Jury sees Wright Twp. murder photos

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) - The prosecution in the quadruple homicide case against Troy Brake spent the second day of trial testimony introducing evidence of how the four victims died, evidence relating to motive and evidence that Brake's gun could have been the murder weapon.

Medical examiner Dr. David Start testified that a gunshot wound found on Tyler Zimmer was "consistent" with a .40-caliber handgun, the same type of gun found in Brake's home. But under cross examination by Brake's attorney, Start said other guns -- a 10 mm, a .38 or a .45 -- could have caused the wound.

Start, who performed autopsies on Tyler and Sharm Zimmer, and Dr. Stephen Cohle -- who autopsied Jeremy Zimmer and Katherine Brown -- testified that all four victims were murdered. Sharm, Jeremy and Tyler Zimmer were shot, they testified, and Brown was beaten.

"This young woman was hit very hard with a blunt object," Cohle told the court. He said a fall would not have caused the multiple injuries that Brown suffered. The four did not die from the fire that ravaged the Wright Township home where the four were found, the two medical examiners testified.

They said Sharm and Tyler Zimmer, along with Brown, did not have any soot in their lungs, evidence that they died before the fire started, or at least before it burned for any significant amount of time. Although Jeremy Zimmer had enough carbon monoxide in his bloodstream to kill him, Cohle testified that the gunshot was a more "compelling" cause because it would have left him unable to leave the burning house.

Prosecuting attorney Ronald Frantz presented evidence to bolster the prosecution's theory on the motive: that Brake killed the others so he could rape Brown and used gasoline or some type of accelerant to burn the lower half of her body and conceal the crime. Cohle said the lower half of Brown's body was "disproportionately severely burned."

A fire investigator with the sheriff's department testified he saw evidence that was "consistent" with the theory that someone had put an accelerant on the lower half of Brown's body.

But Brake's attorney, Paul McDonagh, argued a fire shooting up the stairs -- burning the part of Brown's body closest to it -- could have had a similar effect. Under cross examination, Cohle said if fire was shooting up the stairs, he would not expect to see such a stark difference in the burns on different parts of the body.

McDonagh pressed several witnesses who testified they had no direct evidence that Brake had used an accelerant on Brown's body.

There was, however, direct evidence that an accelerant was present in wood taken from the home, leading the fire to be ruled arson. Kevin Streeter, a Michigan State Police forensic scientist, testified that a sample from the Wright Township home tested positive for gasoline.

Testimony continues at 9 a.m. Thursday. 24 Hour News 8 will be in the courtroom and plans to stream testimony and conduct a live chat.