Fort Myers, Florida – The prosecution has rested its case in the Florida murder trial of Juan Mendez Jr.

Mendez, who is accused in the stabbing deaths of his wife and mother-in-law, has chosen not to testify. The defense says it has brief case to present. Stay tuned to In Session for details.

 – In Session staff

Fort Myers, Florida - The Deputy Chief Medical Examiner of Lee County, Dr. Robert R. Pfalzgraf, was back on the stand Wednesday afternoon in the case of Florida v. Juan Mendez Jr.

Dr. Pfalzgraf’s testimony had been abruptly halted earlier in the week when the forensic pathologist testified he had compared a knife found near the crime scene with the stab wounds on the victims. Defense attorney Gary Bass objected to this testimony by stating the medical examiner had told the defense during their deposition with him, that he had never before seen a knife connected to the case.

After much argument, it was finally determined by Judge Steinbeck that the state was responsible for a discovery violation. They never alerted the defense, as required under Florida law, to Dr. Pfalzgraf’s opinion that the half-circle, bent knife blade could have inflicted the victim’s wounds.

Following Judge Steinbeck’s final ruling that the discovery violation did not materially hinder the defense’s case, the prosecution put the medical examiner back on the stand.

Dr. Pfalzgraf not only testified the bent knife could have inflicted the wounds, but that the bent tip and knife blade may have come from the murderer intentionally stabbing into a victim’s skull.

On cross-examination, Gary Bass asked the forensic pathologist why he was handing the knife with his bare hands, instead of wearing gloves that professionals normally do on the stand. The doctor seemed to laugh and testify it wasn’t really any different from any knife in any home, and since prints had been processed, it didn’t really make a difference if he handled it with his bare hands.

Juan Mendez Jr. is facing life in prison for the stabbing deaths of his wife Whitney Mendez and her mother Lorena Stone.

– Jean Casarez, In Session Correspondent

Fort Myers, Florida - On the fourth day of testimony in the trial of Juan Mendez Jr., the former lead detective testified that mistakes were made in the initial investigation into the deaths of Whitney Mendez and her mother Lorena Stone.

“Regrettably, I did not.”   It was a phrase heard over and over in courtroom 7B of the Lee County Justice Center on Wednesday, as Sgt. Walter Ryan of the Lee County Sheriff’s department took the stand.

Ryan admitted that there are many things in the murder investigation that he wishes he had followed up on and done differently.

Among them:   he did not obtain phone records; he did not follow up on witness interviews; he did not check other possible leads.

As a result of the lack of evidence in his investigation, the case went cold.  One year later, Det. William Kalstrom, also of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, was assigned to lead the investigation.  He had interviewed Juan Mendez Jr. twice in the days following the deaths of his estranged wife and mother-in-law.  Kalstrom testified the defendant was cooperative and calm, but also odd.

In July 2007, Kalstrom re-interviewed witnesses and interviewed new witnesses, including Whitney Mendez’s supervisor, who was on the phone with her before she was allegedly murdered.  Kalstrom also sought phone records but because so much time had elapsed, they were no longer available.

The medical examiner was called back to the stand.  He said that the knife found in the vacant lot next to the duplex where the women lived could have caused at least some of the wounds on the victims.  Dr. Robert Pfalzgraf also demonstrated to the jury how pieces of the knife – the knife with the broken handle, a piece of plastic, and a flat metal disc – fit perfectly together. 

Trial resumes today, the prosecution is expected to call two DNA experts to the stand.   

– Nancy L eung, In Session producer

Fort Myers, Florida - On the third day of trial against Juan Mendez Jr. , the last person to hear Whitney Mendez and Lorena Stone alive testified she heard Whitney Mendez tell her attacker he wasn’t supposed to be there because of a restraining order.

Moments later, Brandy Ayers heard Whitney Mendez scream. “It sounded like something from a horror movie,” she testified.

Prosecutors say Juan Mendez Jr. killed the Lorena Stone and his estranged wife and mother of his child, Whitney Mendez. Ayers, a key witness for the prosecution, also testified that she heard a male tell the young mother that she “wasn’t a good mom and that the baby wouldn’t be with her much longer.”

A welfare agent who used to work for the Department of Children and Families also testified that the defendant agreed with her request, one day before the women’s death, not to see his son that weekend.

Earlier in the day, a medical examiner detailed for jurors the numerous locations Mendez and her mother were stabbed. Both were stabbed and or cut more than 20 times, mostly to the head, neck, and upper torso. Some of the wounds, to the forearms and hands, were consistent with defensive wounds, the medical examiner testified.

The defense says Mendez is innocent. They believe police rushed to arrest Mendez despite not having any evidence linking the defendant to the crime. Ayers did not give a statement to police until one year after the killings.

– Nancy Leung, In Session Producer

Fort Myers, Florida - Whitney Mendez was “already on the ground” when she was stabbed, according to a crime scene technician.   The testimony, Monday, came as the technician described where blood was shed in the home Mendez shared with her mother Lorena Stone.   Both were stabbed more than 20 times in July, 2006.

Prosecutors believe Mendez’s estranged husband, Juan Mendez Jr., killed the women.  He faces second-degree murder charges.

Gabrielle Suboch of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, examined the blood spatter and made three conclusions:  that Whitney Mendez struggled in the hallway with her attacker; that at some point, Whitney Mendez was stabbed even after she went down to her knees near the bed where she was ultimately found; and that her mother also struggled as she was stabbed multiple times in a different bedroom.

Despite her testimony, Suboch conceded she could not identify the killer based on the pattern of blood spatter.

Suboch was one of three witnesses who testified Monday about evidence collected from around the crime scene.  A deputy testified he organized the line search in the vacant lot where a knife was found.   Another crime scene technician said she collected a footwear impression, a cell phone, a newspaper and a knife from the kitchen drawer which appeared similar to the alleged murder weapons, tested for fingerprints and other trace evidence from the victims’ bodies. 

On cross-examination, all of the witnesses said they followed standard operating procedure to maintain the integrity of the crime scene and evidence, as well as used the most advanced technology available to test. 

None of them linked the evidence they gathered to defendant Juan Mendez Jr.   

The defense has accused the investigators and prosecutors in this case of rushing to judgment despite a lack of physical evidence.

– Nancy Leung, In Session field producer

FORT MYERS, Florida – Testimony ramped up Monday in the second-degree murder trial of Juan Mendez, Jr.

He's accused of killing his estranged wife Whitney Mendez and her mother, Lorena Stone.

Their bodies were found July 24, 2006.

The crime scene was horrific… Investigators say each woman had been stabbed more than 20 times and that Stone was found partially decapitated.

Using a floor plan and a red marker, crime scene specialist Gabrielle Suboch described the blood spatter seen throughout the house. 

Suboch testified that the blood indicated there were signs of a struggle in the bedroom where Whitney Mendez was found.     

–IN SESSION staff

ORLANDO, FLorida–Former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one felony count of burglary to a conveyance and to one misdeameanor count of battery.

In a packed Orlando courtroom, victim Colleen Shipman, who in 2007 was competing with Nowak for the affections of NASA astronaut Bill Oefelin, told the court she knew in her heart that Nowak was going to kill her back in February 2007.

Nowak had driven from Texas to Florida and followed Shipman to her car at an Orlando airport while wearing a trench coat, dark glasses and a wig. Nowak, who was carrying a steel mallet and knife in her duffle bag, sprayed pepper spray into Shipman's vehicle.

In sentencing Nowak, Judge Marc Lubet reserved adjudication on her guilty plea, ordering her to serve one year of supervised probation. Additionally, she must complete 50 hours of community service and must write a letter of apology to Shipman within 10 days.

Nowak was facing life in prison.

–Jean Casarez, IN SESSION correspondent

ORLANDO, Florida – In Session has confirmed former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak will plead guilty today in an Orlando, Florida court.

Lisa Nowak

A source close to the prosecution tells me that a plea deal was reached after Nowak agreed to plead guilty to one feonly count of burglary of a conveyance and one count of misdemeanor battery.

Alleged victim Colleen Shipman has arrived from the west coast and will take the stand to give a victim impact statement. Nowak has flown from Texas to be at today's hearing.

Nowak will be allowed to have the court withhold adjudication at today's hearing. Upon successful completion of a probationary period, there will be no conviction at all on her record.

Nowak is charged with attempted kidnapping, burglary and battery after driving from Texas to Florida to confront Shipman, who had started dating Nowak's love interest, former NASA astronaut Bill Oefelein.

–Jean Casarez, IN SESSION correspondent

GRUNDY CENTER, Iowa–On Thursday afternoon, after approximately one and a half hours of deliberation, a jury in Grundy Center, Iowa convicted defendant Michelle Kehoe of the first-degree murder of her two-year-old son Seth in October, 2008. Kehoe was also convicted of attempted murder for assaulting her seven-year-old son, Seth. Both boys had their throats slashed by their mother.

Kehoe now faces a mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole. She will be officially sentenced on December 15.

–Michael Christian, IN SESSION senior field producer

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa–Michelle Kehoe suffered from severe depression for 12 years before she killed her toddler son, attempted to kill her other son and tried to kill herself in October 2008.

A psychiatrist who evaluated Kehoe for her defense to murder and attempted murder charges testified on Tuesday that Kehoe’s thinking was “so colored by depression” that she did not have the capacity to know right from wrong. She is asserting an insanity defense.

Dr. William Logan was the first defense witness. He recounted Kehoe’s childhood trauma in Missouri, where both of Kehoe's parents were alcoholics. Her parents separated when she was four and her father died when she was six years old. Between second and seventh grades, Kehoe was the victim of incest by her stepfather, her stepfather’s nephew and a neighbor.

When she finally told her mother about it, her mother sent her to live with an aunt in Iowa. She appeared to adjust well to her new life, but had her first depressive episode in the fall of 1996. She began to take an antidepressant, though it was effective for only a year or so.

Kehoe attempted suicide a number of times, the first being in March 1998. She drank “Heet” and inhaled carbon monoxide. Her next suicide attempt was a year later, in February 1999, when she checked herself into a hotel and cut her femoral artery. Kehoe was hospitalized after each suicide attempt. Her on-again/off-again therapy included up to 44 electroshock treatments.

Kehoe’s oldest son, Sean, was born in September 2001. She had miscarriages between 2003 and 2005. Her second child, Seth, was born in October 2006.

In December 2007, Kehoe’s car skidded into the Iowa River. She and her two sons were rescued by four men who witnessed it. According to Dr. Logan, Kehoe began to experience post-traumatic stress disorder after the river incident. Her condition worsened throughout 2008 following stressors that included her husband losing his job and her ill mother moving to Iowa.

From July to October 26, 2008, Kehoe had thoughts of suicide as “the only way out,” according to Dr. Logan’s evaluation of her. As in the past, she didn’t vocalize her suicidal thoughts to her husband or to those around her. Kehoe began to think that her children might be better off dead, fearing that they may have inherited her mental illness. She plotted to kill her sons and herself for two months before carrying out the acts on Sunday, October 26, 2008.

Three days after killing Seth, attempting to kill Sean and while recuperating from her own self-inflicted slash to the throat, Kehoe said that the December 2007 river incident was a suicide attempt but no one realized it at the time. She also said it was an unforgivable sin.

Jurors saw photographs of the gaping wound to Kehoe’s neck. It was a deep cut across her entire throat, through her windpipe. There were other smaller cuts across a portion of her neck.

Before Dr. Logan’s testimony, the State called its final witness, the deputy medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Seth Kehoe. Jurors saw a deep gash across half of Seth’s throat and multiple bruises on the left side of his head, ear, and left lower extremity, indicating recent impact of blunt force. Periodically, Kehoe glanced at the autopsy photos of her little boy and dabbed her eyes.

Testimony continues Wednesday on In Session.

–Beth Karas, IN SESSION correspondent