Melissa 'McClish'

PROSECUTION:
Tell us about the area you grew up in?
San Lorenzo Valley. I went to SLV High and graduated in 1997.

Where was your first job?
Ben Lomond Market, at 16 years old.


When did you start there?
February 1995.


Did you meet Mike McClish at Ben Lomond Market?
Yes, sometime in May.


Junior year you worked there?
Yes.


When is your birthday?
 February 24, 1979.

How much older is Michael McClish than you?
9.5 years.


What was his position at BLM at that time?
I think he was the manager of the bakery.


Your relationship transformed into a romantic relationship?
Yes, Junior year of high school. We dated all through my Senior year.

Did you quit working at Ben Lomond Market, and why?
Yes I did, I was sick, I had mono. I quit my Junior year of high school.

Can you tell me about your children?
Oldest boy was born August of 98. Second boy was 11/16/2000 and our daughter was born September 5, 2002.


Did you ever work after you had children?
I tried [note here I was watching Mike during this question, and much of this testimony, at this point his eyebrows were raised about as far up his forehead as possible, clearly perplexed]. My ideas for work were never met with enthusiasm, so I never had a job after I had the children.


Did your husband do any side jobs?
Yes, he did yard maintenance, wood chopping, things of that nature.


Did you know the locations of these side jobs?
Yes. [gave the location of the Glen Arbor work site: House denoted by a hanging sawblade, as well as the Felton Cemetery].

Can you tell me about the Felton Cemetery job? Was it a short one?
No, it was a long running job because there was no rush to take care of it all, some trees had fallen and needed to be chopped into burnable wood and removed from the property. He took his time doing this job, doing it here and there when he had a few spare hours. It lasted several months.


Can you tell me about his drinking habits up until March 5, 2006?
On weekends he would drink all day long. Everyday after work he would drink. Occasionally before work he would pour hard alcohol into his coffee. And he had told me about doing shots of alcohol in his car during work breaks before returning to work. He would use a log splitter, axe, and chainsaw while intoxicated.

Did you ever voice concern about his drinking while working, or while operating machinery?
Yes.

What was your home phone number in September of 2006?
[given]

And your cell phone?
[given]

And your husband's phone number?
[given]


What cars did your family own in 2006?
We had 2, a red winstar minivan and a blue and white Ford truck. It was a work truck, heavily dented, dinged, etc.


When your husband did side jobs, what car would he use?
His work truck.


Did his drinking change?
Yes, he got a DUI on March, I think the 5th, his behavior changed completely. He stopped drinking. He was very diligent about letting me know where he was at all times.


Was that a big change from his normal bahavior?
Yes, completely different, "a 180."

Did you two ever talk about infedility?
Yes, I explained I had a one strike you are out policy. If he was caught being unfaithful I would take the kids and be gone.


Was this said in a serious maner?
Yes, I was serious about cheating.

Did you know Brandy Johnson?
Yes.


Before September 2006?
No.

Was she over often?
Everyday.

Did you ever see Michael McClish overtly sexual with her?
No. I mean they would have tickle matches though. **Hint here for the ladies, if your man is over 30 and has a tickle match with anyone of the opposite sex other than his significant other, yeah that's not normal.**


So she was over a lot?
Yes, I questioned it, her being over all the time, Mike told me to be nice.


He came to her defense?
Yes.

Did you ever watch after her kids?
Yes, I was paid to watcher her youngest, but I stopped after a few months?

Did either of them tell you about their affair?
No.


Can you describe Michael's behavior after the DUI?
He almost never didn't pick up his phone. But if he didn't he would call back immediately.

Did you ever call Ben Lomond Market to find out he wasn't there?
Yes, I was surprised, it was late afternoon.

From his DUI in March to September can you describe your marriage?
It was the best 6 months of our marriage **This got a big smile from Michael McClish**


September 9, 2006, a Saturday, can you tell me if Michael worked?
Yes, from 5:00AM to about 5:30PM.

Did he come home from work?
He came back from dinner around 5:00.


Describe what he did after that on September 9th please?
He finished dinner, and went outside the house, to the front yard to split wood.


Ben Lomond Market was a big part of your shared life?
Yes.

Did you or he know the owners?
Yes, since Michael was 6 years old he knew them.

The evening of September 9th, did Michael McClish leave the house?
He came in to say he was leaving for Ben Lomond Market to pick up water.

Did he say how long he would be? And what time did he leave?
He said he would be right back, maybe 5 minutes. 7:00pm.


Was he right back?
No.


Did you call him that night?
Yes I called him first about 30 minutes after he left, it went to voicemail and I said I was putting the kids to bed and that he should come say goodnight. I called again to say the kids were in bed and asleep, around 7:45.

Where did you call from?
 The house phone.

Did you leave a message during the second call?
No.


Did your house phone ring?
 Yes, after the second call he called me back?

Was this around 7:46?
Yes.


Did he leave a message?
No, we talked he said he was doing work at one of the worksites and that he would be back later.

What did he say about the property he was working at?
He stayed to work at the Glen Arbor property at night because of the motion lights?


Was there a call at 8:48?
He said he was done working, and asked if I wanted anything from Ben Lomond Market.


Can you tell me about his behavior on September 9th?
Unusual, it was another 180 change.


Looking at the map, can you tell me about how long it would take to hit all the points? [refers to a map with locations tagged for where the body was found, where the backpack was found, where the McClish house is, where Ben Lomond Market is]
Maybe 10 minutes.


And what was your husband wearing September 9th?
A camo hat, t shirt, black work jeans, and brown cowboy boots.

Once McClish came home the night of September 9th, what did he do?
Sat down while I watched tv, cuddled, and took a shower?

Was this normal behavior?
Occasionally.

Did you know he went to the dump?
Yes, Sunday the 10th.

What was he taking?
A load of rotten wood.

The week following, September 11-16, was there any change in his behavior?
Yes, more need, physically demonstrative, "clingy" he came home for lunch more often, kissed longer and hugged a lot.

Did you have a conversation with him Tuesday the 12th that you remember?
Yes, he came home about 15 minutes early because there was a flood upstairs from a toilet that over flowed. Ron Jr came to assist.

Was he home for lunch on that day?
Yes.

Did he mention anything about the Police?
He told me they were interviewing all the managers at Ben Lomond Market.



Did he say what it was in reference to?
Asha's disappearance.

When did you become aware she was missing?
Monday the 11th.

What did you know about it?
She was a no call no show at work Sunday and Monday.

Was the flooding at your house on the 12th a big deal?
Yes, it ran outside the house, down the wall from the second floor, running near the circuit breakers and onto the street. There was also a lot of water in the house itself.

And you had some young puppies?
Yes, they were born that day, the flood happened when I took them to the vet to get checked out.

Did Michael McClish have a conversation with you about being questioned by the Police?
Yes, around 4:30 or so. We were upstairs. He let me know about work, and told me a rumor about him being the father of her unborn child. He asked me by some act of God if it were his, what I would do. I repeated my stance about one strike you are out, when it comes to infidelity.  **Yes because God would have had anything to do with it**

So he left open that he thought Asha's child might be his own?
Yes.

And he talked again about his 'blackouts' from drinking?
Yes, he reminded me prior to his DUI he was still drinking heavily and couldn't recall everything that happened.

Did he ask if you would stand by him through anything?
Yes, I told him if the baby was his, I couldn't.

How long was the period of time that he left open the possibility of the child being his own?
Months. He would reassure me it wasn't, but always left open the possibility it was.

Did he tell you about a conversation he had with police on the 12th?
He said they seemed too interested in him, said they questioned all of the other managers too though.

Did he ever ask you to lie to the Police about his whereabouts on September 9th?
Yes, on Tuesday the 12th he asked me "to tell people he was at home, splitting wood all night because of his DUI."

In 10 years of marriage, had he ever asked you to lie like this before?
No.

Did he ever ask you to lie about him driving to his mandatory classes for his DUI charges?
No.
How about driving to the dump on Sunday?
No.
How about driving your car to put air in the tires?
No.
Did he ask you to lie about his whereabouts on any day other than September 9th?
No.
**Major piece of evidence here, ONLY THE KILLER knew at this point the significance of September 9th. It was the only day he asked Melissa to lie about where he was. It was the only day he seemed to lie about where he was. And Asha's body had yet to be discovered, and it was yet to be determined the day of her death. The fact that he singled out the significance of September 9th, and asked his then Wife to lie so that he would have an alibi, should shed light on his guilt.**

Did you suspect your husband was having an affair with Brandy?
Yes, asked him about it and I was told no, it was suspicious but I didn't want to delve further.

Were there a lot of tarps around your home?
Yes, in various colors. Blue, Green, Brown, etc.

PEOPLES EXHIBIT 8

Picture of the missing person's flier of Asha.

PEOPLES EXHIBIT9

Picture of the Ben Lomond Market memo about Asha being missing.

Can you tell me what kind of tools McClish carried in his truck?
Yeah, an axe, chainsaw, toolbox full of smaller tools, and a machete.

Do you remember any metal bars?
No.

Tell me about the toolbox?
It was yellow, full of smaller tools.

Did he have a hatchet, hammer, or axe?
Yes, yes, yes, he had all of them.

Did he wash his truck on Tuesday?
Yes.

At one point you realized you were under Police surveillance? Did you notice this on the 12th?
Yes I did, but I didn't on the 12th.

Did you find it odd he washed his truck? Why?
Yes. He never washed the truck, he would only ever do it after dump runs where he was hauling actual garbage.

Sunday's garbage run consisted of what?
Rotten wood, not typical for him to wash is truck after such a load.

Did he was it on the 13th as well?
yes, even more odd, not at all normal for him to wash two days in a row.

In your 10 years of marriage had he ever washed his car back to back like that?
No.

Tell me about Thursday the 14th?
He washed his truck again, this time with a power washer. After he had finished and dried the car, he washed it again.

**Most of Melissa's testimony he had his hand on his eyebrows, head down, eyes closed, mouth closed. All other witnesses he would watch, or look at the Jury, he wouldn't do this with Melissa, particularly during this line of questioning.**

So you did notice the Police surveillance?
Yes, and I had told him about it.

Do you have any reason to dispute that on Thursday the 14th when he washed his truck he concentrated on the hood and front of the truck with the power washer?
No.

Do you have any reason to dispute that he dried the truck, and then immediately washed it again?
No.

Was any of this odd to you?
Yes, he pulled everything out of the truck and washed it. He had never done that before.

And he asked you to lie to Police about his whereabouts on September 9th?
Yes.

September 15th, you were questioned by Detective Patrick?
Yes.

Did he ask you where Michael McClish was the evening and night of September 9th? Were you immediately truthful?
Yes, he asked me. No I lied at first and said he was at home splitting wood and then came inside for the rest of the night.

Why did you lie?
My husband told me to.

Why did you lie?I could not support the family with out the help and income of my husband.

The lie was addressed with phone records, was it not? [why were you calling his phone, more than 3 times, the night of September the 9th if your husband was at home like you said he was?]
Yes, I tried to cover the lie by saying we flirt on the phone, even when we are both home.


On September 15th you explained he hadn't in fact been home that night?

Yes.

Did you tell Detective Patrick where Michael McClish told you he was September 9th?
Yes, I told him about him working at the Glen Arbor property.

You told Patrick that Michael McClish was working at the Glen Arbor property that night under the motion lights?
Yes.

And his camo hat, did you wash it?
Yes.

Were there ropes in Michael's truck? Describe them please?
Smooth white ropes, bungie cords, black and orange ropes.

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DEFENSE:
This was a hard time for you back then?
Yes, we were forced out of our house, we had 3 young kids, and just had puppies.

Did you go to see any potential houses?
Yes, 1 Tuesday, 2 Wednesday.

And there were more problems?
Yeah, the flood and the litter of puppies.





**AGAIN TW CONFUSES DATES HERE, NO LONGER THINK IT IS UNINTENTIONAL, MELISSA BECOMES CONFUSED. He is obviously doing this to throw people off their game, it's disgusting to watch.**

Tell me, sometimes when he uses the chainsaw at a work site, he can't hear his phone ring, correct?
Yeah, but he had always called me back promptly before that.

September 12th he came home for water, the flood was happening, did anyone else join him?
Ron Clements Jr.

Did Michael ever ask you to wash the camo hat?
No.

**TW took two large breaks, both 60s+, to sit back down and talk to Michael, before resuming questions.

REDIRECT: DA Rosell:
You came in and listened to interview tapes, did you not?
Yes, over 6 hours of them.

Did the DA suggest any answeres to any questions?
No.

Did you meet with Defense Attorney TW and his investigator two evenings ago?
Yes.

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SIDEBAR CALLED BY JUDGE
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