Tycksen says Libby admitted to murder

EPHRATA - Crystal Tycksen testified Ian Libby admitted to killing someone within days of Sage Munro's murder.

Tycksen was the first witness for the defense in David Nickels' first-degree murder trial. Defense attorneys Jackie Walsh and Mark Larrañaga are arguing Libby shot Munro outside of Munro's E Street home on Dec. 29, 2009.

Deputy Prosecutor Tyson Hill questioned differences between statements Tycksen gave to police and defense investigators and her testimony.

Tycksen and Libby dated for about five years with their relationship ending in 2010, she testified. She moved from Anacortes to Ephrata the day prior to the shooting.

Tycksen and Libby sent text messages to each other on the day she moved back, Tycksen testified. Libby asked to meet her, but she told him she was busy.

Libby continued to send her text messages after Tycksen went to bed, but the tone changed shortly before she awoke, Tycksen said. She normally wakes between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

"(The text messages stated) it was an emergency. I needed to go pick him up. Something bad had happened. Where am I? Where am I?" she said.

She initially didn't meet with Libby, telling him she needed to turn in applications, Tycksen testified. She met him later in the night outside of the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Ephrata.

Tycksen testified Libby appeared to be high on methamphetamine when she found him outside of the church. He appeared to be paranoid and frantic.

"He had been up for a few days. He hadn't been able to sleep at all," she said. "It made me nervous ... He wanted me to drive him out into the middle of nowhere, where there was some well."

Tycksen testified Libby gave her directions into the rural area east of Ephrata, saying he told her to take a gravel road. She described the night as foggy, saying she could barely see the road as she drove. She decided to turn around, and went back to the church.

Libby and Tycksen talked about the murder during the drive, she said. Tycksen questioned Libby about the messages and his actions. When Tycksen accused Libby of the murder, he didn't deny being involved.

"When we were in the car, (he said) things had gotten out of hand that he had two other people with him and one of the people had ended up shooting Sage Munro," she said.

Libby didn't reference Munro directly, describing him as the man who was killed, Tycksen said.

Libby referenced the Munro murder a second time when he assaulted Tycksen outside of the Lenore Caves in Soap Lake. Tycksen described going to the park with Libby and a friend. While they were hiking, Libby proposed to her. When Tycksen refused, Libby started attacking her.

He continued beating her as she struggled to defend herself and get away. When she got back into the truck with Libby and his friend, they started driving back to Ephrata. He continued to attack her as they drove. She described Libby as acting erratic, occasionally opening the door and standing on the road while holding onto the truck.

As they approached Libby's brother's home, he threatened Tycksen, she testified.

"Ian turned around while I was in the back seat and he told me he was going to get the gun from his brother's house and kill me like he did that man," she said. "He was screaming at me."

Hill challenged Tycksen on her initial testimony about meeting Libby on the night of the murder outside of the church.

"Isn't true that on your signed declaration (for the defense,) you said that the meeting with Mr. Libby, where you went on this ride in the fog, happened perhaps one or two days after Dec. 29?" Hill asked.

Tycksen answered it was either the night of Dec. 29, 2009 or within a night or two.

"When you wrote the statement, you weren't sure if it was Dec. 29, or a day or two after, correct?" Hill asked. "But today, you testified it was definitely on Dec. 29, isn't that right?"

Tycksen repeated her earlier answer, saying it was either the night of the murder or the next night.

When Hill questioned Tycksen on whether Libby ever said Munro's name during any of his alleged admissions, Tycksen said he didn't.

"Did he ever say Mr. Munro's name?" Hill asked. "So you just assumed this based on the context of the conversation that's who he was talking about?"

"In a way, yes," Tycksen answered.

When Hill asked how many times she saw Julian Latimer or Libby on Dec. 28, 2009, Tycksen replied she didn't remember seeing either one.

"On Dec. 28, what drugs did you see Mr. Libby take?" Hill asked. "How about on Dec. 29, what guns did you see Mr. Libby shoot? ... On the 28th or the 29th, did you see a gun on Mr. Libby's person?"

Tycksen didn't see Libby take any guns, use drugs or see a gun, she testified; adding she knew they were driving to dump something into a well, but didn't know what it was.

When they were riding to the well, Tycksen testified they weren't discussing the shooting or the murder.

"In fact, you were just talking about your relationship? ... Where it was going, things that were going on?" Hill asked. "But eventually, you decided to turn around, and you did that because it was too foggy? ... I'm assuming that Mr. Libby yelled at you or threatened you if you didn't keep driving?"

Libby didn't yell when they decided to turn around, Tycksen testified; adding they couldn't see.

"So he didn't say anything to you like we need to go somewhere else to get rid of this item?" Hill asked.

"No, he said, 'On some other time, we'll go,'" Tycksen replied.

Libby didn't say it in a panicked tone, she testified. She agreed it wasn't the first time Libby acted paranoid.

Hill also questioned the content of the text messages Tycksen received from Libby on the morning of Dec. 29.

"Did these text messages say Ian Libby killed someone?" Hill asked. "Did it say he had shot someone? .... Did they reference a shooting at all?"

When Tycksen replied the messages only stated it was an emergency and Libby needed to be picked up, Hill asked if they messages contained any other information.

Nickels' defense attorneys initially introduced Tycksen initially told officers she drove her own vehicle the night Libby attacked her at the Lenore caves. Hill pressed Tycksen on a series of discrepancies between her initial report to the police and her testimony.

"Isn't it true Ms. Tycksen, when you wrote this statement, by yourself, with your own handwriting, that you said, 'That you were standing with your back against the car, when Mr. Libby started punching you?'" Hill asked. "Isn't it true that you said, 'That Mr. Libby fell back, you ran back to your car door and he pushed you against it?' ... And then you also say that you fell to your knees and he slammed you head against your car?"

After Tycksen admitted it was the truck and not the car, Hill questioned Tycksen's statement about Libby's statement.

"In fact, when you gave your statement, you said it was while he was assaulting you there by your car that he said, 'I'm going to kill you like I killed that guy?'" Hill asked.

Tycksen said the threat didn't happen until later, but agreed she did say it happened in the parking lot in her statement.