Published: March 29, 2006 08:25 pm         

Prosecution attorney presents complete case

CHICKASHA — The prosecution in State vs. Steven Wilson continued to point to the facts in the second half of their case in November 1982. Drawing testimony from OSBI specialists, Tuttle and Grady County officers, Steven Wilson’s aunt, and Audra’s teacher, the prosecution strove to prove the guilt of Steven Wilson in the murder of his stepdaughter, 11-year-old Audra Matheny. The prosecution also put Linda Wilson on the stand for testimony. As the wife of Steve Wilson and the mother of Audra Matheny, Linda Wilson was a close as anyone could be to the case.

The second half of testimony for the prosecution began on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 9 a.m. with the calling of state witness Jerry Peters.



Jerry Peters

Jerry Peters, a crime scene specialist with the OSBI, went to the Wilson home at about 5:30 p.m. on May 12, drew an interior sketch and layout of the home, took several photographs, and bagged up evidence.

District Attorney Tony Burns asked Peters to identify the various photographs he took at the scene, which were then passed through the jury box. Peters also testified that he did not see any signs of forcible entry.

Ken Johnston, defense attorney, asked Peters if he had a search warrant for the Wilson home, and Peters told him that he checked with the Tuttle police, and they told him he was cleared to process the house.

One of Peters’ specialties was fingerprints, and Johnston asked him if the OSBI had tried to lift any fingerprints at the home.

“When we got to the scene, we did not find any signs of any type of a struggle, a forced entry,” Peters said. “We were also advised that the defendant lived at the residence, which, under that condition we felt fingerprints would probably not be of any value.”

Both Burns and Johnston asked questions about a yellow towel taken as evidence that turned out to have a single sperm cell on it. Peters said the towel and underwear taken as evidence were found in the master bedroom, but Johnston pointed out a photograph of the southeast bedroom, and Peters’ handwritten list that stated he got the pillow and green towel on the floor next to Audra’s bed. Johnston asked Peters if the towel in the photograph was actually green, and Johnston said the color wasn’t good in the photo, and he couldn’t tell for sure.

“The color is bad,” he said. “I don’t know, sir. I’ve got it documented as a green towel; it may be what it is.”



Gerald Massey

Gerald Massey was a sergeant with the Tuttle Police Department at the time of Audra’s death. Massey was called to the scene by Kevin Coder and asked to take photographs of the scene. Massey testified that he took four Polaroid snapshots at the scene, but one did not fully develop and was thrown away.

He also testified to the behavior of Steve Wilson that day.

“Mr. Wilson did not show an extreme amount of emotion,” he said. “He seemed to - or from what I observed, he was walking around the room. Said very little. Did not break out in any heavy emotions. At the time of arrest, again Mr. Wilson did not break into any emotional state. He was very calm. He just stood there and went ahead and listened to his rights and then was transported.”

Massey said that he also checked the exterior of the home for signs of forcible entry, and could find nothing.

Later that day, Massey returned to the home with Coder and read Wilson his Miranda rights at the time of his arrest. Massey said that Wilson told him he understood those rights.

Massey remained at the home after Coder and Wilson left, maintaining the chain of evidence for the OSBI. He stayed there until Officer Anderson returned to relieve him.

On cross-examination, Johnston asked Massey if Wilson’s behavior that day could have been attributed to shock, and Massey said it could.

He also asked about the fourth photograph, and Massey explained that the department had been having trouble with the camera.



Kevin Coder

Tuttle Chief of Police Kevin Coder’s first appearance before the jury covered what the police found that morning at the Wilson home, and Audra’s appearance.

Wilson told Coder what had happened the night before, how they had watched the movie and Audra had been ill. Coder agreed that Wilson had seemed to be in a state of shock, although he did remember the one emotional outburst Anderson recalled.

“I can only briefly recall one time when he went outside kind of in a rage,” Coder said. “I don’t know if it was because of the death of his daughter or because he was afraid what his wife would think or what Linda would do.”

Coder told the court about his contact that morning with Linda Wilson and her father, and how Mrs. Wilson told him at one point that day that police could search the house or take whatever they needed in their investigation.

Coder said that it was shortly before 1 p.m. that day when the state medical examiner’s office called and told him they definitely felt it was rape, and he returned to the house to arrest Wilson. That was when Wilson was taken to Grady County Jail and booked in, then taken to the district attorney’s office for questioning.

When asked by Tony Burns, Coder said that Wilson told them that he did not lock the doors to the house that night, but he did not normally lock the doors.

After the interview, Coder said, Wilson was taken to the hospital so doctors could take samples of his blood and body hair. At that time, Coder said Wilson told him something that seemed to go against his own testimony.

“He appeared not to be talking directly to me, but just kind of to himself,” Coder said. “And he made the statement of trying to help - he didn’t understand this. He said, ‘I tried to help Audra breathe. You know, I don’t understand all of this.’”

Coder also looked through photographs that he had taken at the home on May 13, and testified that the towel in Audra’s room was green, not yellow, making it a different towel than the one found with the sperm cell in the master bedroom.

Johnston asked Coder about discrepancies in Wilson’s statements at the preliminary hearing and the initial interview at the D.A.’s office, and Coder said the only one was that in the D.A.’s office, Wilson said he went to check on Audra when she was choking, and met her in the hallway. At another point in his testimony, Coder said that while they were at Grady Memorial Hospital, Wilson had said that he even went into Audra’s bedroom when she was coughing.

In subsequent interviews, Coder said, Wilson denied having gotten up to talk to Audra, but said that he only heard her coughing and gagging.

Ken Johnston also asked Coder several questions about his status with the city of Tuttle, and why he was under suspension from his position as chief of police. Coder also testified that none of the screens in the home were torn or had holes in them.

Wilson’s cleaning of his home after Audra’s body was removed was also a subject for Johnston. He asked Coder if Wilson had asked if he could clean the house. Coder said that Wilson had not, although he had said that he needed to clean it before his extended family arrived. Coder said he hadn’t actually seen Wilson clean the house, although he was aware that the man was planning to clean it.

“Let me ask you this, then,” said the attorney. “Mr. Coder, when he made the statement to you - even though you didn’t see him cleaning up the house - did you say, ‘Mr. Wilson, I want you to leave this house alone. I don’t want you to clean it up.’ Did you make that statement to him at any time?”

Coder said that he had not; he had only told his officers to not let anything be removed from the house.



Terry Cunningham

Terry Cunningham, a deputy sheriff in Grady County, first met Steven Wilson at about 3 p.m. on the afternoon of Wilson’s arrest. Cunningham was present when Wilson was booked into Grady County Jail. Cunningham was also present during Wilson’s initial interview, and Cunningham testified that Wilson was advised of his Miranda rights at that time and signed a rights waiver.

After the interview at the D.A.’s office, Cunningham said, he went with Kevin Coder and Steven Wilson to Grady Memorial. Cunningham said that contrary to Wilson’s testimony, the man was not left alone in the examination room.

“It was myself in there with him some and then Kevin [Coder] in there with him some and sometimes we were in there together,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham also testified as to Wilson’s first days in jail. Wilson was booked on a Wednesday, but did not go before a judge until Friday afternoon. Wilson was not allowed any visitors during that week, as visitors were only admitted on Tuesdays at the jail. He did not use the phone; the jail did not allow incoming calls and outgoing calls were only allowed on Fridays. Only inmates who had been in the jail for a week or so were allowed to make those outgoing calls, Cunningham said, although Wilson would have been given a phone anytime to call his attorney.

Cunningham said that Steven Wilson never asked him for an attorney, nor did he ask to use the telephone.



Mary Hutzel

Mary Alice Hutzel never imagined she would be called to testify in a murder trial. Hutzel, an Oklahoma City resident, was the aunt of Steven Wilson; her sister is Wilson’s mother.

In May 1982, Mary Hutzel was helping to organize a family reunion, and she made several phone calls to the Wilson home on May 11 - the day Audra died. The last call Hutzel made was at 9:30 p.m.

Steve Wilson had answered the phone, and Mary Hutzel gave him another nephew’s phone number so Wilson could call him and invite him to the reunion. The reunion was supposed to be held at the Wilson home.

“When I called back at 9:30 to give him my nephew’s telephone number, he called out to Audra to get a paper and pencil and write down the telephone number,” Hutzel said.

Hutzel testified that she didn’t actually hear Audra responding, but she wasn’t paying close attention, since she was in a hurry.

Tony Burns asked Hutzel to testify as to what Wilson had said regarding his wife, Linda, in an earlier call.

“I had talked to him - this wasn’t that night. It was another night I had talked to him, and I was calling to see if Linda had got back yet,” Hutzel said. “I was going to talk to her about a job and - where I was working, but he said that Linda hadn’t come back yet. But he said that him and the kids were getting along just fine and it didn’t bother him because Linda didn’t make it back. She had missed her flight, and he said, ‘I have a woman in the house, anyway,’ and I thought he was kidding with me and I said, ‘Who?’ and he said, ‘Audra.’ And I just - I didn’t think anything about it. I just thought - because he cut up and kidded with me all the time, and I just thought he was kidding with me.”

On cross-examination, Ken Johnston asked Hutzel how she knew Audra had actually written the phone number down. Hutzel told him that chief Kevin Coder told her the note with the phone number had been found - in Audra’s handwriting.

Hutzel also told Johnston that to her knowledge, Steve Wilson was kind to his children.

“He was very good to them,” she said. “He was like a real father to both the children. And he showed that he loved them.”



Denise Wood

Denise Wood, Audra Matheny’s fifth grade teacher, was the next person called to the witness stand. Wood testified that from the time Audra started school at Tuttle in October 1981, she enjoyed her classes.

“She was a good student,” Wood said. “She was very intelligent. She was hard worker.”

Wood told the courtroom that on Monday, May 10, the fifth graders had enjoyed their annual picnic at Schrock Park. Wood, who was only in her second year of teaching, had played softball with her students, including Audra. Wood said that Audra’s health seemed good that day.

“She was normal compared to...other children,” Wood said. “She played just like they did. She was active. We played softball and I couldn’t see any health problems. She had a real good time.”

Wood said that she didn’t notice any marks, bruises or anything like that on Audra’s face on May 10, and she was right up with Audra, showing her how to use a bat to hit the ball.

Tony Burns showed Wood photographs taken after Audra’s death and asked her to look at the bruising and cuts on Audra’s face. Wood testified that those marks were not there on May 10.

Wood said that Audra did not show any signs of illness that Monday. That was the last time she saw her.



Linda Wilson

Linda Wilson, the mother of the deceased and the wife of the accused, took the stand after Denise Wood.

Linda Wilson told the courtroom that she and Steven Wilson married on May 15, 1976 and Audra was buried on May 15, 1982 - five years to the day apart. The Wilsons had one child together, Sean, who was born in 1977.

Linda Wilson had been in California for about 10 days, she testified, when she was notified of Audra’s death. She had flown to California from Tinker Airforce Base on a military flight. As an airforce reservist, she was entitled to fly for free.

“I went to California because we have some real estate - we had some real estate property there,” Linda Wilson said. “We had a house. We were about to lose the house because they were going to foreclose on it for nonpayment and I decided to go out there and go to some different real estate people and see if we can just get the best price possible and sell it, so we wouldn’t completely lose it, and that was the reason I went to California.”

She said that she went to California instead of her husband because he was trying to get a business started in Tuttle.

“I had nothing to do. I could just go,” she said. “It was easy for me to just fly out there. It didn’t cost me anything.” She also was going for basic training in June, and was looking forward to seeing her parents and other relatives before she had to go.

She was supposed to come home after a few days, but the military flight was canceled. She said she called Wilson and asked if she should buy a plane ticket to come home, but he told her everything was fine and to wait for the next military flight and fly home for free.

Upon further questioning, Linda Wilson confirmed that she had given Kevin Coder permission to search and remove items from her home, and that Audra was a healthy little girl who only occasionally got colds. She attributed Audra’s earlier absences from school to colds and one sore throat.

Tony Burns asked how Audra felt about going to school.

“Actually, she loved school and she wanted to go,” Linda Wilson said. “I remember one morning that I - I didn’t think she should go because she was upset because her hamster died and she said, ‘No, Mommy, I would rather go to school because I would rather be at school.”

Linda Wilson testified that Steve Wilson was a good parent.

“I felt he was a good father to her,” she said. “There were times when I felt he was too strict and he would say I was overprotective, but as a whole, I believe he was a good father to her. To my knowledge, he was.”

She also testified, amid numerous objections from the defense, to changes in the couples sexual habits prior to Audra’s death.

“Well, Steve and I had some marital problems,” she said. “I don’t know; he seemed to want sex more than I thought was normal. I felt that he was unreasonable about that sometimes during those months.” She said that sex seemed more important to Wilson in the six to eight week period before Audra’s death than ever before in the five years they were married.

Linda Wilson also testified that the family’s home was locked at night as a rule, flying in the face of testimony Steve Wilson had given.

During cross examination, Ken Johnston talked with Linda Wilson about their marriage, Wilson’s time in the armed forces, their jobs and Wilson’s fledgling grave liner business. He also questioned her about the fact that Audra had once had pneumonia and developed a spot on her lung, although Linda Wilson said it had been two or three years before her death.

Johnston’s next line of questions concerned the next-door neighbors of the Wilsons - a man named Mike, his girlfriend, Carolyn Stewart, and her daughter, Patty. Patty was a friend of Audra’s, and the two played at each other’s houses, although Linda Wilson said she preferred Audra’s friends come to the Wilson home.

Linda Wilson testified that it was her understanding that Mike had been convicted of murder at some point, and that Mike himself told her he had shot someone. She also said that Patty had once been given a key to the Wilson home to come in and take care of the family’s animals while the Wilsons were on a trip to California.

On redirect, Tony Burns asked if Audra and Wilson used the same bathtub or shower for their separate baths. Linda Wilson told him that no, Wilson always took showers - never using the bathtub. Her testimony went against Wilson’s statement that his pubic hairs might be on Audra because they bathed in the same bathtub.



Anne Reid

Anne Reid was a criminalist with the OSBI in 1982. Her job was to perform analysis on evidence, then testify the results to the court. Reid tested hair, blood and body samples from Audra Matheny and Steve Wilson, along with bedding, towels and articles of clothing from the Wilson home.

Reid testified about the hairs found on Audra Matheny and in her bed, and confirmed that several of them had characteristics similar to Wilson’s. Transitional hairs, or hairs from the inside of the upper thigh, were found on Audra that matched Steve Wilson’s hair. Public hairs that were similar to Wilson’s were found on her pajama bottoms and on Audra’s underwear. The trial pre-dated DNA evidence, and similar characteristics were as close as could be determined at the time.

Wilson would argue that his hairs were found on Audra because they shared a house, used the same restroom, and watched television from the master bedroom together as a family. However, 4-year-old Sean Wilson’s hair was also taken for matching, and none of the boy’s hair was found anywhere on Audra.

Tony Burns asked Reid specific questions about the testing of hair, and she said that hair is not like a fingerprint, and cannot give an exact match.

“I can’t identify a person by hair comparison,” she said. “That is, I can say that hairs are microscopically consistent. If they’re consistent in all microscopic characteristics...they could have the same source. I cannot say that they do have the same source. There is no way I can do that.”

Reid did say, however, that she had even compared hairs from identical twins and been able to distinguish them from each other.

Reid also found that samples taken during an internal examination of Audra’s body showed acid phosphatase and choline, which are substances characteristic of seminal fluid. Choline only occurs in males, Reid testified. Blood on Audra’s clothing was determined to be antigen A, which matched Wilson’s type - but not Audra’s.

“I know of no other substance that has both of those chemical substances,” Reid said. “The acid phosphate and the choline. The only thing I know of that has them in that high of concentration and both of them present is seminal fluid.”

Reid also testified that she found a single sperm cell on a yellow towel. The sperm cell had antigen activity of A and H, which matched Wilson’s type. Although not as accurate as DNA testing, the type matching showed the sperm cell was consistent with Wilson’s body fluids.

Reid said that she found a dark wool fiber on Audra’s underwear that she examined microscopically. A second dark wool fiber was discovered on a pair of men’s underwear recovered from the home. Those underwear also contained a substance characteristic of seminal fluid, with antigen activity of A and H.

During cross examination, Reid testified that people living in the same house together can have each other’s hair on them.

“It’s possible,” she said. “Hairs do fall out at different times.”

Under questioning from Ken Johnston, Reid testified that one pubic hair and one head hair were found that did not share characteristics with any of the samples given to her for comparison. Those samples included hairs from Steve Wilson, Sean Wilson, Audra Matheny and Dr. Elaine Soter. The hairs were found on a pillow.

During redirect, Tony Burns asked Reid if she had been given hair samples from Linda Wilson, and she said she had not.

On recross, Ken Johnston brought up the yellow bath towel, and the sperm cell found within it. He confirmed that the towel was collected by officers on May 12, but was not analyzed by Reid until May 20.



The prosecution rests

Reid was the last new witness to take the stand for the prosecution. Following a short recall of witness Jerry Peters and a meeting with Linda Wilson in the judge’s chambers, the prosecution rested their case.

Next week, the Tuttle Times will continue coverage of the Audra Matheny murder case with the defense’s portion of the trial.

The Times will complete its coverage after the April parole hearing of Steven Wilson.