PORT TOWNSEND — The case against accused double-murderer Michael J. Pierce escalated Tuesday.
Jurors saw what the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said were photos of Pierce on March 18 getting $300 in ATM cash at the US Bank branch in Quilcene with the stolen debit card of Patrick and Janice Yarr, who had been brutally slain just hours earlier.
Prosecutors say the Yarrs’ Boulton Farm Road farmhouse in Quilcene was set ablaze to cover up the fact each was shot in the head and that such items as their debit card and the high-powered rifle used to shoot them were stolen.
County Sheriff’s Detective Mark Apeland said he matched the image on the ATM surveillance video with Pierce’s driver’s license photo and other photographs of Pierce.
“At that point, I was confident the person in the video was Mr. Pierce,” Apeland testified.
But county Public Defender Richard Davies, representing Pierce, 35, suggested the photos were inconclusive and the video that recorded them was suspect.
The photos depicted a man “who seems rather large in the picture,” Davies said, referring to Pierce and noting the time-and-date stamp in the photo said the year was 2001 instead of 2009, which Davies called “a rather large glitch.”
Spectators could not see the photos because the rear of the projection screen faced them.
Testimony before the nine-man, three-woman jury resumes today at 9 a.m. in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser at the Jefferson County Courthouse, 820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.
Nine witnesses testified Tuesday in the third day of the trial, which is expected to last about three more weeks and could end up with Pierce, of Sequim and Quilcene, receiving a life sentence for crimes including robbery, burglary, theft, possession of a stolen weapon — and the murders of Patrick Yarr, 60, and his wife, Janice, 57.
Much of their testimony concerned the search for DNA evidence, such as clothing found in a large trash container at Pierce’s Sequim residence, bullet fragments found at the Yarrs’ farmhouse and a knife block that belonged to the Yarrs, which authorities discovered in Pierce’s girlfriend’s Honda.
Authorities found the knife block on March 29, a day after Pierce, a Peninsula College student, was arrested for investigation of theft and possession of the debit card.
Forensic scientist Greg Frank of the State Patrol Crime Lab said there appeared to be a “mixture” of DNA on the knife block.
“It does appear there could be DNA from Mr. Pierce in the mixture,” Frank said.
Jurors also saw bloody photos of the Yarrs. There was one picture that Verser said outside the presence of the jury that he would not allow the jury to see.
Calling depictions “gruesome,” Verser said, “enough is enough,” and added its addition to the pile might “evoke prejudice” on the jury against Pierce.
Firearms expert Kathy Geil of the State Patrol Crime Lab said the bullet fragments found in Yarrs’ home could have come from several different brands of .25-06 rifles.
In addition, forensic scientist Frank said no blood was found in tests of clothing found in the trash container or on the knife block found in the Honda.
Frank also tested for the presence of DNA of the Yarrs, Pierce, and, he said, of Tommy Boyd of Quilcene.
Thomas Harry Boyd of Quilcene is listed on county Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Scott Rosencrans’ witness list, and Pierce has indicated to authorities that Boyd may be involved in the killings, Joe Nole, chief criminal deputy and a detective with the Sheriff’s Office, testified Monday.
Frank tested clothing that Pierce’s Sequim neighbor, Bill Dickie, told authorities he had seen Pierce deposit in the trash container.
Dickie approached them as they searched the Sequim home of Pierce and his girlfriend.
“There was a buzz going through the [trailer] park about what might have happened,” Dickie testified.
No blood was found in the sopping wet T-shirt and socks discovered the trash container, Frank said.
Metal fragments found in the floor at the Yarrs’ home had James Yarrs’ DNA, he said.
There was no presence at all of Tommy Boyd’s DNA in any of the samples Frank tested, Frank said.
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Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.
