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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
March 15, 1973     Shelton Mason County Journal
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March 15, 1973
 
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(Continued from page 1 ) 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) 5th & Franklin I 426-3283 I * Free Parking I * Free Gift Wrap [ HELD OVER DEMAND! 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