Brake's girlfriend testifies in trial

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) - Troy Brake's girlfriend testified Friday morning, followed by witnesses who talked about a piece of evidence Brake's girlfriend saw.

Brake is on trial for allegedly killing Sharm Zimmer, her sons, Jeremy and Tyler, and Jeremy's girlfriend, Katherine Brown, in Wright Township, then setting their house on fire. The fire was reported at 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 29, 2008.

Prosecutors went after Brake's girlfriend on the witness stand Friday, suggesting Brake's family has kept "pretty close tabs on her" and that she has changed her story to cover up for him.

Originally, Brake's girlfriend, Tarah VanDyke, told investigators that Brake never left their house the night of the murders. Then, she later told them he was gone and got home between 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.

Now, she says, he returned at 11:30 p.m. and that they went to bed a short time later. She says he was at a friend's house and came home smelling of smoke, apparently, she says, from a bonfire.

Ottawa County Prosecutor Ronald Frantz went on the attack. "What confused you about the truth that particular day?"

VanDyke also testified about the mysterious statue. She said Brake got home that night with a 9-to-12-inch statue with a military figure and a flag, placed it on his mantel and kept it for about a week. He got it, she says, from a friend, Danny Butts.

She says she didn't believe the Butts story from the start. Instead, she says, she believed Brake was with another woman."I have trust issues," she said.

But the friend, Danny Butts, testified he hadn't seen Brake in months and knew nothing of the statue.

VanDyke and Brake were married to other people when they met while working at GR Spring and Stamping. They started living together in April 2006. They do not have children together. Brake has two children, ages 5 and 2, from a previous marriage.

Two men testified they saw Brake with members of the Zimmer family a short time before the murders.

A friend of Jeremy Zimmer said Brake was at the Zimmer home in Spring 2008, drinking beer with Sharm Zimmer and Jeremy and the friend. They talked and drank for about an hour, a friendly get-together, he said.

A pest control company owner said he saw Brake at the Wright Tavern on Sept. 16, 12 days before the slaying. Brake was having a conversation with Sharm Zimmer, and it didn't look pleasant, the man testified. The defense questioned how the man could remember Brake, a man he'd never seen.

"He looked at me like I'm looking at you," the man said.

Mary Louise Parker, the prostitute beaten and raped by Troy Brake on Oct. 16, about three weeks after the murders, also took the stand. She was forced to repeat the testimony that got Brake convicted in that case in Grand Rapids.

It was that beating that led to Brake's arrest in the Wright Township case.

The defense got to call a witness who is pregnant and due anytime. Melissa Sue Kruithoff testified about a small statue she said she put in a dumpster. The defense was trying to show Brake could have gotten the statue from that dumpster. 

The trial continues Wednesday. 24 Hour News 8 will continue to stream the trial live on woodtv.com, and to provide an interactive CoverItLive chat.