A concrete layer testified in court Tuesday that Jeffrey Sterling, the Blue Springs man accused of shooting and killing another man in November 2008, told him by phone that he wished he would have been there.
“He said, ‘I wish you would have been there, I would have killed you, too,’” Dennis Ritchie, a concrete layer, told the court on Tuesday, the first day of trial for the accused, Jeffrey Sterling, 40, of Blue Springs.
Sterling is charged with first degree murder and armed criminal action for the death of Jerry Thompson, 43, who was supervising the building of his home Nov. 23, 2008, off Colbern Road just south of Blue Springs near Lake Lotawana.
Prosecutors say Sterling left more than 20 messages on Thompson’s phone the night before he decided to drive out to the site to collect $1,100 that Thompson owed him. In addition to Thompson being at the home, three other men (one of whom died within the last year) were there and some painters.
Prosecutor Patrick Edwards said Sterling could be heard laughing on the phone on two separate occasions – once when he spoke to Ritchie when he called him immediately following the shooting and again when Sterling called police from Lake Jacomo, where he had driven in his truck and eventually surrendered.
“You’ll hear the defendant on tape laughing,” Edwards said.
Edwards told jury members there was a note found in Sterling’s truck that described Sterling’s plan to “go out there to get the money,” eluding at one point that readers “will know by now” the outcome.
Three men – Mike George, hired to clean up the property, Bill Monroe, a trim carpenter, and Dennis Ritchie, an employee of Thompson – testified Tuesday before Judge Marco Roldan.
Defense attorney Matt O’Connor argued that there was more to the story. He said that Sterling walked up to Thompson that morning. They began talking, O’Connor said, and Thompson reached into the back of his truck.
“He grasps something...and says, ‘I’m going to beat you to death,’” O’Connor said.
“At that split second, instinct takes over,” O’Connor said. “He’s never had anyone speak to him like that before. And he fired.”
O’Conner said police and investigators made no effort to take inventory in either the home or the several vehicles parked in the drive. He said police would take statements hours later.
Based on that, “You’ll conclude that Jeff Sterling is innocent,” O’Connor said.
Both George and Monroe were at the home at the time of the shooting. He said he was working at his saw just inside the garage when he heard two shots.
“I heard someone say ‘oh’ or ‘no’ and then the gunshot,” Monroe said.
When he looked over to the area, he saw Sterling standing with the .45 caliber pistol in his hand, pointing it toward the house.
“I went up and asked him what the (expletive) he was doing,” Monroe said, at which time he said Sterling turned around, walked back to his truck and left the scene at an “accelerated speed.”
Monroe testified he did not see any weapons on or around Thompson.
George testified that he heard someone scream “no,” and when he looked from where he was near the garage, saw that Sterling had a gun pointed at Thompson.
But O’Connor demonstrated several times the difficulty George had in hearing his questions, moving four feet away from him at times where George had difficulty hearing. George, who wears a hearing aide, said he lost most of his hearing as a small child.
Regarding specifics facts, George admitted that time has taken some of them.
“I guess when you get older you don’t remember everything,” George said.
Ritchie was driving to get supplies when Monroe called him and told him what happened.
When he returned to the house, Ritchie was able to locate Sterling’s phone number in his phone and called him. He said he asked Sterling what he had done.
“He said there was nothing to it, that he just did it,” Ritchie said. “I asked him where he was and he told me that I knew where he was and I said I didn’t know.”
Then:
“He said, ‘I wished you were there. I would have killed you, too.’”
A deputy from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department was called, and he arrived at the scene.
O’Connor questioned the deputy about his failure to call backup (police were told the suspect had left); about why the deputy did not search the home and vehicles (no explanation), and why no statements were taken from witnesses (detectives were en route).
Attorneys also read in part a deposition given by electrician Clyde Montgomery, who passed away a few months ago. He told police he heard five gun shots. O’Connor questioned Montgomery during the deposition, asking him if it was possible someone could have removed anything from Thompson’s person or truck following the incident.
“It’s possible,” Montgomery said in the deposition.
The trial resumes this morning.
