4 p.m. – Backer acknowledges Willis was working third shift, which may explain why he awoke at 12:30 a.m.
The sergeant says he didn’t notice scratches on Willis’ face when he questioned him on May 8, 2013.
Baker says he doesn’t remember seeing padlocks on the Bailey Street home when he visited it.
3:55 p.m. – Norton Shores Sgt. Baker is now testifying.
He’s talking about a tip to the Jessica Heeringa tipline about a man named Willis who frequents the Starbucks on Harvey Street and drives a silver minivan.
Baker says he and Corporal Hare went to Willis’ house to investigate the tip.
The sergeant says Willis told them he had been to the gas station where Heeringa worked around 5 p.m. the day she was abducted and bought mints from her. Baker says Willis told them he played card games from 5 p.m. to about 9:30 p.m. at Lang’s Sports Shop nearby. He told them he left the sports shop and got home around 9:45 p.m., Baker says. The sergeant says Willis told them he stayed there until about 12:30 a.m., but his wife was home sleeping at the time, so she couldn’t account for him being there.
Willis said at 12:30 a.m. he went to his grandfather’s house on Bailey Street to get a board to fix his dog kennel, Baker says. He told officers after he left the Bailey Street house he went to the Taco Bell on Sternberg Road then returned home, according to the sergeant.
Willis told the officers about his registered handgun, the sergeant says. He testifies that when asked about his cellphone, Willis told the officers his wife had it, but he’d give it to them later.
The sergeant said the back portion of the minivan looked washed, cleaned and shampooed. He told the officers he purchased the minivan in April and he just recently took it back and they detailed it for him.
The officers never got to speak to Willis’ wife during that visit, the sergeant says. He says Willis did show him a board during their encountered.
3:30 p.m. – Clifford Baron, who worked with Willis at Herman Miller, is testifying.
Baron says Willis was his HiLo driver in 2013.
He says he noticed scratches on Willis’ face, hand and arms when he came to work the night of April 28, 2013. He says the scratches on his hand and arms were deep. He says the scratches looked like they had been bleeding, but were no longer bleeding at that time.
Baron says he knows what day it was because Heeringa disappeared on the same date as his anniversary.
He says Willis “made a big deal” about the scratches. Baron said he and some other guys were joking around about who took Heeringa when he brought Willis’ into the conversation.
“Jeff was probably the one that did it. He looks like he got in a cat fight,” Baron recounts.
He says Willis “blew up on him” after that and threatened to go to the front office.
Baron says Willis told him he got the scratches from “doing a brake job.” Baron says he’s changed brakes before and never had those types of injuries.
Baron says Willis’ hands also looked too clean for doing a brake job, and Willis wouldn’t have scratches on his hands if he wore gloves.
Baron says later that night, Willis covered up the scratches with gauze and tape. In cross-examination, Willis’ defense brings up how Baron didn’t work with Willis on Saturday. Baron says Willis was not experienced in changing brakes.
Public Defender Fred Johnson points out how Baron wasn’t contacted about what happened that night until three years later.
“I didn’t believe him because he don’t do his own work on his cars,” Baron says. “I thought he got in a fight with his woman, his wife, and didn’t want to talk about it.”
The judge orders a 10 minute break before the next witness is called.
3:15 p.m. – Public Defender Fred Johnson is trying to point out how J4L27H13 could stand for other significant items in Willis’ life. McCarthy testifies he never got confirmation from Willis that the code stood for Jessica Lynn Heeringa or Rebekah Bletsch.
3 p.m. - In cross-examination, McCarthy says he didn’t find anything about Heeringa on Willis’ computer until after she disappeared.
McCarthy says he could not definitively identify Heeringa in any of the videos, and none of the photos of Heeringa were ones that appeared to have been taken by Willis.
McCarthy says he would consider the “VICS” folder and subfolders a trophy.
McCarthy testifies that in his experience, people create passwords from things that are significant so they’re easily remembered – children’s names, birthdates, social security numbers, addresses, etc.
More court notes via WOODTV.com | Photo by Joel Bissell/Pool