Detectives testify in Nickels murder trial

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EPHRATA - Testimony about the investigation of David Nickels completed the prosecution's case against the 31-year-old Helena, Mont. man.

Washington State Patrol Detective Dan Dale and Grant County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Ryan Rectenwald testified about their investigation of Nickels Wednesday and Thursday.

Nickels is on trial for first-degree murder in Grant County Superior Court. He is accused of shooting Sage Munro outside of the Ephrata man's home on Dec. 29, 2009. Prosecutors allege Nickels shot Munro because Munro was dating Marita Messick, Nickels' ex-girlfriend.

Defense attorney Mark Larrañaga continued to question officers about an anonymous tip involving Ian Libby and about collecting the 9-1-1 tape and the destruction of some of the officers' notes.

Dale testified to handling interviews of witnesses in the case. His testimony didn't include many specifics, saying it included six trips to Montana.

Rectenwald started his testimony, saying he received a name of a potential suspect within the first day of the suspect. When Chief Deputy Prosecutor Ed Owens asked what the name was, Larrañaga objected, and Grant County Superior Court Judge Evan Sperline sustained the objection.

Rectenwald's police report stated Messick told Dale and Moses Lake Police Detective Juan Rodriguez about Nickels.

He used Nickels' cellphone number to track several Craigslist posts, the majority of them seeking catalytic converters, Rectenwald said.

"Most of (the posts) were from the Helena area, the Spearfish, S.D. area," he said. "Some had the name of David on them, and then one in particular posting got made with this same phone number, requesting to purchase a .22 (caliber) pistol, not a revolver with that phone number."

The chief deputy told the jury about several interviews with Marita Messick, saying each time Messick didn't change what she said, only added information.

Dale and Rectenwald traveled to see Nickels in Helena, and found him outside of Samantha Costigan's apartment. Both testified they offered to interview him where he felt comfortable.

"Our purpose of the talk was to figure out his whereabouts for the time of the 28th and 29th of December," Rectenwald said. "He started off by saying that he and Marita Messick ... had spent some time together in the Spokane area prior to Christmas."

Nickels told detectives about going to Wenatchee, where Messick rented him a motel room because he didn't have his identification, Rectenwald testified. He didn't include the stop he and Messick made in Moses Lake.

"He said after their stay in the Wenatchee area that the two drove separate vehicles back to the Helena area location, and the reason for that is because Marita's mother did not approve of their relationship," Rectenwald said. "He said during their stay in the Helena area before Christmas that the two had seen each other on several occasions and when Marita left Helena that David went down to the Pocatello area and paid for two Hondas that he had purchased."

Nickels initially told the officers he went to visit Rex Lain in Big Piney, Wyo. When Nickels mentioned Lain, he called the Wyoming man to ask if Lain remembered him staying at his home at the time of the murder.

"He got on the phone and basically asked Rex Lain on the phone, 'Hey wasn't I in the Big Piney area visiting you around Christmas and after Christmas?'" Rectenwald said. "Rex said, 'No. He wasn't there.' We were able to overhear this conversation."

Prior to the time around the murder, Nickels provided details about where he went in each place, Rectenwald testified. When it came to the time of the murder, Nickels became vague.

"He was very specific about the stays in the hotels. The fact that he used a Wells Fargo debit card to purchase one of the hotels in the Spokane area. He was able to give me specifics about the stay in the Wenatchee area, specifics about the vehicle he drove," he said. "(Around the time of the murder,) he said he was at a friend's house, and when asked what was the name of the friend, he did not respond to that. He did not give specifics."

After speaking to Nickels, Rectenwald received Nickels' cellphone records from around the time of the murder. He told the jury about using the records to create a map to track where Nickels was the day prior to the murder and the days following it.

The map showed Nickels traveling west from Helena until he stopped in Spokane the night before the murder. The next call Nickels received was at 8:51 a.m., about two hours after the murder, and his phone received the call in Spokane.

During their investigation Rectenwald and Dale couldn't find any other place Nickels was at the time of the murder.

Larrañaga questioned Rectenwald and Dale about the anonymous tip received by a Moses Lake police tip line. The tip stated Ian Libby shot Munro. The defense attorneys are arguing Libby shot Munro when Libby was prowling Munro's truck for guns.

Rectenwald testified the tip wasn't referenced in his report, and Dale said he hadn't heard about the tip until recently. Larrañaga handed Rectenwald a copy of the anonymous tip during his questioning.

When Larrañaga asked if Rectenwald recognized the tip, the chief deputy replied he had never seen the paper.

"You've never seen the anonymous tip?" the attorney asked. "Detective Rodriguez never showed it to you?"

Rectenwald said he hadn't seen the piece of paper before, but he may have spoken about it with Rodriguez.

When Larrañaga questioned the chief deputy about speaking to Libby's mother, who lives near Munro, Rectenwald testified he spoke to the woman about a vehicle.

Rectenwald also testified to getting videos from area merchants including an hour of surveillance recording from Walmart. Larrañaga showed the jury two minutes, showing a car driving by the side of the building.

"Was that (video) mentioned in your police report?" Larrañaga asked.

Rectenwald said it wasn't.

Larrañaga also asked about the detectives' initial interview with Nickels, pointing out Nickels spoke with the police voluntarily, and provided a written statement under oath.

"He provided you his Wells Fargo debit account, is that correct?" Larrañaga asked. "At one point, Mr. Nickels uses his cellphone to call an individual you thought was Mr. Lain? ... And he put that on speaker? ... So you could hear it, and Detective Dale could hear it? ... He didn't ask to step out of the car to make the phone call?"

After a short break, Larrañaga began asking about the Rectenwald's and Rodriguez' interview with Ian Libby. The interview followed him assaulting his girlfriend and telling her he was going to kill her just like he did to "that guy." Defense attorneys are arguing Libby was referring to Munro.

Rectenwald testified he didn't apply for a search warrant for Libby's cellphone records or preservation order for text messages from Libby's phone or Libby's girlfriend.

Larrañaga also asked about Rectenwald destroying his notes from the investigation. The chief deputy initially said he routinely destroys his notes after creating his report. He modified the statement later saying he preserved his notes from the Munro investigation.

After Rectenwald changed his testimony, Larrañaga pressed him showing him an e-mail, which reportedly stated the notes were destroyed. The line of questions resulted in raised voices.

"So why did you write this e-mail?" Larrañaga asked.

"My notes are right here and they were turned over to you," Rectenwald answered.

"So why did you write the e-mail?" Larrañaga repeated.

"I have no idea," the chief deputy answered.

"You wrote an e-mail saying, 'Your notes were disposed of,' and now you don't know why?" Larrañaga asked.

After Larrañaga showed the video from Walmart, Owens asked about the distance from the scene and the Walmart.

Rectenwald replied it's within a few minutes, and the murder took place before 6:41 a.m. He reviewed the entire tape and wasn't able to recognize most of the vehicles including the one shown in Larrañaga's clip from around 7 a.m.

Owens clarified why Rectenwald didn't get a search warrant for Libby's phone records, asking the chief deputy why he didn't get the warrant.

Rectenwald answered he didn't have enough proof to apply for a warrant.

When Larrañaga questioned if Rectenwald tried to apply for a warrant, the chief deputy said he didn't.