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“Fire away.”
He took pictures of the mortal wounds on both bodies.
“You can see the cut right there on her neck. Same angle, only it came on a downward stroke,” said Till.
“Looks like a deep bruise on her left cheek,” said DuBose.
“It is. Probably during the struggle. Room was a real mess.”
“I saw no injuries on Jerome, other than what the deputy did to him,” Jack said.
“He’s a big, strong young man and the Randolphs were old. They had no chance.”
“So did Leslie Randolph have bruises or other injuries that would show he’d been in a struggle?” asked DuBose.
“No, nothing like that.” Till slid the drawers closed.
“And Jerome Washington’s footprints were the only ones there?” said Jack.
“Other than the deputies’. Let me show you.” Till opened a file drawer and pulled out some photos. “That’s your client. His shoes, his footprints.”
Jack looked at a couple of the pictures and said, “And these are from where he was kneeling beside Mrs. Randolph as he lifted her into the chair?”
“I don’t know about him lifting her, but they match his shoe soles.”
“Lot of places where the blood spatter is all mashed together,” said DuBose.
“Well, they were struggling, like I said,” noted Till. “In fact, it smeared the Randolphs’ footprints completely. Couldn’t find a one of them in the blood.”
“But how long could they really struggle?” asked DuBose pointedly. “Like you said, they were old, and Jerome is a big, strong man.”
Till shrugged. “Don’t know. I wasn’t there. All I can do is look at the evidence.”
“Do you have Jerome’s clothes here?” asked DuBose.
“Yes, ma’am. Over in that closet.”
They took a look at them.
Jack said, “There are no bloodstains on his pants or shirt. How is that possible if blood was flying all over the place?”
“He cut their carotids for sure. But if the blow caused them to face away from him, the blood spatter might’ve missed him.”
“He said he tried to lift Mr. Randolph into his chair and did lift his wife. I’m assuming their clothes were covered in blood?”
“Oh yes, they sure were,” replied Till.
“Then how did he not get blood on him?”
“Well, he said he put her in the chair.”
“But she was found in the chair,” said DuBose.
Till scratched his ear. “Well, after she was struck she could have just fallen into the chair, or she was attacked there in the first place. That might also account for the angle the weapon hit her from.”
“Does the evidence show that was actually possible?” DuBose asked.
“Well, I don’t think it shows it was impossible.”
