Defense plays interview video of murder suspect

May 19—OTTUMWA — After the state rested its case against Preston O'Dell Martin Thursday, defense attorneys played more than two hours of pre-interview footage between Martin and investigators.

That footage showed Martin in an interview room at the Wapello County Law Center speaking mostly incoherently about ink dots, witchcraft and the like.

Martin faces charges of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary in the May 2019 homicide of Thomas Carlton Foster. Thursday was the second day of a bench trial, which has been recessed until Tuesday morning.

If convicted of murder, Martin would face a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole. The burglary and robbery charges are each punishable by up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Martin waived his right to a jury trial, leaving Judge Greg Milani to decide his fate.

Before Martin's defense attorneys played lengthy video clips of the police's pre-interview of Martin, the state put on witnesses that included Martin's aunt, a medical examiner, and an expert in finger and palm prints as well as footwear and tire tracks.

Dr. Jonathan Thompson, from the Iowa State Medical Examiner's Office, said he concluded that Foster's death was caused by multiple sharp force injuries and ruled it a homicide. The injuries were consistent with a butcher knife, such as the bloodied knife found in the kitchen sink of Foster's home, underneath a strainer basket.

Richard Crivello, a criminalist at the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation crime laboratory, examined latent prints left by fingers or palms, as well as examined compressions left by a boot at the scene. He testified that Martin's prints were on a disassembled cell phone belonging to Foster. More of Martin's prints were found on a washing machine in the home that prosecutors said Martin had used in an attempt to cover up the crime.

Crivello said he also reviewed photographs of footwear impressions from the crime scene, which he believes matched the sole design of the boots Martin was found wearing.

The last witness called by the state was Roberta Washington, the sister of Martin's mother and at one time a guardian of Martin.

Washington said in May 2019, about three weeks before Foster's killing, Martin had appeared in Ottumwa at her home while she was outside cleaning her truck.

"I said, 'What are you doing here in Ottumwa?'" Washington recalled. "He said, 'Well, I heard you had an empty room.'"

Washington told him he couldn't stay at first, but after Martin told her he didn't have money to get back to Fort Dodge, she allowed him to stay as long as he earned his way through yard work with a ministry she was part of.

Over the course of the three-week period, Washington said she never saw Foster lose control of his body or show any mental health issues that were concerning. In the past, he had spoken about desires to harm his wife and two children, however, and she had driven to the Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames on more than one occasion.

On May 25, 2019, the day Foster was found dead in his home on Queen Anne Avenue, Washington said Martin had cleaned himself up for the first time since he'd come to her home earlier that month.

Soon after, Washington said she overheard Foster on a cell phone. "He says, 'Now that kind of s--- will get you dead,'" Washington testified. "I said, 'Preston, you don't talk like that in my house.' He said, 'Oh, sorry Aunt Roberta.'"

Washington said Martin had departed the home around 8:30 a.m. that day. Later, she heard about Martin's arrest from her granddaughter.

"She calls me and says, 'Grandma, Preston's been arrested he murdered someone," Washington testified.

Soon after, officers knocked at her door to serve a search warrant and interview her.

Twice since Martin was charged with the killing he has been found incompetent for trial. Martin, who has been found to suffer from a mental disorder, has since been deemed restored leading to the trial that began Wednesday.

Kyle Ocker is the editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. He can be reached at kocker@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Ocker.