March 15, 1973 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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He stated he carried the gun
to frighten and intimidate brush
pickers and that Davidson was the
only brush picker he had met
while carrying the gun.
He also admitted he had a
pistol he had carried in the woods
before he got the shotgun. He
stated he had encountered two
brush pickers on his property, but
when they saw the gun they had
run.
He also stated he had carried a
gun while working on the
property since Davidson was shot.
He stated the shooting was an
accident and that he was not
defending himself at the time the
fatal shot was fired.
He also stated Davidson had
said nothing about a brush lease
and had not complained of being
shot in the leg.
Kerr stated the map used by
the prosecution was not accurate
because the trail where he had
first seen Davidson was on his
(Kerr's) property. He also stated
Davidson was about eight feet
from him when Davidson lunged
at him.
Kerr also stated he could not
have hit Davidson when he fired
the warning shot because he had
pointed the gun away from the
running man.
Between Kerr's two sessions
on the witness stand, several
persons testified about the
problem of brush thefts and the
generally bad reputation of brush
thieves and about the way some
operate.
Among these was Russell
Dahl, who testified he had been
picking brush for about 20 years
and had about 1,200 acres of land
leased tbr brush picking. He
stated he had seen the Nicklaus
property and that there was little
brush worth picking on it.
He also testified there was
considerable hunting in the area.
Also testifying was Hans
Ruhl, Puyallup, who stated he is
retired from the Puget Sound
Naval Shipyard and has property
near Kerr. He stated brush picking
on his property in the area was
poor.
Als0 testifying was Norman
forester who is
employed by Simpson Timber
Company, presently in charge of
contract cutting operations for
the company. Eveleth stated he
had handled the minor forest
product operation for Simpson
for four years.
He stated brush thievery was a
problem and cost property
owners and legitimate pickers a
large amount of money each year.
Also testifying was Myrna
Shriner, Ollalla, who said she was
a housewife, part-time brush
picker and part-time buncher in a
brush packing shed.
She said she had picked on
her father's (Hans Ruhl)property
and on Kerr's property. She said
1971 was a bad year for brush
because of damage from
caterpillars.
She, like the others, said the
reputation of brush thieves was
not good and that she had had
some unpleasant experiences in
the woods herself. She stated she
always carries a 22-caliber gun
and a hunting knife when she is in
the woods.
Fred Stock, Allyn, testified he
was a brush picker. He stated
there was grouse hunting in the
area and that shotguns were used
to hunt grouse.
Also testifying was Donald
lngersol, Olympia attorney, who
had represented Kerr from the
day of the shooting and for some
time after that.
He testified he had first met
with Kerr the day of the shooting
and had later been with Kerr
when Kerr had talked to officers
December 24 at the scene.
He stated the way Kerr
related the incidents leading up to
the shooting had varied by little
in the time he had told what had
happened.
Ingersoll said Kerr maintained
the brush picker was on his
(Kerr's) property when he first
saw him.
A question of whether or not
the jury would be taken to the
scene was decided Tuesday
morning when Judge Robert
Doran ruled there appeared to be
indication that the scene had
changed in some points since the
shooting.
Deputies Fred Pharris and
Brian Shoening testified they had
gone to the scene at the request
of the court Monday afternoon.
Both stated it appeared that
the brush in the area where the
body had been had been removed
and that brush had been removed
in the area where officers said
they found evidence of a shotgun
shot having been fired.
They also said there had been
brush piled in some places since
the time of the shooting.
Pharris also commented he
had apparently come into contact
with some poison ivy or poison
oak during to his visit to the scene
this week.
Leading off as a prosecution
witness Thursday morning was
Lieutenant James Sisson of the
Mason County Sheriff's
Department. He testified he had
gotten the shotgun from the Kerr
residence and that Kerr had
unloaded the gun before giving it
to him in the Kerr kitchen.
He stated the gun was later
examined by Dr. Charles Larson,
Tacoma pathologist. He stated
that he, Deputy Fred Pharris and
Chief Criminal Deputy Tom
Creekpaum did some shot pattern
tests with the gun and that
Creekpaum later did some
additional tests.
Sisson said when Kerr
unloaded the gun there were four
shells in it - one empty and three
loaded.
Sisson said under
cross-examination that a pair of
gloves had been found with the
body and that Davidson had also
apparently been wearing a hard
hat.
The officer also stated Kerr
had told him that both he (Kerr)
and the man who had been shot
were on Kerr's land at the time.
Sisson also stated he saw two no
trespassing signs in the vicinity.
Sheriff John Robinson
followed Sisson to the witness
stand, testifying that after being
notified a death had occurred, he
had gone to the scene with
Coronor Byron McClanahan. He
stated there was a glove in
Davidson's right hand after the
body was turned over.
He stated he had gone to the
mortuary with the coronor
where the body had been
examined. He stated the clothing
was removed from the body
during the examination and was
turned over to Lieutenant Sisson
and Dr. Larson.
Examination of the body
revealed two wounds, Sheriff
Robinson said - one in front
from which there was no bleeding
and a small one in the back of the
left leg which had bled a little.
Deputy Sheriff Fred Pharris
followed Robinson on the witness
stand, testifying he had been on
duty December 22, 1971 and was
on patrol in the Mason Lake area
when he had received a radio
message of a shooting on the
Thomas Road in the Grapeview
area. He stated when he arrived he
March 21 .................... Election of Officers
March 28 ........................ Step Up Night
April 7
Installation of Officers and Purple Bubble Ball
Lake Limerick -- Cocktails 7-8 -- Installation 8-9
Dinner and Dance 9 to 2 a.m.
$12.50 per couple -- Limited to 90 members only.
Purchase tickets at...
Hamlin's Hobby Shop
Nault's Fina Service
Lumberments Vacation Homes
Work Party last Sunday of each month.
Page 2 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, March 15, 1973
e
ury
had met Detective Marvin Synder
and Kerr in Snyder's car and they
had proceeded down a logging
road to a point where an older
model pickup was parked.
He said other officers had
arrived also and they had
followed Kerr's lead through a
brush area to where the body was
found.
Pharris stated after checking
to see if there was life in the body
he had asked Kerr what happened
and Kerr related he had come up
from his home and had observed a
man picking brush and had called
out to the man to stop where lie
was. Pharris said Kerr told the
officers the man had taken off
running up a trail and that he
(Kerr) fired a warning shot and
the man had kept on running so
he ran up the trail in pursuit.
Pharris said Kerr stated the
man ran to the top of a small
knoll, stopped and came back
down toward him. The officer
said Kerr told them he told the
man he was going to hold him for
sheriff's officers and had stepped
back off the trail to let the man
pass when the man lunged at him
and he fell back into a tree and
the gun discharged.
Pharris said Davidson was
laying with his feet in the trail
and his head into the brush.
Pharris said Kerr told the
officers he had ejected the spent
cartridge after firing the warning
shot and that apparently his
finger was on the trigger and the
safety was on when the man
lunged at him.
Pharris said Kerr told the
officers the property line was
somewhere in the vicinity of the
trail which he had come down.
Pharris testified he had
returned to the scene the next
day with Lieutenant Sisson and a
local logger, Buck Armstrong,
who had logged the area a few
years before and thought he knew
where the properly lines were.
Pharris also testified tie had
returned to the scene December
24 where McClanahan and
officers from the sheriff's office
had met Kerr and his attorney at
the time, Don Ingersoll, Olympia.
Pharris said Kerr related about
the same story of what had
happened as he had two days
before.
The deputy also testified
officers had found eivdence of a
shotgun shot being fired through
the brush from the point where
Kerr said he first spotted
Davidson toward a spot near
where Davidson's body was
found. He testified a section of
log had been examined and had
been found to contain shotgun
pellets and that brush between the
two points which appeared to have
leaves which appreared to have
been made by a shotgun shot.
Tom Creekpaum, chief
criminal deputy for the Mason
County Sheriff's Office, testified
he had made test shots with the
shotgun under the direction of
Dr. Larson and had later fired 12
additional test pattern shots from
distances of from one to 15 feet.
He stated the first shots had
been fired into a sleeve from the
rain coat Davidson had been
wearing at the time his body was
found.
Following Creekpaum to the
witness stand was Dr. Charles
Larson, Tacoma pathologist who
performed an autopsy on
Davidson's body and made other
determinations.
Dr. Larson, who stated he
specialized in forensic, or criminal
pathology, stated he had
examined Davidson's body and
the clothing he was wearing along
with the gun he was told was used
in the shooting.
lie said one shot from the
shotgun had entered the body in
the upper abdomen at an angle of
about live degrees upward and
about 10 degrees from right to
left.
tie stated from examination
of the body and the clothing,
particu]arily the ram jacket the
victim was wearing, he would
estimate the shot was fired from a
distance of about two feet.
Dr. Larson stated the lack of
bleeding was caused by fatty
tissue from inside the abdomen
which floated to the wound and
plugged it up before any bleeding
occurred. He stated this was not
uncommon in wounds in the
abdomen. He stated the victim
would not have moved at all after
he was shot.
Dr. Larson stated he found
another wound in the back of the
leg which had been caused by a
single shotgun pellet. He stated
there was no way the shot which
bad struck the victim in the
abdomen and the pellet in the leg
could have come from the same
shot.
lie stated the wound in the
leg had apparently occurred first
since there was some tissue
reaction to the wound before
death occurred.
Following Dr. Larson on the
stand was Dr. Amaly Frese,
Belfair, who testified she had
been Kerr's physician for many
years. She stated she had seen him
irregularily from about 1¢.)62 to
1965 and that after 1¢)65 he had
developed a heart condition
which had resulted in his
retirement on disability from the
naval shipyard in Bremerton on
her advice.
She stated that in 196¢,)he
(Please turn to page 5)
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