The latest in the trial of Jeffrey Willis, who is charged with the kidnapping and murder of Jessica Heeringa:
11:25 a.m. – Gary Foster is testifying. He is a county commissioner and owns Gary’s Guns.
He testifies the gun confiscated from Willis’ van is the one he sold to Michell Schnotala.
He says when he sold the Walther P22 handgun to Schnotala, it had a laser sight attached to it. He says such a sight is rare, but he couldn’t say how many of them were sold in Muskegon County.
He says the laser sight is powered by two watch-style batteries and “it takes some serious force” to remove the batteries.
Foster says “it would take a lot of doing” to make that specific laser sight fit other guns.
Foster says CCI brand mini mags ammunition is “a very popular bullet.”
11 a.m. – Corporal Joel Hoeksema says he was called to the Exxon Mobil station where Heeringa worked on a “suspicious situation” around 11 p.m. on April 26, 2013.
Hoeksema describes how the gas station looked when he arrived, with the garbage can near the back door and the till out sitting next to the office. Hoeksema says it didn’t look like there was any disturbance or fight inside the store, and the till and backroom looked untouched.
Hoeksema testifies outside the rear door of the building, he found a battery cover for a laser sight for a Carl Walther P22 gun, two batteries and a small bloodstain on the pavement.
Hoeksema testified earlier that the lights were on in the back of the gas station. Hoeksema doesn’t recall turning the lights on. He says he cannot tell how long the bloodstain was on the pavement for.
Hoeksema says he received a tip that the suspect’s vehicle might be a Town and Country minivan. Hoeksema says Officer Ginka was already at the scene when he arrived.
The judge orders a 10 minute break.