Bachmurski Trial: Day 5

DECORAH, Iowa—The fifth day of James Bachmurski's trial began with testimony from multiple defense witnesses, including a private investigator who challenged key prosecution evidence about the alleged timeline. 9:05 a.m. - Samantha Coday was asked by the defense if she had ever identified herself as "Jade from Des Moines." Coday denied using that name and was dismissed. Tim Wiltgen, a former neighbor of James Bachmurski who now lives in Fredericksburg, Iowa, testified next. Wiltgen stated he knew Bachmurski from an apiary interest group and they began working together as a "bee company." Wiltgen said Bachmurski "worked with the bees" and had experience working with queen bees. Wiltgen confirmed that Bachmurski finalized the sale of his farm property in Decorah but stayed on the premises until the closing date, which caused Bachmurski to store items at Wiltgen's property. Wiltgen stated he lent Bachmurski a vehicle due to Bachmurski having "engine troubles" with his own vehicle and last saw this vehicle in the possession of Bryan Bachmurski. Wiltgen described his property as "southeast from Bachmurski's" and confirmed he had been on Bachmurski's property "many times," describing it as "remote." He testified about a box of items left at his property "for safe keeping" with his permission. Wiltgen was then dismissed. 9:20 a.m. - Mary Wiltgen testified that she knew Bachmurski when he was living in Decorah, though she had never lived in Decorah herself. She stated her husband owned a farm in Decorah and she met Bachmurski in summer 2014. She said she sold the honey produced by Tim and Bachmurski's bees. Mary Wiltgen testified she never saw Bachmurski reading or writing and that he would not respond to "long texts," noting they "had to keep texts short" for him to respond. She noted that on a medical trip for her husband, her husband had mentioned an alias of Bachmurski's, "Bob Sage." She stated she had provided assistance to Bachmurski, driving him to medical appointments. Mary Wiltgen was then dismissed. 9:27 a.m. - Investigator Shane Flesher testified. Flesher identified himself as an investigator for the State Public Defender's office in Dubuque, Iowa. Flesher stated that Jade's escape "plan" warranted further investigation and he subpoenaed the Ames Police Department for information regarding the plan. Flesher asserted the plan "cut against the allegations" against Bachmurski. "The plan by Jade is the get away and hide…stay off the computer, stay off of social media…get a new social security number…this was her plan at that time," he stated. Flesher investigated a sighting of Jade in Harvey, Illinois. "Someone had an interaction with a young woman at the Parkview Hotel in Harvey Illinois, the young woman identified herself as 'Jade from Des Moines,'" Flesher stated. The person who identified himself as "Kevin" reported the incident and said the young woman matched Jade's description. Flesher stated he had spoken to Samantha Coday regarding the investigation and investigated phone numbers related to Jade, as well as phone records and GPS coordinates from towers connected to Jade's phones. Flesher described a significant line in the records showing when Jade first arrived in Decorah. He testified that Special Agent Holly Witt had mistakenly identified Jade as having arrived "a day prior" to the date he found in the records. Flesher stated that Jade's phone did not change towers after March 30, the date of Jade's alleged disappearance. Defense Attorney Leigha Lattner asked Flesher about potential suggestive photos or texts transmitted between Jade and Bachmurski. Flesher stated he had found no evidence of anything of that nature. "Many, many photos and texts were deleted…completely unrelated to this case." Lattner asked if Flesher had used AI facial recognition in his investigation. Flesher stated he had used Clearview AI, a software available exclusively to law enforcement agencies. He said he had uploaded images of Jade to Clearview AI and found publicly available photos of Jade. He found multiple possible matches to Jade and investigated each of them, messaging them individually with no responses from any of the profiles pinged in the search. Court was dismissed at 9:50 a.m. for a morning break. 10:05 a.m. - Court resumed at with Flesher's continued testimony. Flesher stated he had been able to search Bachmurski's Google search history and found no searches related to "How to hide a body," "how to clean up blood," or "how to get rid of DNA." The prosecution questioned Flesher about Clearview AI, noting that none of the information retrieved from Clearview resulted in finding Jade. Flesher confirmed this was correct. "I was not able to locate Jade Colvin," Flesher stated. The prosecution asked Flesher about an interview conducted with Kimberly Barta by law enforcement. Flesher stated he was unaware of the interview and noted it "may have been something he overlooked." Flesher testified he was familiar with the information related to Samantha Coday and confirmed that the sighting reported by "Kevin" about Jade was unconfirmed, but did agree with the prosecution's claim that the report was "uncredible." Flesher was asked about Jade's intentions to return from Arizona to Iowa to "reunite with her mother, LaDawn." Flesher acknowledged that LaDawn's intent was to hide Jade from DHS and that it was "fair to say" that Jade wanted nothing to do with DHS. Flesher agreed that Jade had a difficult life "because of her parents" and that her involvement with the foster care system would not have been "easy." Flesher confirmed that Jade was present at the Bachmurski residence for six days. Flesher stated he had never been to the Bachmurski residence and that the residence had "changed so much" by the time he was involved with the case that he judged it unnecessary to visit, relying on overhead photographs of the property. He agreed the location could be considered "remote." Flesher was asked about records regarding Jade's phone in January 2017, confirming that Jade was using the alias "Jenny" and that there were communications between Jade and Bachmurski at this time. He was asked about her social media posts before March 30, 2017. Flesher confirmed there was frequent posting until that date, after which posts ceased. Flesher was then dismissed. With no further submissions from the defense, the jury was dismissed "earlier than expected" at 10:21 a.m. 10:23 a.m. - The Defence asked Judge Laura Parrish to make a record of Bachmurski's decision not to testify on his own behalf. The decision was accepted by Judge Parrish. After "housekeeping" matters were resolved between council, court was dismissed at 10:35 a.m. Court is expected to resume on Tuesday, September 2 at approixmately 9:00 a.m.