~ This was a brutal, senseless, violent murder of two people. We've been together for weeks hearing witness testimony, evidence, the attorneys speaking, and you have received court instructions. But make no mistake, this is not an intellectual exercise. This is not an academic exercise. You have seen all of these witnesses testify, but you will never see Asha Veil or her child because that man over there (**He points at Michael McClish) brutally murdered her. You have had a chance to see why this happened, and who did this. Brandi told us how McClish threatened her by saying if she ever disclosed the affair he would kill her. Words from his own mouth about what he was going to do and how. The pieces of this case reinforce all other pieces. You have seen pictures trying to show why, how, who committed this crime."
**The first slide was a large oval with 4 subjects at respective quarters, starting from the top and going clockwise, "Circumstances of Death," "Relationships," "Cover-Up," and "Science."
Circumstances of Death
Major points:
Attack shows murderous intent.
Small window of death.
"I want you to think about how she was murdered."
Murderous intent:
Two methods of death:
Short range weapons,
It was not an instant death.
Blows to the face.
Defensive wounds.
"Someone put a rope around her neck and choked the life out of her, this was not an instant death."
Small Window of Death:
9-9-2006
Established by:
Phone call (7:42-7:50).
Asha's car being located (9-10-06).
Bug expert.
Stomach contents
"Her last meal was lunch on 9-9-06. Mr. Algrove testified that she ate fried rice and Chinese chicken for lunch, and the autopsy revealed that was all that was in her stomach. **He ate lunch with her, McClish, and a fourth person that day.**
The Body Was Moved
What would you expect to find?
Remote area.
Body dumped.
Valuables left behind.
No sexual assault.
**DAJR addressed how McClish knew the area the body was dumped at.**
Relationship
Major points:
There is a connection.
Explains why he would do it.
Explains subsequent actions.
Relationship exists:
Brandi
Angela
Cemetery/Old County Road
Defendents phone calls
~Between February and May there were 30 phone calls between the Defendant and Asha.~
Defendant's statement:
Statement to Brzozowski
Statement to Wife
**Here DAJR talked about McClish lying to Brzozowski at the start of the investigation, when it was still just a missing persons case. Brzozowski knew McClish had been intimate with Asha (because the pregnancy councilor told him about Asha thinking McClish was the father, and her pursuing DNA testing). McClish lied about it three times in that one interview, pointing the investigation more towards him, and it ended with McClish's excuse of "Well when you drink like I do, sometimes things get hazy, and I get forgetful, etc etc..." when asked why Asha thought he might be the father.**
**His statements to his then-wife Melissa also became a huge factor, as he asked her to lie about his whereabouts on the night of September 9th, before Asha's body was discovered. DAJR repeated several times "only the killer knew the significance of this date, at this time." And "only the killer knew at this point she was dead" when McClish was already running damage control trying to minimize his perceived involvement with Asha AND the area the body was found (he called and canceled the job he previously accepted on Love Creek Road in an attempt to distance himself from the crime scene).**
Pregnancy Councilor
Only shows Asha's intent.
Confrontation.
~The councilor showed Asha's intent to determine the father of her unborn child through DNA Paternity testing. She required 4 samples be tested: Her, child, Richard, McClish. She planned on confronting McClish about the testing and to ask for his sample. This testimony showed Asha's intent to talk to McClish about their affair, and the possibility of him being the father.
Mila's Phone Call
Last call.
Within hours she was dead.
Practice conversation.
~This was the last call made by Asha's cell phone (**Technically it made 3 more calls post-mortem, but they were under 60 seconds and were attempts to check the voicemail. This was the last time SHE made a call**). She practiced her conversation confronting McClish about paternity testing, and possible child support. The conversation ended when Asha said, "here he comes, I have to go."~
**DAJR went over the corroborating video for the time and location of both Asha and McClish at Ben Lomond Market. He displayed these for everyone to see, both of them were in the same photo. It correlates to the time Asha punched out of work perfectly, showing her time card was accurate. Also showed was the last picture ever taken of Asha, she was wearing the backpack that was later found with her belonging in it.**
What was at stake?
One strike rule (Melissa's policy of any affair and she is gone).
Defendant's wife said she would, "take the kids and leave."
Threats to Brandi
"If you tell, certain things will happen to you."
"Your kids wont have a mother."
"No one will find your body"
"Nothing will come between me and my family."
**DAJR called these threats "Prophetic." Used them to allude to the fact that Asha confronted him with paternity testing, which would out his affair and end his marriage, he would lose his family.
**DAJR addressing Jury: "Talking about the threats to Brandi, with them in mind, knowing what we know about Asha's confrontation with McClish, how would it go?"
**DAJR talked about how fortunate we are that her car was found as quickly as it was. And that her body was found AT ALL (Hildenbrand noticed disturbed dirt on the side of a road AND had the curiosity to see what, if anything, was down below) because of the remote area it was finally found in. Which again, reinforced the idea that McClish's threats to Brandi were actually carried out on Asha.
The Meeting Happened
Store Video [**should have been 'Bank Video,' as BLM NEVER provided security footage to the Investigators**].
Call to Mila.
Met on night of murder.
"Asha was dead within hours, it was not a coincidence."
~We know she met with McClish because video puts them both at BLM at the same time. On top of that Asha's call to Mila, and how it ended, further corroborates that they did in fact meet up that night.
Cover Up
Major Points:
All before body found.
Only killer would know.
If Defendant wasn't involved he would not be doing this.
September 9, 2006.
7:00 Michael McClish tells his wife Melissa he will be gone 5 minutes.
7:34 Defendant and Asha together on surveillance video.
7:34 Asha clocks out of work.
7:36 Asha walking out of BLM with her backpack on, last photo ever taken of her.
7:42 Asha calls Mila, 8.5 min conversation.
7:57 Defendant calls home and lies to his wife.
8:30 Defendant checks voicemail.
8:48 Defendant calls home
9:00 Defendant arrives home.
Lies at the time of murder
Lies to his wife.
Yard work and motion lights.
**McClish lied to his wife about working at the Glen Arbor property under motion lights. There were, are, nor have there ever been any motion lights at that property, as we heard during the testimony of the owner.**
Right after murder
Within 13 hours of the murder he is at the dump.
Missing tarp.
**A lot of the evidence on its own does not show guilt. Together, as DAJR has described, it is like a textbook murder, and each piece of evidence supports the others. The first thing you, I, or anyone with an IQ above 12 that is arrogant enough to kill someone would do is get rid of the evidence. Be it the murder weapon, a tarp you wrapped the body in, or the vehicle used to dump the body, the murderer will try and erase anything that links their involvement to the crime. McClish's suspicious behavior after September 9th can all be explained by deducing he is the killer. Of course you would wash the hat and clothes you wore that night you killed So and So, even though your home is literally COVERED in dirty laundry, those things must be washed IMMEDIATELY. Of course you would go to the dump the morning after to get rid of evidence. Of course you would talk to two of the girls you were having affairs with and ask them [and lets be honest, I sincerely doubt he 'asked' them, it was probably akin to a loan shark 'asking' for his money back] to lie to the Police about you seeing the Murder-e outside of work, in isolated areas. Of course you would wash your truck, that truck you never washed in 9 years of marriage, 4 times in 3 days.**
**The Defense will say that the tarp material particles found on Asha were never matched to a tarp in McClish's possession, even though the same particles were found in his truck cab. The Defense will say that the Prosecution never found the murder weapon. The Defense will say that because of this, McClish obviously wasn't the killer. But let us again be honest with ourselves, it only proves he managed to get rid of them. Because of his behavior we have already had it proven that he was distancing himself from this murder investigation before it was a murder investigation. Getting rid of the murder weapon is priority #1, followed by anything the body came into contact with (hi, tarp). Next you would want to clean. I don't know why, but McClish chose to clean what he wore when he killed Asha instead of getting rid of it, and then cleaned the outside of his truck frivolously. Just to reiterate, not finding the tarp or murder weapon does not show innocence, just the ability to throw away 2 items no one at the dump would ever question.
Acting different:
Melissa described McClish as different following September 9, 2006.
Angela described McClish as different following September 9, 2006.
**Most of this was covered in the above. But DAJR went into the emotions expressed by McClish to Melissa during this time, describing him as emotionally needy, touchy, etc.**
The Store Interview
Minimizes connection with Asha.
Admits he is the potential father.
**Mostly addressed above, he did everything he could, including asking others to engage in Perjury on his behalf, a Felony crime in the US that holds a prison sentence up to 5 years. And going back to Brzozowski's problems interviewing him where he lied multiple times about being intimate with Asha, correcting himself in the end by stating that he was a sloppy, forgetful drunk.
After the Store Interview:
No one knows she is dead.
Asks wife to lie.
Asks for specific alibi.
Eliminating opportunity.
**I have stated this before on Topix as well as this blog. The fact that McClish knew the significance of the night of September 9th, 2006, before Asha's body was even found, is evidence enough to point the investigation square at him. Only the killer knew she was dead at that time. Only the killer knew she died September 9th. And the NIGHT of September 9th is the only date McClish asking for cover. DAJR said, and I quote "actions of a guilty man, a murderer, THE murderer."
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