ADA Dennis Brooks (left) and Tony Clark (right), district attorney for the First Judicial Circuit of Tennessee, are the prosecutors in the Howard Hawk Willis capital murder trial, being held in Jonesborough, Tn.
JONESBOROUGH, TN. - The jurors in the Howard Hawk Willis capital murder trial being held in the Washington County Justice Center in Jonesborough, Tn., spent the morning listening to forensic pathologist, Dr. Mona Stephens tell of her findings as she investigated the pathology of Adam Chrismer and Samantha Leming Chrismer’s bodies.
At the time, Dr. Stephens was a medical examiner in Washington County, the site of the homicides. At times gruesome and horrendous, the evidence always proved to be graphic.
The Chrismers were one-time residents of Rossville, but had taken up with Mr. Willis whom they had met while traveling as a homeless couple. Mr. Willis had earlier told the jury that his only interaction with the couple was as a humanitarian, attempting to help the teenagers. His defense is that he has been set up in this case.
The jury in Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood’s courtroom stared intently as each photograph was projected on to the wall behind the witness box. In comparison, Mr. Willis looked on with literally no emotion present, almost as if he was not even seeing the photos.
There were those in the audience, however, who gasped out loud, especially when the nude, bound and gagged body of 16-year-old Samantha Leming Chrismer’s body was displayed.
Dr. Stephens’ testimony was that Ms. Chrismer had been bound and gagged prior to her death, which was sometime later than that of her husband, Adam. The victim was wearing multiple pieces of jewelry and her cause of death was found to be two gunshot wounds to the back of the head, execution style. Only fragments of one bullet were found in the body.
First judicial Circuit District Attorney Tony Clark patiently led the witness through her description of the graphic and decidedly gruesome evidence. The jury was shown a pillow case found in the storage bin with Samantha, as well as one taken from 104 Brentwood Drive, the residence of Betty Willis, the mother of the defendant. Mr. Willis was also said to have stayed there.
The Knox County jury was also shown the zip-ties and gag used to bind Ms. Chrismer, along with numerous grotesque photos of her body.
Speaking of the torso found in the other storage container, Dr. Stephens confirmed that the markings on the body were consistent with body parts being removed via a chainsaw. She also said that bits of bone and clothing in the chainsaw blade were recovered in Bradley County.
It was also testified that Mr. Chrismer’s cause of death was by a gunshot wound from under the throat towards the top of the skull.
Mr. Chrismer’s head and both hands were found by fishermen and a detail of prisoners in different locations in Boone Lake, part of the Winged Deer recreation area. A piece of Mr. Chrismer’s skull had also been found by a young girl on a fishing expedition with her father on the same lake.
On cross examination, Mr. Willis, who is acting as his own counsel, questioned the witness about her going to the storage unit and about whether or not the container holding the bodies had leaked. She confirmed both questions in the positive, saying that it was purge fluid found on the sides of the containers. He also asked about her trip to 104 Brentwood and the evidence she found there, concentrating on the location of the matching linens she discovered at the Willis home.
Mrs. Willis has since died prior to the case being brought to trial.
He asked, “Mrs. Stephens, how many bedrooms did this house have?” “I really can’t remember at this time,” she replied. “If I were to say it had two bedrooms, would that sound reasonable?” “Yes.” “It wasn’t very livable was it?” “Not without being rearranged again, no,” was her answer.
Mr. Willis then moved to have his own photos of the interior of the house admitted as evidence. Among these were pictures of the, now in evidence, pillow case. He asked if other linens were found and the doctor answered in the affirmative.
His lengthiest questioning was centered on the pillow case, even presenting another piece of linen from the residence. She said that this piece could also be considered as to having a floral pattern.
When Mr. Willis asked about the color of Mrs. Chrismers’ hair, she responded that it was a dark red. “It wasn’t blonde was it?” he asked. Her reply was, “If it was, it had to have been a very dark blonde.”
She also testified that she had heard that another autopsy had been conducted on the bodies. These were allegedly conducted following her own examination. In regards to other questions from the defendant, she confirmed that she had collected organ samples from Samantha Chrismer’s body and froze them. She also collected larvae samples for Special Agent Reiner Drolshagen, an evidence collection expert from the FBI.
Other testimony from the doctor included the fact that fly pupae had been found in the container with Adam Chrismer’s torso, but not inside the container with his wife’s body. This indicated that Mr. Chrismer had been deceased for a while longer than Mrs. Chrismer. Dating the age of flies and larvae has been used in many cases by forensic pathologists and was developed at the “Body Farm” at the University of Tennessee.
Mr. Willis continued in his effort to shake the doctor on her fly testimony without much success.
Judge Blackwood recessed court at 11:55 a.m. for an hour for lunch.
(Email Dennis Norwood at sportswriter56@comcast.net. You can follow him on Twitter at DennisENorwood. Listen for live reports on WGOW Talk Radio 102.3 with Jeff Styles and Kevin West.)
Dr. Mona Stephens, the forensic pathologist in the case.