The prosecution rested their case against 50-year-old Daniel Messel of Bloomington, accused of killing 22-year-old Hannah Wilson in April, 2015, early Tuesday afternoon. After calling just two witnesses, the Defense also rested its case with less than 40 minutes of witness testimony.
Prosecution's Final Witness: Hannah's DNA Was On Messel's Clothes, In His Car
The prosecution called Michael Raymond to the stand to testify Tuesday morning. Raymond conducted all of the DNA testing in the Hannah Wilson case, including evidence from the scene where Wilson was found, from the clothing found in a garbage bag Messel was carrying when arrested, from Messel's car and from the clothing Hannah was wearing when she died.
Prosecutor Ted Adams showed the jury the Indiana University pullover that Messel seemed to be wearing on April 23, based on surveillance footage from Yogi's where he was playing trivia that night. The pullover contained blood stains from both Wilson and Messel.
Adams also showed the jury the gray shirt Hannah was wearing the night she was killed, with very large visible blood stains. Both shirts had holes cut out as part of the evidence collection process.
Raymond opened several evidence packages to show the jury, pointing to sections where he found positive identification of Hannah Wilson's DNA. Raymond also indicated several areas that contained Daniel Messel's DNA, as well as areas that contained DNA of an unknown individual, sometimes specified as an unknown male.
Raymond said "unknown DNA" is not uncommon in crime cases like this, since it's so easy to accidentally transfer DNA to an object.
The Defense's Two Witnesses: Nothing Was Unusual At Hannah's House That Night
Once the Prosecution rested its case early Tuesday afternoon, the Defense called its first of only two witnesses: Anisa Jallal, Hannah Wilson's best friend. Jallal said she didn't see Hannah the night she died, but did pass her house about 30 minutes after Hannah was last heard from after 1:00 a.m. Jallal said she saw nothing out of the ordinary, but that it was dark and she wasn't looking for anything suspicious.
The second and last Defense witness was Anthony Dobbs, a teen who lives relatively near the scene where Hannah's body was found. Dobbs initially told police he saw a white pick up truck near the place Hannah was killed on April 24, the day she was killed. But he actually saw that truck the next day, so the defense offered this only to point out that the police should have followed up on this tip more than they did.
After less than forty minutes of witness testimony from the Defense, attorney Dorie Maryan rested their case.
Allowable Evidence
Once again Tuesday, the Prosecution and Defense attorneys sparred over whether to allow certain testimony as evidence for the jury to consider.
State witness Chelsea Sarnecki testified to the judge without the jury present, sharing an experience form November, 2012 when she was assaulted by a man matching Messel's description.
When Sarnecki heard about Messel's arrest for the Wilson murder, and saw his photo in the newspaper, she contacted police to tell them she believed it was the man who assaulted her three years earlier. But sitting on the witness stand Tuesday, Sarnecki said she could not identify Messel as the man who assaulted her. Judge Stewart did not allow Sarnecki to testify to the jury.
Sarnecki previously testified in the criminal case against the man accused of killing her brother, Adam Sarnecki, in 2011.
Before the Defense called its first witness, the Prosecution objected to what it expected one of those witnesses to say. Defense Attorney Maryan intended to call Gerald Messel, Daniel's father, to the stand to testify about something he heard Daniel say, seeming to indicate his innocence in the matter. But Indiana does not allow "hearsay" evidence if it is used to argue innocence. Additionally, Maryan eventually agreed using this testimony would compromise Daniel Messel's right to remain silent, as it would open the door to further questions.
Daniel Messel did not take the stand at any point in the trial.
Closing Statements
Judge Stewart says she'll allow one hour each for the Defense and Prosecution to give their closing statements to the jury Wednesday morning, and then the jury will go into deliberations until they reach a unanimous decision to either convict Messel of the murder or acquit him of the charges.
