Mirabal Update: Closing Arguments Mon./Matthew Doesn't Testify
Maggie
Mirabal declines to testify
Travis Henry
The Daily Times-Call
BOULDER — Matthew Mirabal will not testify in the first-degree murder
trial in which he is accused of strangling his 24-year-old wife, Natalie,
decapitating her, then leaving her body in Lefthand Canyon on Sept. 26, 1999.
Mirabal, 21, of Longmont told Judge Daniel Hale Friday that he understood
his rights to testify and was declining to do so, setting the stage for closing
arguments Monday as the trial wraps up.
A victim of an alleged rape at a grocery store last October testified
Friday for the defense that she was abducted by two men as she was leaving a
Denver King Soopers.
Having to pause numerous times to gain her composure, the teary-eyed
victim told the jury how a man with a knife and an accomplice forced her into
her own car, then entered the vehicle and drove away.
"He told me to shut up and that I was going to get what was coming to me,"
the woman said.
The woman testified that the men drove aimlessly until they parked near
Sloan's Lake and raped her.
She described the men as Hispanic, but said she didn't really get a good
description of them because she was terrified and they broke her glasses.
"I didn't worry about a description," she said. "If I made it out alive I
thought it would be better to worry about getting home later."
The defense contends that Natalie Mirabal was killed in a similar
carjacking gone haywire and has criticized police for focusing only on Mirabal
and not following up on other leads.
Mirabal claims that he called the police after finding Natalie's car at
Safeway three hours after she left on a midnight shopping trip.
Under cross-examination, the victim of the alleged October rape said her
shirt, bra and underwear were ripped during the assault, contrary to how police
found Natalie Mirabal's clothes.
Medical examiners and Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents also
previously testified that there was no evidence Natalie Mirabal had been raped.
Stephanie Cooke, a former clerk at a Broomfield Safeway, testified Friday
that three young men approached her car at work and tried to enter while she
was inside three days after the murder.
Cooke said the three men fled when the man who tried to open the door
realized it was locked and Cooke honked the horn.
She described two of the men as Hispanic, but couldn't provide a
description of the third.
She said the man she could describe best was skinny with a long face.
A Longmont man also testified for the defense, saying he saw three
suspicious Hispanic teenagers outside of Safeway on the night of Natalie
Mirabal's murder.
Roger Torres said that he saw three men at approximately 11:30 p.m. and
that they approached him as he walked out of the store, but then turned away.
He said the three men were built like "weightlifters" and that they
"looked like they were up to no good."
Under cross-examination, Torres admitted he was the cousin of a friend and
fellow church member of the defendants.
He also said that he often was approached by teen-agers late at night near
that Safeway to buy alcohol and at the time didn't think the incident was
unusual.
Torres was just the first of defense witnesses to testify who had links to
the Platteville Apostolic Church.
Many witnesses throughout the trial testified that the church — whose
base congregation, including the Mirabals, followed its pastor from New Mexico
to the Longmont area about three years ago — was the Mirabal family's focus.
Most members of the close-knit church, who shun all alcohol, tobacco and
television, are Matthew Mirabal supporters and believe the police are
attempting to frame him. They have offered a $10,000 reward for information
leading to "the real killer."
Most of Friday's testimony from Jane Hancock, the reverend's wife and one
of the leaders of the "church family," contradicted earlier statements to
police.
On Friday, Hancock refused to answer if she told church members not to
talk to police and denied telling police that she had never seen Matthew wear
gloves.
She also testified that she began washing clothes alone on the day of the
murder at the Mirabal home, despite telling police earlier that Matthew wanted
to wash a load and suggested that they put it in together.
While the jury was out of the courtroom, Hale ruled that the prosecution
couldn't question Hancock about a recent police report in which she allegedly
said that she was the "star witness in the trial and that she was going to get
Matthew Mirabal off."
In the report, Hancock allegedly made the comment while reporting that she
received threatening phone calls warning her not to testify.
According to the report, Hancock told the officer that she had a right to
hide evidence regarding the harassing phone calls and that if the officer
passed the information on to prosecutors she would file a lawsuit.
Hale ruled that the report could confuse jurors because her comment about
hiding evidence was not related directly to the case.
Hancock's testimony that she found Mirabal's bed unmade on both sides the
morning of the murder also contracted earlier testimony by church member Selina
Stites.
Stites, who said she arrived after Hancock, testified that only one side
of the bed was slept in and that the other side was still made.
She also testified that she never told police that she was "absolutely
certain" she didn't see a cut on Mirabal's hand the night before the murder,
despite a police report to the contrary.
In previous testimony, Stites said that on the night before the murder she
thought Mirabal had a headache because "when he got a headache he would sit and
be quiet." On the stand Friday, however, she denied saying that.
During rebuttal, the prosecution called Dr. Ronald Sarno, chief of staff
at Avista Hospital, who testified that the wound in a photograph of Mirabal's
hand taken on the day of the murder was probably less than two days old.
In previous testimony, Colorado Springs medical investigator Dr. Larry
Howard testified for the defense that, based on photos, the cut found on
Mirabal's thumb on the day of the murder was two to four days old.
Both the defense and prosecution will present closing arguments early
Monday morning, and the jury could begin deliberating by the afternoon.
Mirabal remains at the Boulder County Jail on $750,000 bond.
Maggie
"Ah yes. Republicans. Those fine folks who were incensed that Murphy Brown's
kid didn't have a father and are now equally incensed that a real child does
have one." WestLulu (stolen from Baran)
Maggie
affair didn't testify either.
JBrown6000
<< She also testified that she began washing clothes alone on the day of the
murder at the Mirabal home, despite telling police earlier that Matthew wanted
to wash a load and suggested that they put it in together.
**Sorry, I've missed many of the posts on this case. I did note in one post,
however, that when the younger brother of the victim awoke at 4 am he found
many church members cleaning in the house. Is this when the laundry was done?
jb
eve
were called by Matthew, well he called the pastor and so the
pastor and his wife came to the house to see what could be
done. You've got to remember they absolutely were in a panic.
Natalie had not come home!! They loved her. More church people
arrive. The women were trying to help in any way they could.
Here is Matthew trying to hide his lie and wash up some
evidense. So the pastor's wife Janet (they paper said Jane but
it is Janet Hancock) she is trying to do it for him. Matthew
used to live with the Hancocks. They loved Matthew. This
church loved Natalie and Nehemiah! The baby was like their
grandchild. This isn't a cult or anything, just a close knit
group. Yes, they do shun tobacco, booze and television. Does
that make them weird?
I have heard how Janet thinks this boy is innocent. She fumbled
and jumbled on the stand but it wasn't because she had knowledge
of Matthew murdering Natalie. The Hancocks would not believe
Matthew was innocent if they thought that this was not a set
up. They have a little persecution complex going on and a
strong belief that they knew this boy. They practically raised
him in their home since he was young. They have no reason to
cover for him they just are trying to help.
I think, I'm really sure he is guilty. But if it was one of
you're close loved ones would you be in denial?
Eve
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Maggie
***Thanks for your insights. What's the deal with the bed being made on one
side/not made on either side? It sounds like there's some theory that Natalie
was killed after she had gone to bed for the night (but wasn't she found in
street clothes). Is someone contending that Matthew or one of the church
ladies made just one side of the bed?
eve
people to enter the house to find out what everything looked
like before it was tracked through by people, and these people
made statements and answered questions about each room. The
reason the bed was important was for timing. If after going to
Starbucks that evening with friends, there was a receipt to
prove the exact time I believe, and Matthew wrote a check,
Matthew who claimed that Natalie after just getting home with
him went directly to the grocery store to pick up some items.
If the bed was not made on Matthews side and made on Natalie's
then she never came back. If the bed was unmade on her side
then Matthew is lying. She came home with him after Starbucks
and after going to bed they had an arguement and then the murder
took place.
But really the police are just trying to match statements and
see if there are changes in later statements. Like when Janet
was cleaning and doing laundery. She probably realized later
that this made Matthew look bad by saying he was putting things
in the washer along side of her. So she changed her story.
There was something in one of the news articles that really got
me, I hope someone else caught it, one of the ladies in the
church told investigators that Matthew looked like he had a head-
ache the night before the murders. When questioned further, she
said that Matthew gets real quiet when he has a headache and she
noticed that he was sitting real still and quiet.
I think there is going to be more come out in a later trial. It
sounds to me like this was very much pre-planned and that Lisa
who is Marcus's wife, Matthew's brother, should be questioned
and put on trial. She was seen going over to Matthew's house
alone after Natalie had her baby and went to New Mexico for a
baby shower. A neighbor told that Lisa would come over without
Marcus and leave real late. She had to know that Matthew was
going to kill Natalie. The way I see it, is if Lisa is innocent
of knowing that Matthew was going to kill Natalie then she was
content with life like it was. Her being married to Marcus and
Matthew being married to Natalie. Why would Matthew go to that
much trouble to try and get a million dollar policy on Natalie
and go to walmart buy the flash light, gloves and then with his
own bare hands sqeeze the life out of Natalie. Then cut her
head off to make it look like some thugs did it. Just to keep it
his secret and now live alone with the baby and keep up an
affair with his SIL?
eve
the story about getting threatening phone calls from someone
before the trial? She said that the caller said she would end
up like Natalie if she testified. There is a police report made
by Janet about receiving these calls. She also told that she
would be a star witness and the caller knew she was going to be
able to get Matthew Mirabal off.