The defense team representing James Michael Wells called upon a tire expert Tuesday to challenge a piece of the government's theory of how a double homicide on the island of Kodiak took place in April 2012. The expert witness contended a weathered nail that punctured a tire on Wells' truck was picked up on the road.
Relying on the testimony of its own tire expert, the government has argued that Wells had intentionally punctured the tire himself. Prosecutors say Wells intentionally punctured the tire to fit with his alibi. He allegedly was late for work because of a flat tire on the morning 41-year-old James Hopkins and 51-year-old Richard Belisle, Wells' coworkers, were shot and killed.
Hired consultant Bruce Allan Currie testified that it's "more likely than not" the nail entered Wells' truck's tire somewhere on the road. The defense also questioned the testing methods used by one of the government's own expert witnesses.
Wells stands accused of killing Hopkins and Belisle on Kodiak, the second-largest island in the United States and home to a major military base. The communications station at which Wells worked as a Coast Guard civilian employee is geographically separate from the island's main base.
The murders occurred on the morning of April 12, 2012, around 7 a.m., when the two men were just starting their work days at "the rigger shop," an antenna maintenance building. Wells allegedly avoided a security camera and fatally shot the men with a .44 revolver. The government argues Wells was distraught over grievances about his job performance, which included at least one mention of being replaced.
But authorities never found the murder weapon, and prosecutors are arguing the case based on circumstantial evidence. The defense says investigators targeted Wells and failed to pursue other potential suspects.
Nail 'picked up on the roadway'
Before calling Currie on Tuesday morning, the defense questioned FBI case agent Daryl Allison, who has been present behind the prosecutors' table throughout the trial.
Federal public defender Rich Curtner asked Allison about markings on the edges of the tire seized by investigators following the murders. The agent testified the marks weren't present when the government handed over the evidence to tire expert Gary Bolden.
Bolden, who works for Standards Testing Labs in Ohio, said last week the nail was embedded beneath the tread of the tire and that nails generally don't enter tires perpendicular to the tread. He also outlined another test during which the seized tire was inflated and ran at 62 miles per hour on a dynamometer, a large wheel that simulates travel. Bolden concluded Wells' could have drove for several hundred miles before noticing the tire's slow deflation.
The test left marks on the tire, according to court testimony. The dynamometer causes tires to warm up, which makes them sticky; in the case of Wells' tire, stud shavings streaked the tire's outer edges, leaving behind a grey hue.
Curtner homed in on the marks, as the tire's warming had other implications. Currie said when the tire warmed up so did the nail, causing the metallic object to expand and tighten its hold within the tire.
Taken together -- the tightly-embedded nail and the hot tire -- the test was not an accurate representation of the conditions "on the day of the incident," Currie said. Like many Southcentral communities, springtime temperatures on Kodiak fluctuate between lows-20s to mid-40s.
The defense's expert also checked the angle at which the nail entered the tire; he estimated the weathered nail slanted 25 degrees to completely vertical. Bolden testified the tread extending to the tire's edge may have guided the nail toward its puncture point, the outermost vertical tread. The "shoulder slot appears to have guided the nail in that direction," he said.
Guessing by the nail's tool marks, Bolden said it was likely removed from a piece of wood. The government objected to the guess, as Bolden was not admitted as a tool-mark examiner. Still, he concluded that the key piece of evidence could have "very easily been picked up on the roadway."
FBI firearms and tool mark examiner Brett Ashley Mills, a government witness, previously said an arc-shaped mark on the head of the nail was consistent with what might be expected if an automatic nail gun was used.
Wells confirmed he would not testify before the defense rested. The government has a chance to refute the defense witnesses' statements Wednesday. Closing arguments are expected Thursday.