
attempt. He said Montoya had no wounds that would imply she had struggled.
Prosecutor Tim Frawley has said it is preposterous to think the two had
consensual sex.
Thomas was a janitor at the school and had been in jail for manslaughter.
The murder of Michelle Montoya and the subsequent arrest of Thomas prompted
many schools to reexamine how they hire employees.
JJ
JJ
Witness disputes Montoya rape
By Ramon Coronado
Bee Staff Writer
(Published Aug. 23, 2000)
SANTA ROSA -- The defense continued its assertion Tuesday that Alex Dale
Thomas did not rape Michelle Montoya before murdering her in the Rio Linda
High School wood shop.
Defense witness Brent Turvey, a lecturer and author of a textbook about
forensic science, called the high school senior a strong-willed person who
would have fought any rape attempt by the substitute janitor.
"This was a very healthy, very strong and confident girl," Turvey said. "She
would have fought back."
Thomas, 38, concedes he killed the 18-year-old, but maintains they had
consensual sex and that he went into a killing rage as she was walking out
of the wood shop.
If convicted of forcible rape, Thomas faces a possible death sentence. If
acquitted, the three-strike parolee faces life in prison without chance of
parole.
Deputy District Attorney Tim Frawley, who has described the claim of
consensual sex as "preposterous," questioned Turvey's credibility as an
expert witness.
"You are not a psychologist?" Frawley asked Turvey in bitter
cross-examination.
"No, sir, I am not," said Turvey, who has bachelor's degrees in history and
psychology and a master's degree in forensic science.
Holding up a badge, Turvey said he also was a "sworn detective" in Sitka,
Alaska, where he is working part-time on a rape-murder case.
Frawley has told jurors that Thomas overheard Montoya argue with her
stepfather on the wood shop telephone about getting ride home after school
May 16, 1997.
Thomas then cornered Montoya and threatened to kill her if she didn't comply
with his wishes. After she put her clothes back on, she started to leave the
shop and that's when Thomas murdered her to keep her from reporting the
rape, the prosecutor has contended.
But according to Turvey, investigators probing the rape and murder
overlooked key pieces of evidence. Parts of the puzzle just didn't fit, such
as the lack of "classic" defense wounds on Montoya's body, he said.
"The bulk of my experience is that women who are athletic put up a fight.
I've seen victims resist to the point that an offender would beat them to
death when the offender would have not ordinarily done that," Turvey said.
The 5-foot-4-inch, 120-pound Montoya lifted weights and competed in soccer
tournaments all over Northern California, according to her family and
witnesses.
Thomas, at the time of his arrest, was described by police as 5 feet 9
inches tall, 160 pounds.
Upon questioning from defense attorney, Bradley Holmes, Turvey said
Montoya's slaying was an act of "overkill," which is typical of a person
overcome by rage.
Montoya, who died of multiple injuries, was bludgeoned with a crow bar, had
her throat slit twice and was stabbed three times in the back.
Forensic pathologists have testified that were many other minor bruises and
abrasions, but they couldn't say for sure if any of the were so-called
"control" wounds left by rapist on wrists or necks of their victims.
When asked by Frawley if one of the two shallow stab wounds to her back
could have been a "control" wound inflicted by her attacker, Turvey said
that wasn't likely because her blouse covered the wounds.
Turvey also dismissed what Frawley called a "strategy of survival" in which
Montoya simply complied with her attacker's demands to stay alive.
"I don't think that is reasonable. She was able to redress," said Turvey.
He described the girl redressing in a semi-private part of the wood shop as
"an act of modesty."
That claim infuriated Frawley, who has told jurors it is inconceivable that
an 18-year-old girl would find a custodian twice her age, with tattoos on
his face and chest, sexually attractive. Thomas had worked at the school for
only three days, and he and Montoya were in the wood shop together no longer
than a half hour before she was killed, testimony has showed.
"You believe that Michelle Montoya would agree to a quickie act of sexual
intercourse with a virtual stranger?" Frawley asked Turvey.
"I do," he said.
Defense testimony resumes this morning and closing arguments may begin as
early as Thursday.
Maigh Eo
says...
>
>This makes me nuts! Brent Turvey is an idiot!
>
>JJ
>
>Witness disputes Montoya rape
>By Ramon Coronado
>Bee Staff Writer
>(Published Aug. 23, 2000)
He deserves to be locked up. It is outrageous stuff.
Maigh Eo
Mark Denman
A jury in Santa Rosa has found former school janitor Alex Thomas guilty of
first degree murder with special circumstances. He admitted to killing
18-year-old student Michelle Montoya three years ago but denied he sexually
assaulted her.
At issue was whether Thomas raped Montoya before he killed her. The jury
found he did, and now he is eligible for the death penalty.
During the trial Thomas's attorney claimed the two had consensual sex.
In closing arguments, the Sacramento prosecutor called the defense tactic an
insult to anyone with common sense -- as well as an insult to Michelle's
memory.