Crime & Courts

Attorneys lay out cases in Kodiak Coast Guard double homicide trial

Two U.S. Coast Guard members killed in cold blood had no reason to be surprised on the last day of their lives, U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler said Tuesday during opening statements in the trial of James Michael Wells, accused of the double homicide. The alleged murderer knew the layout of the workspace, and there's no evidence to suggest the victims had the slightest chance of defending themselves, Loeffler said.

They had no chance, she said, because Wells was expected, as usual, at work on the morning of April 12, 2012. The 62-year-old Wells is accused of killing Coast Guard Electronics Technician First Class James Hopkins and civilian employee Richard Belisle at a Coast Guard base on Kodiak. The three men worked at a communications station, also called the rigger shop, on base. Wells worked as a civilian rigger alongside Hopkins and Belisle.

"They were shot, brutally murdered in their workplace by someone, James Wells, with a motive and a plan," Loeffler said, standing before the jury. "He had direct facts of time and place, and circumstantial evidence will show you Wells walked into the office and shot (Hopkins) with a .44 revolver. Then, he shot Belisle in the face."

Large photos of both victims sat before the jury as the federal prosecutor repeated throughout her opening arguments that Wells was the sole individual with knowledge and reason to commit the crimes.

And the murder weapon, which was never found, gives reason as to why the government thinks the murders were premeditated. The gun does not dispense shell casings when fired; it leaves behind no evidence, Loeffler said.

Other indicators of planning were the murderer's aversion to the cameras in the shop, as well as knowledge of the victims' work schedules, she said. DNA evidence would not hold up because Wells worked there.

A timeline of events

Loeffler relied on a timeline to tie Wells to the scene of the murders: At 6:48 a.m., Wells' white Dodge Ram truck passed the gate of Coast Guard base, headed toward the Kodiak airport. At 7 a.m., Belisle used his badge to clock in at the rigger shop. Eight minutes later, Hopkins showed up for work.

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A minute later, at 7:09 a.m., Wells' wife's blue Honda CR-V was captured by an on-base camera, though the government will have to rely on expert testimony to show that the vehicle was in fact the SUV, as the image is blurry. At 7:14 a.m., the same vehicle was allegedly recorded leaving the communications station. Between that time, a jogger allegedly heard a sound of "metal on metal," Loeffler said, which was "probably the last shot."

At 7:22 a.m., the white Dodge is once again caught on camera driving past the Coast Guard base. This time the truck was driving toward Wells' home. At 7:30 a.m., 30 minutes after Wells was supposed to arrive at work, he called and said his truck had a flat and that he was having trouble with the tire's "lug nuts." He left messages on the phones of two coworkers, one of whom was Hopkins.

"The 34-minute gap doesn't make sense," Loeffler argued, referring to the gap in time between when Wells' truck was first caught on camera going past the Coast Guard base to when it was again recorded heading back toward Wells' home. However, it was the perfect amount of time for Wells to pick up the Honda from the airport, drive to the rigger shop, shoot his coworkers and return home, she said.

The government plans to call an expert witness who measured the Honda using video surveillance from two instances: the footage from the day of the alleged murders and a shot of the vehicle driving the same roadway a week after the murder. The latter image was captured when Alaska State Troopers seized the vehicle. The government says the expert will say the measurements from the two images match up.

A family man

Federal public defender F. Richard Curtner began his opening statements saying the government was incorrect in pinning the murders on Wells, but they were on point when they said the case was based on circumstantial evidence.

A higher-ranking Coast Guard official who oversaw Wells and others suspected his client from the beginning, Curtner said. That boss "poisoned others" into thinking Wells committed the murders, he said.

The defense painted Wells as a family man, someone who would rather spend time with his family than go out drinking and shooting guns with other Coast Guard members. Curtner displayed a photo for the jury from 1980, showing Wells and his wife Nancy with three small children resting on their laps. According to court testimony, the youngest, an infant in the photo, is now a police officer in Portland.

Wells appeared in court wearing a light yellow dress shirt, his long white beard veiling his throat. The defense attorney said Wells made two promises to himself when he left his official position in the military: he'd never again wear a tie or shave his beard.

In fall 2011, Wells began suffering from gall bladder problems, which caused nausea and stomach pains, the defense said. He took a significant amount of leave and traveled to Anchorage for treatment. Doctors eventually removed his gall bladder, reportedly relieving Wells of the symptoms. But a side effect of the operation was chronic diarrhea.

Wells, who told investigators he drove to the Kodiak State Airport to check a flat, used a bathroom at the airport on the morning of April 12. This explains why he took more than half an hour to return home, Curtner argued.

As for the government expert who plans to say the SUV spotted on camera was Wells' wife's Honda, the defense said it plans to call its own witness who will say the opposite. The "phantom blur" captured on camera could have been a Ford Escape, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Subaru Forester or another vehicle, Curtner said.

The government suggests there are no other people who would have wanted these men dead and no evidence to pursue different scenarios, Curtner said. However, the defense argues there are, such as Hopkins' wife. The couple was in debt, the defense said, and their marriage was on the rocks.

"There are other possibilities," Curtner said.

Closing arguments drew to close late Tuesday morning, and the state began calling its witnesses.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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