The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1400710
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, August 11, 2021 A-5 TRIAL Continued from page 4 to Wish about not receiving the first lockpick set. Back to the recording, Odom asked, "Why are you so apprehensive about not telling us you were in the house if you didn't kill her? " "I didn't do it. I couldn't be there," said Fox. "That isn't what I'm ask- ing. Why you are unwilling to tell us you are in the house? " asked Odom. "I can't be in there," said Fox about the protective order. "Why do you think any one cares if you are in the house? " Odom asked. "Okay I was in the house, but I couldn't hurt her," said Fox. "Tell us why you are in the house. Because you know what you look like. You look like window peeper. Who goes over there and peeks in on her? " asked Odom. Fox denied peeping on her and added, "I didn't push her down the steps. . . I slid the pick in and pushed it in. I opened the door. I seen the cane was on the levy and then seen her body." "So you were in there to check on her," said Odom. "I was," Fox replied. "If you went downstairs, DNA will show," said Odom. "I tried to wiggle her legs to see if she would move But she wouldn't move. I just got scared and got the heck out of there," stated Fox. Baumgart said, "So when we test the body, only DNA will be on her legs? " "There might be some on her wrists. I tried to pick her up," said Fox. Gretchen Harris, who was Pike County Coroner at the time of Sharon Fox's death, was called to the stand to tes- tify about the results of the ini- tial scene investigation and the autopsy on Sharon Fox's body. Harris marked Fox's death certificate with "could not be determined" as the manner of death. Other options were nat- ural, accident, homicide, and suicide. "I certified it September 24, 2020," Harris said. "And [Dr. James Michael] Jacobi recommended acci- dental? " prosecutor Darrin McDonald said. "Correct," answered Harris. "Why did you not agree? " asked McDonald. "I was at the scene and I spoke with Tobias," Harris said. "There were so many things after the autopsy that were discovered that prevent- ed it. An investigation kept go- ing with new developments, and I didn't feel comfortable stating accidental. Insurance would question me and my name would be at stake on that paper. With good conscience, I couldn't put accidental." "So you wanted to leave it open? " McDonald said. "Yes," replied Harris. On further questioning, Harris revealed a finding from the death investigation that may have factored into her decision: the nature of the in- juries Sharon received when she fell. "Was she injured much be- low the waist? " McDonald said. "No, other than the neck, there were no fractures," Har- ris said. McDonald asked, "The bro- ken neck was the fatal injury, yes? " "Correct," said Harris. "You've worked falls right? " asked McDonald. "Yes," Harris replied. "Based on your experience, if she had tumbled, she would have injuries on her lower ex- tremities, yes? " McDonald in- quired. Harris said, "I was looking for tears and abrasions and didn't see any, especially not any below the waist." Harris further testified that Sharon Fox's injuries made it "likely she had cleared the stairs" when she fell. She also gave testimony on the pill and medication bottles belonging to Ed Fox that were found at the scene and under the body. "Did you notice that night that someone had swiped at the pills? " McDonald said. "Yes," Harris said. "Was that significant to you? " asked McDonald. "Yes, because there's a cab- inet in the stairs above the flight to the basement, and it had a bag of prescription bot- tles that had been disturbed. There were some pills on the ground and a bottle under Mrs. Fox," Harris stated. McDonald asked, "The pills on the shelf, do you recall if they were Mr. Fox's? " "Yes, we are supposed to take pills that deal with con- trolled substance, but they were not hers, so we didn't take them," replied Harris. "Did [Dr. James Michael] Jacobi wash off the pills un- der her body? " "I do not recall." "You have seen the report of autopsy correct? " "That is correct." "For our purposes, I want to submit that Dr. Jacobi veri- fies that the pills were washed off and were Mr. Fox's medi- cation. Do you protest that? " "No." "Those pills swiped were Edward's correct? " "Yes." "Would that lead to the rea- sonable conclusion they were either already on the landing or came down with her? " "Correct." In cross-examination, de- fense attorney Doug Walton focused on the question of whether the pills were cur- rent prescriptions for Ed Fox, and how likely it was Sharon swiped at them either during or before she fell. "It is common to try to gr- ab something when falling to steady, yes? " Walton said. "Yes," Harris said. "Do you know when the pro- tective order [against Ed Fox by Sharon Fox] was? " "No." "If it was in 2019, do you find that protestable? " "No." "You have no evidence from your part in the matter that the prescription bottles had been there since Ed had left the house? " "Correct." "Did you look at the date? " "Probably, but I didn't note much." "So, they weren't significant at the time? " "No, as we just wanted to make sure they weren't Sha- ron's." "The bottles under her re- mains were of interest. It was part of the investigative theo- ry that she grabbed the pills during the fall, correct? " "Yes, it was among my mul- titude of variations of theo- ries." "You're in no position to de- fine how she went down? " "Technically correct." A fter Harris' testimony was complete, court recessed and police Detective Tobias Odom was called to the stand after the break. Odom testified that during interviews with Ed Fox, Fox admitted to break- ing off a lockpick in the door by the stairs. "Was there a time in the in- terview where Ed Fox admit- ted to breaking off the lock- pick in the door by the stairs? " McDonald asked Odom. "Yes." "Did you know it was cor- rect at the moment you were told? " "I didn't. I eventually went back to see it for myself… Der- ek [Fox's son-in-law] offered a key, and it didn't fit into the deadbolt." "What did you do once you realized you couldn't get the key in? " "The family wanted to be able to lock the door, so we took off the deadbolt and re- placed it with one bought in town… A day or two between then and now, I took the dead- bolt out [of evidence storage] to have it examined." "You had someone else look at it? "Yes, the Indiana State Po- lice. I submitted a form to have it examined and remove the obstruction." "How obvious was the ob- struction? " "Not at all, it wouldn't have been easily seen." Indiana State Police foren- sic scientist Robert Orr con- ducted the examination on the deadbolt and found a met- al piece inside the lock mecha- nism. McDonald called Orr to the stand to testify on the ex- amination results. McDonald presented Orr with the dead- bolt and metal piece he'd ex- amined and asked him to iden- tify them: "Yes it is a door lock with a broken pick, each with their own item number. The pack- age is confirmed by ISP," Orr said. "Did you remove the small metal piece? " McDonald said. "Yes I did, and bagged it separately." "Is this your first door lock? " "Yes." "What were you asked to do? " "I was asked to remove the object blocking the key- way. I was assigned to exam- ine, take pictures, notes, and then remove the small piece of metal." "Let me have you look at state's exhibit 80, do you rec- ognize that as a report or cer- tificate of analysis you did in this case? " "Yes I do." "It reads: Brass colored faceplate of the lock is dam- aged with deep gouging in the faceplate and metal below the keyway. Is that noticeable? " "Yes, most locks have scratches, but the deep goug- ing stands out as unusual." "[The report further reads:] Inside the keyway a thin piece of broken brass colored met- al that was removed. How did you do this? " "I used thin forceps, twee- zers and removed it with ease." "Needle-nosed pliers would've been too large? " "Yes, likely." "How obvious was it to see the metal piece in it if you hadn't been told? " "If looking at it, one might see it, but this had a jagged edge square that was obvi- ous." "You note it was 1.1 inches long and had similarities to a lockpick and had three edges on one side. What similarity to a lockpick did it have? " "It clearly wasn't a key or random foreign object. With the three humps it looks like it could have been a lock- pick. I did some internet re- search and identified the di- amond-like edges to that of lockpick sets online." "Ok. So when you looked at it, it looked like a broken pick." "Yes." "If I asked if it was 100 % a lockpick, would you be able to say that? " "No, I couldn't say 100 % due to inexperience with lock- picks, but I would say that it looked nearly identical to on- line lockpick sets." "Was the 1.1 inches reason- able for a lockpick? " "Yes, there are many sizes of lockpicks." "Was the gouging indica- tive of significant force on the lock face? " "I can't be sure, but the gouging is apparent." "Did you note that if the other end is intact, it could be compared and matched? " "Yes, there was room for physical connection analysis." McDonald showed Orr the lock and alleged pick. "Can you see the gouging? " McDonald asked. "Yes, it is below the face- plate of the lock and shows effort to bend the lock." "So it [the metal piece in- side the lock] features half di- amonds? " "Yes, it features three half rounds." "Comparatively to the lock, the pick is rather small. Cor- rect? " "Yes." Defense attorney Doug Wal- ton declined to cross-examine Odom and Orr, and the jury was given the lock and metal piece for viewing before court recessed for lunch. See related story on front page covering the closing ar- guments and verdict. READER GUIDE Subscriptions: Change of address: subscrib- ers changing addresses will please give old address as well as new one along with phone number. We cannot guaran- tee prompt change unless this is done. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Press-Dis- patch., P.O. Box 68, Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 or e-mail to sub- scribe@pressdispatch.net. Subscription rates: One year: $35 for Pike County and all 475/476 zip codes; $38 in the state of Indiana; $55 else- where in the USA. Paid in ad- vance. Subscriptions taken after noon on Friday will not receive a paper until the second edi- tion after their subscription date. 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Work- ers will completely replace the roadway from the sub grade to the surface and make re- pairs to drainage structures throughout the limits as a part of this project. Phase one is expected to be complete by mid-Octo- ber, depending upon weather conditions. Local traffic will have access up to the point of closure, but through traffic should use the official detour following I-69, S.R. 168, U.S. 41 and S.R. 64. Phase two will repeat the to- tal pavement replacement but on the east side of town near the railroad tracks across S.R. 64. Phase three will address the section of the roadway in between the limits of the first two phases but isn't expected to begin until Spring of 2022. The entire project is sched- uled to last until late sum- mer 2022. During the winter months, the road will be open.