The government on Tuesday afternoon introduced its first witnesses in the criminal case against James Michael Wells, accused of murdering two U.S. Coast Guard members in April 2012, following opening statements. Those appearing on the second day of the trial were the first of many witnesses federal prosecutors plan to call during a trial that could last a month.
Wells, 62, allegedly murdered his coworkers, 41-year-old James Hopkins and 51-year-old Richard Belisle. The three men worked in what is called the rigger shop near a communications station at the Coast Guard base on Kodiak Island. According to federal court documents, it was a tense work environment; Wells had been reprimanded several times for problems with his job performance in the years before the alleged murders.
The government argued earlier Tuesday that Wells is the one person with a reason, knowledge and the opportunity to kill Hopkins and Belisle.
Delving into victims' characters
Hoping to establish character portraits of the two dead men, the government's first two witnesses were relatives.
First up was Nicola Anne Belisle, Richard's wife. Originally from Chesham, England, Nicola said her husband was her knight in shining armor; he saved her from an undesirable job at a resort on the country's southern coast. They established a life on "The Rock," as locals call Kodiak, and Richard Belisle worked at his dream job. "Right outside was Kodiak," she said.
In the year before Belisle's death, he sometimes came home from work irritated. But Belisle was not the sort of man to share his problems, Nicola said. Instead, he'd sit by a window until he calmed down. U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler asked Nicola if she knew of anyone who had it out for her husband. She said no, "Everyone loved him."
Scott Hopkins, James Hopkins' brother, was asked similar questions about his brother's character. The defense did not question the family members.
Pool of blood
According to court testimony, when Alaska State Trooper Dennis V. Dupras arrived at the rigger shop on April 12, the Coast Guard's fire department and emergency personnel were already on scene. Dupras said the fire chief informed him of two dead men inside the building.
Dupras entered the building, told the medical personnel to get out and secured the scene, he said. He snapped photos of the two victims, photos shown briefly to the jury. One of them, taken through a doorway, showed one of the victims, a uniformed torso laying in a pool of blood. The government also showed much more grisly photos, as both of the men were reportedly shot in the head and again as they lay on the floor.
Loeffler spent a fair amount of time establishing where Dupras found the bodies, using an overhead map and model of the rigger shop.
Dupras said nothing inside was disturbed, "except for the victims." He did not spot signs of a struggle, such as knocked over items. There were no boot prints on the floor. It was obvious to Dupras that "the shooter had some knowledge of the building."
"My feeling was the crime occurred quickly," he said.
Investigative methods questioned
Upon cross-examination, the defense questioned the trooper's investigative methods. It turned out Dupras did not write up a report from the rigger shop crime scene. He said he prepared for trial by reviewing notes and photos. However, his recorder was running, and he eventually turned recordings over to the lead investigative agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
He said he was informed the case would be turned over to the FBI about an hour after he investigated the rigger shop.
The defense also asked Dupras about his involvement in helping Nicola Anne Belisle rein in a troublesome teenager. Hopkins' daughter had been hanging around known drug dealers, people who had multiple run-ins with the law. U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline stopped that line of questioning, ruling it hearsay evidence.
Smell of gunpowder lingered
Seaman Aaron Scott Coggins parked his vehicle around 7:25 a.m. on April 12, 2012 near the rigger shop before walking up the road to grab three flags, raised every morning at 8. Hopkins and Belisle were apparently dead inside the shop, where Coggins said he worked alongside the men for four months.
Coggins returned to the rigger shop after grabbing the flags; he said he made contact with another Coast Guard member who "looked shocked." His colleague told him two coworkers were dead inside the building. Coggins testified he went to investigate, and he found Hopkins on his back, beneath a water fountain and Belisle dead, partially under a desk.
Nothing was out of place in the shop, Coggins said, but he smelled gunpowder in the air.
The young man, who joined the Coast Guard right out of high school, said he enjoyed working at the rigger shop, and his interactions with both of the men who were killed were pleasant. They taught him a lot in a short amount of time, he said. But he said he did not have much interaction with Wells, who was sick or on vacation. Still, whenever all the shop workers were together the operation worked like a "well-oiled machine," he said.
The day ended with yet another Coast Guard member, Hernando Acosta, testfying that people were crying nonstop immediately after the murders. Around the same time, Wells lay sleeping, he said. When asked if Hopkins or Belisle shared family issues with him, such as marital dilemmas or problem teenagers, Acosta said "never."