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State v. Lackey9/30/2005
ficer.
Although also deceased at the time of trial, Reverend George Knight told investigating officers in 1982 that he recalled that the defendant had returned to the Mission around 10 or 11 p.m. on December 11, 1982. Knight smelled alcohol on his breath but did not say anything. Knight went home and assumed the defendant was going to bed. When Knight arrived the next morning at 7:30, he was surprised to discover the defendant and his personal belongings were gone. A pair of men's underwear was subsequently found underneath the defendant's bed at the Mission.
Czarnowski returned to Salina either on the following Sunday or Monday, December 12 or 13, 1982. He recalled stopping by S.B.'s residence to see her, but she was not home. He could not recall if he went inside. Czarnowski returned to the residence the next several days looking for S.B., spoke with her neighbors, and looked for her at the Mission and several taverns. He spoke with Mark Foster indicating he was worried that she might have gone somewhere with the defendant because he would be able to take her out of the state. Czarnowski spent several nights at the trailer during the week, but he did not remember doing any housekeeping or picking up or opening of S.B.'s mail during this time. He did not go into the back bedroom that was used for storage.
By Friday, December 17, 1982, Czarnowski concluded that S.B. had left, and he decided that he was going to move his belongings out of her mobile home. He spent that night in the front bedroom and his friend Duane Newirth slept in the living room. While moving his belongings the next morning, Czarnowski discovered S.B.'s body in the closet of the back bedroom when he was looking for a stereo speaker. Czarnowski and his friend called the police.
At 12:55 p.m. on December 18, 1982, Salina police officers responded to the scene and discovered S.B.'s body in the closet of the back bedroom. S.B. was wearing socks and underwear and her jeans were pulled down around her ankles. She had noticeable bruising around her neck. Several items were blocking the closet doors where she was found.
Dr. Erik Mitchell and Officer Joseph Garman testified that the higher the temperature, the faster the decaying of a body process occurs. Although the thermostat was set at 80 degrees in the mobile home, Officer Garman did not smell the odor of a decaying body. However, there was a cold air return vent in the floor of the closet where the body was found. Officer Garman turned the thermostat down to 68 degrees to prevent the body from decaying.
Saline County Coroner Dr. David Clark arrived at the scene and made arrangements for an autopsy. Based on his observations at the scene, Dr. Clark opined that S.B. had died of strangulation and had been dead 6 to 8 days. Dr. William Eckert, who was deceased at the time of trial, performed the autopsy on December 20, 1982, and prepared a report. The State's expert, Dr. Mitchell, reviewed Dr. Eckert's report in conjunction with other evidence from the scene and over a hearsay objection testified that the cause of death was strangulation and that the death had occurred at least 1 or 2 days prior to the body's discovery, but the maximum time could have been considerably longer.
Officers found two pieces of paper on the kitchen wall which contained the names Bob Walston and Jim Hemmy (her landlord) and the telephone numbers for the tavern and a cab company. Several other papers and letters were collected from the scene, including an empty envelope addressed to S.B. and postmarked December 13, 1982, from Lincolnville. A small unopened envelope was also found in the residence which was postmarked "Fort Scott, Kansas, De
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