Jurors hear ballistic evidence

Photo courtesy of West Plains Daily Quill Tommie Chilton, a brother to a former girlfriend of Lance Shockley, examines a weapon similar to the one believed to have been used in the slaying of Sgt. Dewayne Graham in March of 2005.

Lance D. Shockley is standing trial on the Class A felony of first-degree murder and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action in connection with the death of Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. and the Class D felony of leaving the scene of an accident. Shockley could face the death penalty if convicted.

The state has alleged Shockley's motive for killing Graham was a Nov. 26, 2004, fatal crash that left Jeffrey R. Bayless dead and in which Shockley fled the scene.

Graham, who was found dead March 20, 2005, after he completed his tour of duty that day, was the investigating officer.

On the third day of Shockley's trial, the Carter County jury heard from multiple witnesses about Shockley owning a Browning .243-caliber lever-action rifle, as well as his purchase of another Browning .243-caliber lever-action rifle.

Firearms examiners also told the jury about ballistic tests they performed on bullet fragments recovered from Graham's body and from Shockley's residence, as well as about shell casings also found there.

Laura Chilton Smith, Shockley's girlfriend from 1994 to 2001, and mother of his two children, said Shockley purchased a .243-caliber rifle around 1998 and that he was known to trade guns.

When asked about Shockley's firearms, Smith said, he had a .243 given to him by his grandfather.

Smith described that .243 as his "very prized possession" because it belonged to his grandfather and he "lost his dad at a young age."

During her testimony, Smith also told the jury about the outdoor wood stove at the residence she once shared with Shockley at Eastwood, off Highway C.

Used to heat the log house and the hot water heater, Smith said, Shockley told her "only wood" was to be put in the furnace because what was burned in it came into the house. She said there was a separate burn container for trash items.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Warren Wiedemann had already told the jury about finding remnants of the clasps and buttons from bib overalls and two shotgun shell brass heads in the furnace coals.

When he was working, Shockley, according to Smith, always wore denim bid overalls over his clothes.

Smith also told the jury about a collect call she received from Shockley after his arrest.

Before speaking with the children, Smith said, she told Shockley their children were very smart ... "smart like you. He said 'Apparently, I'm not that smart because I've done something stupid.'"

On cross-examination, Smith confirmed Shockley did not admit to shooting Graham and that she was familiar with the fatal crash.

Smith's brother, Tommie Chilton, said he was aware Shockley had a Browning .243-caliber lever-action rifle, with a gold trigger and a scope.

That weapon, which Chilton described as being in "very good" condition, was stored in a gun cabinet at Shockley's home.

On cross-examination, Chilton said, the last time he saw the .243 was in 2001.

Another witness, Kenneth "Chad" Towner, said Shockley showed up at a job site where they were working with a Browning .243-caliber lever-action rifle a couple of months prior to Graham's death.

When Assistant Attorney General Kevin Zoellner asked why, Towner said, it was because "we all had our guns at the job site," showing them to each other.

Towner described it as a "nice looking gun."

Angela Walker, who worked with Shockley for Robertson Construction, said her husband, Howard, sold Shockley a Browning .243-caliber rile about 15 years ago.

Describing the gun as "pretty new," Walker said, she was contacted by officers, looking for information on the sale.

Walker said she found the record she had on the Browning on her computer. That information included the model and serial numbers, as well as its price and noted it had a scope.

On cross-examination, Walker confirmed her husband traded and sold guns frequently.

George Beck, Shockley's former stepfather, said he was there when Shockley bought the .243 rifle in 1995 or 1996 from Howard Walker. He indicated it took place on a job site, where they were building a bridge and his stepson paid about $400 for the rifle.

When asked, Beck said, he provided officers with the information about the purchase.

On cross-examination, Beck, like Chilton had earlier, confirmed they knew people had fired rounds into a large sawdust pile at Shockley's residence.

Neither Beck nor Chilton knew how many people may have fired rounds or how many rounds were fired into the pile or when.

"We shot there for years, even before the house was built," Beck said.

That sawdust pile was the subject of an extensive search by law enforcement looking for bullets or fragments.

Neither Wiedemann nor Sgt. MacDonald Brand knew how long the sawmill had been gone from that location or who may have fired rounds into it in the past or when.

Brand, who described the pile as being about 10 feet tall and as large as a football field, said, officers searched "as deep as rounds traveled."

Wiedemann agreed.

"We dug quite a ways into the pile until we stopped finding projectiles," he said.

John Dillon, who retired from the FBI as a firearms examiner and now is an independent consultant, said he was asked by the state to analyze five bullet fragments removed from Graham's body and compare those to three found in a field at Shockley's residence.

Based on his analysis and the mutilated condition of the bullet fragments from Graham's body, "the best I could do was bracket the extreme," a range of .22- to .24-caliber, for the weapon that may have fired it, Dillon said.

The bullet, he said, could have been fired from potentially millions of weapons, including .22-, .223- and .243-caliber rifles.

The characteristics of two of the bullet fragments from Shockley's field were consistent with being fired from the .22- to .24-caliber class of weapons, Dillon said. The third, he said, couldn't be determined because the damage was "so extreme."

Dillon confirmed the three bullets had the same general characteristics, but he could not say they were fired from the same rifle.

When asked if the individual marks were "sufficient enough" to make a comparison between the bullet from Graham's body and the other items, Dillon said, he could "neither identify nor exclude that (the bullets were) fired by a particular firearm."

While Dillon's findings were inconclusive, Jason Crafton, a member of the firearms section of the Highway Patrol's Crime Lab, drew a conclusion.

Based on his experience, Crafton said, it was his scientific opinion that "all four of these bullet jackets (and) bullet fragments were from the same firearm."

Crafton said he never indicated the bullets were fired from a "specific caliber" weapon, but from the .22- to .24-caliber class.

He said he provided law enforcement with a list of possible weapons, which included a .243-caliber rifle.

On cross-examination, Shockley's attorney, Bradford Kessler, asked Crafton about his training and experience as compared to Dillon's more than 30 years. Crafton had worked for the crime lab about four and one-half years at the time of Graham's death.

Crafton, who described Dillon as being very qualified and someone whose opinion he respects, said he disagrees with Dillon's opinion.

"Your opinion, your certainty, your examination cannot be changed by anybody?" Kessler asked.

Crafton answered negatively.

"I made a conclusion, based on my training and experience, for an identification," which was verified in a "peer review" by other lab personnel, Crafton said. "My conclusion stands."

Crafton also examined five .243-caliber shell casings found at Shockley's house, as well as one .243 casing found at Robert Shockley's, Lance Shockley's uncle, house.

Based on his analyses, Crafton said, he determined all the casings were Remington brand ammunition and all were "fired from one firearm."

Crafton confirmed he didn't know when the shells had been fired.

The cotton waddings and shotguns pellets found near Graham's body also were submitted to Crafton for analysis.

After completing his examination, Crafton said, he contacted a representative from Winchester ammunition.

The representative, he said, believed the items were consistent with Winchester ammunition for a 10- or 12-gauge shotgun.

The two shotgun brass heads recovered from the outdoor wood stove, Crafton said, were determined to be 12-gauge Winchester ammunition.

"These were unsuitable for comparison" because of the damage, he said.

The state's final witness Wednesday was Sgt. Dennis Rainey, who arrested Shockley in Malden after a warrant was issued in Carter County for leaving the scene of an accident.

Rainey said he stopped Shockley's truck at the intersection of County Road 120 and Highway 25 after he left a church construction site near Malden.

Rainey, who had a description of Shockley's truck, said he received a cellular telephone call when Shockley left work.

After stopping, Rainey said, both he and Shockley exited their vehicles. "I gestured for him to come to me and he did," he said.

When asked for identification, "he told me his name was Lance Shockley," Rainey said. "I told him he was under arrest for a felony warrant from Carter County."

At that time, Rainey said, he did not tell Shockley what the charge was, only that it was a felony warrant from Carter County.

Shockley, he said, was handcuffed and placed in his patrol car.

"I asked him for consent to search his truck; he said he didn't want it searched," but wanted it released to a co-worker, Rainey said.

The truck, he said, was towed by officers.

En route to the Malden Police Department, Rainey said, Shockley again asked "what this was about."

Rainey told him again about the felony warrant.

Shockley, he said, asked a third time "what this was about" and again was told about the warrant.

"He made the statement 'This probably has something to do with the trooper that was shot,'" said Rainey, who indicated he didn't respond to the comment.

Once at the Malden Police Department, Rainey said, he told Shockley of his rights and released him to patrol Sgts. Terry Mills and Jeff Heath for transport to Carter County.

On cross-examination, Kessler asked why Rainey didn't tell Shockley what he was being arrested for when he asked three times.

"I was instructed to pick him up and tell him he was under arrest for a felony warrant for Carter County, but not to discuss the details," Rainey said.

Kessler asked if it was customary to tell someone why they are being arrested.

"I've arrested people on warrants (and) discussed the details later," Rainey said.

"Anyone, other than Shockley, ask three times?," Kessler asked.

"No, sir," Rainey said.

When asked, Rainey said, he completed a cursory search of Shockley's truck after his arrest.

Kessler accused Rainey of doing what he wanted after Shockley denied him permission to search the truck.

Rainey said it is customary to do a cursory search at the time of an arrest. Nothing, he said, was found.

Rainey also confirmed Shockley was cooperative, didn't yell and hadn't tried to evade him.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: In the aerial photo printed Wednesday, No. 3 marking the area where the first shot was believed fired at Sgt. Graham was incorrect. The initial shot was fired from a position a little farther back in an area not pictured.

Also, Robert Shockley, Lance Shockley's uncle, was incorrectly identified as Ralph in Wednesday's article.)