The second day of the murder trial of Porter Township resident Karen Sons in the Porter County Superior Court of Judge Michael Fish saw forensic pathologist Dr. John Feczko emphatically deeming victim Robert Head’s 2017 death a homicide.
Feczko was the first witness to take the stand Wednesday morning in the trial against Head’s live-in girlfriend and said the entry of the bullet from the upper back left of Head’s skull left no question as to how his death should be classified.
“But rather, it seems to me, this is the crown of his head,” said Sons’s defense attorney Jesse Harper as he was questioning Feczko and referencing a photograph of the entry wound.
“In this case it was 100% from behind entry wound,” Feczko insisted regarding findings of the autopsy he performed on Dec. 11, 2017, one day after Sons reported Head’s death to Portage Police.
Sons and Head were 55 and 54 years old respectively and living together at Sons’s home at 14 California Ave. in Lake Eliza at the time of his death.
Sons waived her rights and in an interview with police stated that Head was drinking and upset and threatened to kill her and himself. She said he was in possession of a .22 Colt pistol she had never seen before so she grabbed her .22 caliber rifle.
Sons told police Head pointed the pistol at her so she pointed her rifle at him, heard a click, and shot him. Porter County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Armando Salinas said she also told police Head dropped to the floor and died in the open-concept living room/kitchen area.
Detective Sgt. Nathan Graf of the Porter County Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene around 4 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2017 and gave extensive testimony following Feczko Wednesday morning of how he and his three fellow evidence technicians found the home and the victim.
“The condition of the home was very poor,” he said, noting there were multiple stains, dirt, and filth everywhere, as well as a large hole in the kitchen ceiling.
Photos of 18 reddish-brown stains on the floors of the living room, kitchen, hallway, and northeast bedroom where police found Head were shown, as well as a second bedroom where firearms were found under the bed. Graf said four of the blood stains were swabbed and a presumptive blood test came back positive. Other samples from three separate wall locations tested negative.
Graf testified that Head was found just inside the door of the northeast bedroom on his back on a plastic shower curtain with a blanket and jacket covering his body and an orange stocking cap so loosely on his head that it would have fallen off easily if his body was bumped. “Later, upon examining the hat, there were no holes or tears in it,” Graf said.
Head’s right shoe was fully on his foot, but untied, while the left shoe was tied, but slipping off the heel, Graf testified. He said a Colt Match Target .22 long pistol was lying next to Head’s right hand with the safety in the off position and a cartridge in the chamber. An unfired .22 long rifle with a cartridge in the chamber was found propped up against a dresser near the bedroom door.
The shower curtain and hat were soaked with blood, as were a towel, washcloths, socks, and paper towel found in the kitchen trash. The blanket and jacket draped over Head when he was discovered by police also had reddish-brown stains on them.
Testimony regarding DNA is expected throughout the rest of the week, and the trial is expected to run at least into next week.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
