Penalty Phase – Prosecution Witnesses

After opening arguments in the penalty phase of Daniel’s trial, it was time for the prosecution witnesses.

Miles Foltz

The first witness was Sam Herr’s best friend, fellow combat veteran Miles Foltz.

Okay, if you are Matt Murphy, and it’s your goal to make the jury hate Daniel Wozniak, then Miles Foltz is a dream witness. Here was this tough looking solider guy who couldn’t stop his voice from cracking with emotion while he talked about his best friend Sam and how they were stationed together at Camp Keating in Afghanistan. Miles opened up about the daily dangers they faced during that time in “the fish bowl,” and how they joked about their bullet dodging skills.

“No matter where we’d go, we’d always get shot at, but they never got us,” Miles Foltz choked out.  It was during their time at Camp Keating that Sam accrued quite a bit of combat pay, which all went into the bank because there was, “no place to spend your money.”

Sam and Miles had even made a “we’ll be each other’s best man” plan for when either of them got married, but when Miles Foltz did get married, his friend Sam wasn’t there.  He had survived combat only to be was murdered after coming home. Sam’s dad Steve Herr stood in for his son as the best man at Miles wedding.

Remember the end of the last post, when I told you to bring tissues..

The defense didn’t have many questions for Miles during the cross, but Scott Sanders asked him if he’d met Rachel Buffet and if she had ever made any comments about having an issue with a loan shark. Yes and yes.  And during the re-cross, we learned this made him immediately suspicious of Rachel and Daniel.  That’s one of the reasons Miles contacted the police and Steve Herr when Sam went missing.

I had no idea that the term “loan shark” was still in use until this trial. The expression seems so Jimmy Cagney/Turner Classic Movies.

When the grief-stricken Miles Foltz left the stand, Sam’s parents embraced him.  The prosecution could have stopped right there and still easily convinced the jury to choose the death penalty. But they did not.

Steve Herr

The next witness for the prosecution: Steve Herr

Steve Herr (who pronounces his name like “hair”) is easily recognizable with his grey hair and blazer. During the hearings, he always wore jeans, but he switched to khakis during the actual trial.

I’ve spoken with Steve on a few occasions and overheard him talking on many others. He is a chatty guy who has remained personable throughout this nightmare. All the media people know him.  He greets with hugs and handshakes and smiles. This man who could be a “grandfather type” from central casting won’t have that opportunity now, because his only child was murdered.

Sam grew up in California, near Magic Mountain.  Without going into specifics, Steve Herr admitted that his son had gotten into some trouble when he was younger, but Sam had made a complete turnaround after joining the Army.  “The event,” as Steve referred to Sam’s killing, happened right before finishing his first year of college.

Steve Herr’s testimony was gut-wrenching.  He often apologized about “rambling on,” as anger and frustration poured out him while he jumped from point to point.

When he found Julie’s body in Sam’s apartment, he called 911 immediately and was positive that his son hadn’t done it.

• When he found Julie’s body in Sam’s apartment, he called 911 immediately and was positive that his son hadn’t done it.
• “I wanted to find the MF who did this!”
• For reasons that were not explained, he’d had a deep fear that Sam would be dismembered, and then he found that to be the case.
• On his son’s birthday, he was praying that they find Sam’s head so they could give him a proper burial.
• “The worst thing you can ask of a man is to feel helpless,” he stated about not protecting his only son.
• He talked about his wife Raquel and how sad she looks when she sees people with their children.
• Steve Herr said of seeing Sam at his funeral that he “never want(s) to forget seeing (his) son all sewed up.” He never wants to forget the evil.
• Even though Steve didn’t personally witness the dismemberment of Sam’s body, he can’t stop picturing Daniel “hacking and sawing” his son.

The human mind is fascinating.  I don’t doubt what happened, but I’m personally not able to picture the man I know as my friend doing those horrific actions. Truth is, I have tried, actually, but the mental image morphs into him being on-stage and waving his arms around during a musical number.  I probably just don’t want to be able to “see” it, you know? It’s easier to be his friend that way.

 When Steve Herr finished testifying, the defense chose to not ask any cross-examination questions.  That seemed like the smart choice.  Sometimes I feel like Steve might dislike Scott Sanders as much as he does Daniel Wozniak.

Raquel Herr

The next witness up was Sam’s mother, Raquel Herr.

This was the first time the jury would hear from Sam’s mom. Unlike Steve, she wasn’t an actual witness in the criminal case.

Raquel said that even though she had been told she could not have children, she was blessed with her only child when she was 35.  Sam was her “prince,” she told the jury, and while the police and her husband were searching for Sam, her fear and anxiety caused to her to be bedridden for six days.

At one point, the judge had to ask Raquel to slow down for the court reporter.  She apologized to the jury that her emotions and Spanish accent were making her difficult to understand.

Raquel Herr said she has God and her faith, and she doesn’t want to be angry. She wasn’t on the stand for long, but her impact was powerful.

Again, there was no cross-examination by the defense.

Miriam Nortman

After Raquel Herr, her twin sister, Miriam Nortman, took the stand.

Sam’s aunt, the self-proclaimed “firecracker” in the family, was overwrought as she explained how difficult it was to see her sister suffer. She spoke of the joy felt by their entire family when Sam was born. But now Miriam’s own children and grandchildren are a constant reminder of what her poor sister lost when Sam was killed.

Her anger and sadness boiled over as she explained that when she thinks about her nephew being dismembered, it makes her feel like her own arm, leg and head were being cut off.

Again, the defense made the smart choice of not cross-examining the witness.  Why upset these people more, right? There is the stereotype of the ruthless defense attorney who will do anything to free a client, but I just don’t think that is Scott Sanders.  He seems like a guy who just cares a lot about the law and following it to the letter.

The Kibuishi Family

The next group of witnesses would be members of Julie’s family, with Taka Kibuishi, Julie’s older brother, called first.

This is not to belittle Sam’s murder, but just for me personally, the murder of Julie has always been the most heartbreaking in this crime. She just seemed like such a sweet and defenseless innocent.  There really wasn’t a huge age difference between Sam and Julie, but Sam had seen so much of the world and he had faced death before. It’s like he’d at least had the opportunity to live, but she was just getting started.  Also, she was a girl.  Yup, I have a double standard there.  Anyway, Daniel knows that I am particularly sickened by the murder of Julie. I don’t mince words with him.  He knows that I am his friend, but I won’t ever forget why he is where he is.

As you probably all know, Julie had been wearing a princess tiara when she was shot twice in the head.  It’s a small element to the story, but its symbolism is gut-wrenching.  She still lived at home with her parents, she had a Taylor Swift ringtone, and she was wearing a tiara when she was murdered.  Julie was wearing that tiara because her brother Taka had given it to her over dinner.  She had just been asked by Taka and his fiancée to be a bridesmaid in their wedding.

Have you notices that there are a lot of weddings in this story: Taka’s, Miles’ and Rachel and Daniel’s?

Taka continued by saying they’d gone out to a restaurant that evening to celebrate and “everything was great.”  Six months later, when the police returned Julie’s car to her family, they would find the leftover Thai food that had been sitting in it since that dinner.

Taka Kibuishi described the closeness of his family.  He talked about how the two older Kibuishi brothers always looked out for the two younger sisters.  There was help with studying and creating job resumes.  Taka had even grilled Julie about her relationship with Sam, who Julie had insisted was just like another big brother.

Julie Kibuishi was sweet, artistic, talkative and a great dancer.  The arts high school that she’d attended is very close to the Santa Ana courthouse, so the Kibuishi family is constantly reminded of happier times whenever they return to this neighborhood.

I have a personal connection to that arts school.  The kids there are amazing.  After a rigorous academic school day, they spend an extra three hours a day taking classes focused entirely on their artistic discipline.

Taka’s love for his little sister was undeniable as he broke down on the stand, beating himself up for not stopping her from going to Sam’s apartment that fateful night.  “I had so many chances to try to stop her,” he lamented. And Julie’s murder has caused so much stress and grief for this very private family.

His anger flared as he described Daniel Wozniak as a disgusting monster who had disrespected his beautiful sister just to use her as a decoy.

You know the expression, “there wasn’t a dry eye in the house?” Well, there wasn’t. 

The defense did not cross examine this witness either.

At that point, Judge Conley decided to break for the day.

As I watched the jury file out of the courtroom, noticeably moved by Taka’s words, the expression “another nail in the coffin” seemed fitting in describing Daniel’s fate.

Up Next: More Prosecution Witnesses…

In the next post, I’ll continue with the prosecution witnesses and you’ll get to hear the defense’s argument for giving Daniel life without the possibility of parole.

If you haven’t been following the story in the news, Daniel’s sentencing hearing has been re-scheduled for May.  Scott Sanders is filing a brief to have the death penalty removed in Daniel’s case.