Attorneys give different versions of motives in Munro murder

EPHRATA - Attorneys presented differing versions of the investigation of construction worker Sage Munro's murder Thursday.

The trial of David Nickels, 31, of Helena, Mont., for first degree murder started with Deputy Prosecutor Tyson Hill and defense attorney Mark Larrañaga giving opening statements.

Hill told the jury Nickels was a jealous ex-boyfriend, who drove from Montana to Ephrata, killing Munro outside of his home in 2009, and bragged about the murder before police contacted him.

Larrañaga argued police ignored Ian Libby, a drug-user and convicted criminal, when investigating Nickels. He pointed out flaws in the investigation, saying the prosecution's evidence against Nickels was flawed.

Hill started his opening statements by claiming Nickels planned the murder in advance and waited in the dark for Munro to leave his home for his morning workout before shooting him.

"Why did the defendant murder Sage Munro? Because he was obsessed and jealous over a young woman named Marita Messick," he said. "When (Nickels) murdered Sage Munro, he made sure to do it in the pitch black and freezing cold of an early December morning, when there would be no eye witnesses."

Nickels reportedly started the relationship with Messick when she was about 16 and he was 23, Hill said. Messick called the relationship troubled, difficult and difficult to explain. They dated for about two years.

"The defendant would often text her and call her repeatedly. If she didn't respond to him right away, he would send more and more text messages and phone calls, and if still he got no response, he would go to her house in the middle of the night and show up at her bedroom window to find out why," Hill said.

When Nickels and Messick broke up, it didn't end the relationship, Hill said. The two continued to contact each other and have intimate relations and Nickels continued to be possessive and jealous. When Messick started another relationship, Nickels showed her a photograph of the man's house.

"(Nickels) told her, 'If you don't stop seeing him, I will burn (his) house to the ground with (him) and his parents in it," Hill said. "He told her around the same time he showed her the photograph ... that if she ever stopped contact with him, he would hurt someone that she loved."

Messick stopped the new relationship, continuing the relationship with Nickels until she moved to Ephrata and met Munro, Hill said.

"Sage Munro was a hard worker, loved by his family and friends," he said. "He would spend his afternoons working and his evenings with his, at the time, 12-year-old son or with Marita or with his family."

All of his friends, neighbors and family knew Munro's routine of working out in the morning, Hill said. He kept with the routine until the day he died.

When Munro and Messick began dating, they were together almost daily, Hill said. When Nickels learned about the relationship, he reportedly wasn't happy.

"At the end of that June, the same month that she started dating Sage, Messick took a trip to Montana to be with her brother. When she was there, she was in the bedroom on the phone talking to Sage when suddenly, unexpectedly and unannounced the defendant entered the home, entered her room, took the phone out of her hand and looked at it. On the phone was a picture of Sage ... (Nickels) then hung up the phone kept it in his hand and walked out to the car."

When Messick followed Nickels demanding the phone back, Nickels opened the phone and called Munro, telling him to stay away from Messick, Hill said. Within weeks of Messick returning to Ephrata, Nickels came to the city, calling and asking her to come to Walmart. She agreed and they went to her house.

"One thing had changed about the relationship. Marita Messick would no longer have sex with David Nickels," Hill said. "He left and we do not know what he was doing that day."

Some nights when Nickels tried to call Messick and she wouldn't respond, he called Messick's mother between midnight and 3 a.m., Hill said. Nickels told Messick's mother that her daughter was out with Munro.

Issues started escalating in 2009, when Nickels invited Messick to Spokane, Hill said. She went to Spokane, where Nickels bought her expensive gifts and brought her back to his hotel room where he showed her a stack of cash. Nickels told Messick if she left Munro, he would give her the cash and gifts.

"After making such a proposal, Messick's response was direct and cutting. She told the defendant she would rather live in a cardboard box with Sage Munro than with the defendant and all of his money," Hill said.

Hill continued, saying Nickels met with a Rex Lain less than a week before the homicide. Lain had previously been convicted of manslaughter. Nickels asked Lain what it felt like to kill someone.

The day before the murder Nickels left Helena and told a friend he was in Great Falls, Mont., Hill said. Police later determined Nickels was not in Great Falls. Nickels' cellphone records reportedly showed him leaving Helena and traveling to Washington.

Roughly two hours after Munro was shot, Messick contacted Nickels asking where he was. Nickels reportedly again replied he was in Great Falls, when his cellphone showed he was in Spokane, Hill said.

Officers discovered handcuffs with a mix of DNA on them, Hill said. Nickels was the only person the Washington State Crime Lab allegedly couldn't exclude as a donor.

About two weeks after the murder, Nickels allegedly told Erick Alsager he was being investigated for murder. When Alsager asked for details, Nickels reportedly said he went to Washington and shot Messick's boyfriend in the chest.

"(Nickels said,) 'The guy didn't even see it coming,'" Hill said. "When Alsager asked why he would do that, (Nickels) said, 'Because he was dating Marita.'"

Larrañaga started his argument by saying Munro's murder was a tragedy. He argued the evidence in the trial will point to the real killer, Ian Libby.

"The evidence will show that on Jan. 10, 2010, only 12 days after Sage is killed the police received a call," Larrañaga said. "The caller said, 'This guy, Ian Libby, is your suspect from the Ephrata shooting.' You won't hear that recorded call because the police failed to preserve it."

He pointed out the caller left a phone number, but the jurors wouldn't hear from the person, because police didn't contact him or her.

"It was simply ignored," Larrañaga said.  

Larrañaga argued police missed potential evidence pointing to Libby. He described the scene of when Colleen Gibbons heard the shot which killed Munro, and saw him run back into his house. When she went and knocked on his door, Munro didn't answer. She returned to her house and called his cellphone. When he didn't answer, she called 9-1-1.

"The police failed to obtain the recorded 9-1-1 call, and because of this failure, it has been destroyed," Larrañaga said. "Shortly after the call, the first responders on the scene ... arrived on E Street."

When officers approached, they saw shoe impressions in the street south of Munro's house, he said. Larrañaga pointed out the jurors wouldn't see photographs of the shoe impressions because police didn't take any.

"When the other detectives arrived, they observed a shoe impression on the north side of Sage's house, heading toward an alley where they found tire tracks," he said. "Another neighbor, Bambi Libby, you'll hear from Ms. Libby. She will testify, she told police shortly after the homicide she observed a silver car driving south down the alley from Sage's house toward Division."

Larrañaga pointed out Nickels didn't drive a silver car in December 2009, showing jurors a green car. The car was the only operable vehicle Nickels owned at the time.

Roughly 11 days after investigators allegedly received the tip implicating Libby, Larrañaga said Libby assaulted his then girlfriend. In the assault, Libby reportedly told her he would kill her like he killed "that guy." Libby allegedly told Tycksen he was already at one murder sentence before threatening to shoot her in the head.

"(The responding officer) will say of the assault, 'When I first saw her, meaning Crystal, I didn't even think it was Crystal,'" Larrañaga said. "You will hear a description of the injuries that she suffered."

The Ephrata police officer contacted Moses Lake police Detective Juan Rodriguez to report what Libby said. The Ephrata officer also sent an e-mail later, where he described Tycksen as genuinely scared.

"He also notes in the e-mail to detective Rodriguez that he recalls that he arrived at Sage Munro's house the morning of Dec. 29, 2009, he saw Ian Libby on E Street at 7:30 a.m.," Larrañaga said.

Tycksen reportedly received text messages from Libby the morning of the murder, stating something bad happened, and he had an emergency, Larrañaga said.

"You won't see these text messages, because although the officers knew about them, were aware of them, were told about them at that time, they did not preserve them," Larrañaga said. "When the police tried to determine Ian Libby's whereabouts on the morning of the homicide, they were told inconsistent and different alibis."

Larrañaga claimed Libby and an accomplice were prowling around Munro's truck the night of the murder, looking for guns.

"They were caught by Sage Munro as he was going to the gym and they killed him," Larrañaga said.

He argued the case against Nickels is based on weak and circumstantial evidence.

"Neighbors of Sage Munro have never, ever seen Mr. Nickels on E Street," he said. "You will hear the Mr. Nickels is excluded from the DNA under Sage's fingernails. You will hear that he is excluded from the fingerprints on Sage's truck. Excluded."

He also pointed out Nickels was reportedly excluded as a possible donor to DNA found on a bullet casing found on Munro's lawn. Larrañaga said no shoe impressions were found in the snow around the handcuffs.

"There are no skid marks or slide marks in the snow to suggest that handcuffs were thrown," he said. "The evidence will also show that the handcuffs were under the debris ... they were left prior to Dec. 29, 2009."

Larrañaga said a bartender from the bar where Nickels told Alsager he killed Munro will testify it was too loud for anyone to speak to each other without screaming.

"Miller's Crossing was packed. It was loud. A DJ was playing music," he said. "You will hear that this confession, so to speak, is inconsistent with the crime. For instance, they say Mr. Munro was shot with a shotgun."

Larrañaga pointed out Alsager was drinking prior to going to the Miller's Crossing, and Alsager wasn't worried and didn't call police.

"He stayed and continued drinking," Larrañaga said. "After you hear the testimony, observe the witnesses, obtain the evidence, you will find David Nickels not guilty. Simply because he is not guilty."