Live blog for Trumbull's capital murder trial: Day two

Editor's note: This blog contains graphic content that may be disturbing to some readers related to child abuse, sexual abuse, animal abuse and murder.

Check back often for live updates and catch-up entries on this blog covering the murder trial for a drifter accused of killing an 11-year-old boy in Wichita Falls. The child's mother is also charged with his murder.

Wednesday, Aug. 23 — Corey Allen Trumbull's capital murder trial for the death of Logan Cline, 11, resumed at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

This is the second day of testimony for prosecutors' case against the drifter described in testimony as a cruel, sadistic man who thought of himself as the Alpha dog.

Trumbull and the boy's mother, Stormy Johnson, are accused of beating Logan to death Dec. 14, 2019, in a Wichita Falls hotel room and then hiding his body in a nearby abandoned car.

Johnson's trial is still pending, and prosecutors have presented Trumbull as the main abuser and torturer of the little boy.

A jury was selected Monday, and opening arguments and the first day of testimony was Tuesday. In addition, Trumbull pleaded not guilty to charges of capital murder of a child older than 10 but younger than 15 and tampering with evidence.

Logan's 18-year-old sister gave lengthy testimony to the jury Tuesday, often fighting tears and dabbing at her eyes with tissues as she described horrific acts Trumbull and sometimes her mother carried out on her little brother.

She testified that her brother was a healthy, happy boy, but he did not last a year after meeting his mother's new boyfriend, Trumbull.

Logan's sister testified about enduring weeks of being in a methamphetamine haze after a manipulative Trumbull pushed drugs on her, a haze she came out of after going to live with her grandmother.

Jurors viewed graphic photographs of Logan's body Tuesday.

They were taken for evidence after his body was found Feb. 27, 2020, in the backseat of a derelict vehicle about a half block from the Red Roof Inn. Logan, his sister, Johnson and Trumbull stayed in a cramped room with two queen beds in the hotel off Interstate Highway-44.

Logan's father, Nicholas Cline, wept softly when the photos of his son's body were displayed on a screen for jurors to see.

More: Live blog for Corey Allen Trumbull's murder trial for 11-year-old's death: Day one

Trumbull is also charged with felony murder, and Johnson is charged with felony murder and tampering with evidence because she helped move the body.

Thirtieth District Judge Jeff McKnight is presiding over the trial. It is taking place in the 78th District Courtroom because his courtroom sustained water damage.

Wichita County District Attorney John Gillespie and Assistant DA Kyle Lessor are prosecutors for the case. On the other side are Wichita County assistant public defenders Will Hull and Gant Grimes.

Check back with www.timesrecordnews.com often for more on this developing story.

4:40 p.m. — The jury files out after McKnight recesses the trial for the day. Retired Detective Betty Dean's testimony is expected to resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.

3:48 p.m. — Finding Trumbull's stories didn't line up, the detectives interviewed Trumbull again on Feb. 29, 2020, Dean testified.

The second interview is audio only because there was a problem with video in Las Vegas.

The male detective told Trumbull that the autopsy results came back, and the findings were that Logan's death was a homicide, and he died from blunt force trauma. Logan did not die because of a seizure.

Trumbull stuck to his story that Logan died because he had a seizure while he was on the bed. Trumbull tried to give him CPR.

"That's it," Trumbull said.

"Well, let me tell you just one more thing, they said he was severely beaten ... They said that he was beaten so hard and for so long that he bled to death internally," the detective said.

He was beaten on his buttocks, arms and torso.

Trumbull said Logan got a couple of spankings.

"I didn't think it was that bad," Trumbull said.

Trumbull said that was because Logan touched his little sister. Johnson spanked him. While all of this was going on, Trumbull was smoking weed and meth. But he doesn't know how Logan died from blunt force trauma.

"He was in his mom's arms and I was feeding him soup," Trumbull said.

Dean asked Trumbull about a stick or a club he made.

Trumbull said he made the stick for when he walks his dog to put in the harness and keep him from getting out of the harness. He never hit anyone with it. He put epoxy on it to make it shiny and just made it in Las Vegas.

Trumbull was speaking calmly, but then he broke down, "My whole life is just going down the toilet."

He said he has two kids of his own and loved Logan.

He finds out that the case is being investigated as a murder and complains that he was the first stop for detectives when that came to light.

"We're going to go to where the evidence takes us, and the evidence takes us to three people," the male detective said.

He is alluding to Logan's sister, Johnson and Trumble.

"We've been talking to people, and they've been holding back," the detective said.

Later in the interview, Trumbull said Logan got bruises from sparring with him.

"He wanted to spar," Trumbull said, crying again. "He was a tough little s***."

Dean said Logan's bruises did not come from sparring.

The male detective gives Trumbull another chance.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" he said.

"No," Trumbull said.

He asked the detective to tell Stormy and her daughter he loves them if he sees them.

"I'm tired of being thrown away. I'm tired of being treated like trash," Trumbull said.

He said that's how people who love him treat him and that he's had a hard life. His mother died in a car crash when he was young, and he took care of his grandmother who died of cancer when he was 12.

He asked the detectives how they think a mother would react if she finds out her son sexually abused his sister.

"No matter what happened, Logan is dead," Dean said.

"I know Logan is dead," Trumbull said.

Dean asked him what he meant when he said Logan was a handful.

"Logan heard voices," Trumbull said.

He used to throw glass at his big sister and chase her around with a knife, Trumbull said.

"What did you see Stormy do?" the male detective said.

"I don't know," Trumbull said.

The detective said he is going back to Texas, and the interview ends.

The jury has been following along on transcripts of the interview.

Dean began testifying again, saying that Trumbull's story had changed from the previous interview, and that he was trying to cast suspicion on Johnson. He also denied hitting Logan.

2:42 p.m. — The jury began to view a video of Dean and another detective's interview with Trumbull, an interview they had after informing him of his rights.

Trumbull appears quite relaxed, often yawning and running his fingers through his then longer hair while he is questioned in Las Vegas.

A detective asked him, "Where is Logan?"

Trumbull told Dean and the other detective, "Logan disappeared and ran away. He took a backpack full of his clothes and just disappeared."

Trumbull said Johnson told him while they were staying at the Red Roof Inn in Wichita Falls. He didn't really question it, but he thought his girlfriend reported it to police.

Dean said there is no police report of Logan running away.

"Why would y'all leave Wichita Falls not knowing where Logan is," Dean said.

"We had nothing. We had no money," Trumbull said.

He and Johnson planned to move to a village for disabled veterans in California where they were offered a place to live and financial help, Trumbull said.

Johnson is a disabled veteran who receives a monthly check.

They rented a moving truck and got to Las Vegas before they ran out of money, Trumbull said.

"To this day, you don't know where Logan is?" the male detective asked.

Trumbull said no.

The detective told him they weren't there about what happened between him and Johnson.

Trumbull was charged in Las Vegas in connection with a domestic violence incident in which he was accused of physically abusing Johnson.

"The running away story is not true," the male detective said.

"That's what I was told. I have no clue," Trumbull said.

He said he is a heavy sleeper.

Dean asked him if he would tell them what happened to Logan, and that she has talked to Johnson about it.

She said the detectives want to know why they arrived in Wichita Falls a family of four and left a family of three.

Trumbull wants to know what Johnson told them. He thinks something will be pinned on him.

"I've been a scapegoat ever since I was a little boy," Trumball said.

After more futile attempts to get anything out of him, the male detective said he was just going to come out and tell Trumbull that they found Logan.

"If you want proof that I'm not bluffing you, he was in a car, an abandoned car," the male detective said.

Dean reminds Trumbull that he said he loved Logan.

Trumbull began to weep loudly and is incoherent. He continued to break down and told them he remembered Logan being in the bathtub, and he tried to give him CPR.

"I don't know what happened," Trumbull said.

He utters a string of statements: "We fed him soup. ... He had a seizure. ... We tried to get him warm. ... His eyes went dull."

Under prompting from the male detective, Trumbull said Johnson cleaned Logan up.

Trumbull continued crying and speaking in a shaky voice.

He talked about a shoelace from him with a cross from Logan's mom on it.

"I sat down, and I didn't do anything I just sat there. Stormy did everything. I didn't touch him again. She gave him a bath and got him dressed," Trumbull said.

He said Logan was happy about getting a wheelchair because he couldn't move well anymore before he died.

"Logan was having issues with seizures," Trumbull said. "He wasn't moving very well."

Dean asked what caused the seizures.

Trumbull said Logan had seizure before but they weren't big ones. Trumbull told them he smoked weed the day Logan died. Johnson wouldn't call for help because she was afraid.

"It was an accident. No one did anything. He had seizures," Trumbull said.

He didn't touch Logan's body, he said. Johnson did everything. She pushed Logan in the wheelchair. Trumbull was there, but he didn't have a plan. It was Johnson who pushed Logan in the wheelchair and put him in the car during the night.

"Before she shut the door, I think she put some dirty clothes that were in the car ... on top of him," Trumbull said.

Later the detective said, "Corey, how come y'all never called 911?"

"Because I was stupid," Trumbull said.

He said he knew it would all come back on him.

"Corey, I don't know anything about you. You look like a normal dude to me," the detective said.

He said they were there seeking answers from Logan's sister, Trumbull and Johnson.

"Logan can't give me any answers," the detective said.

Trumbull said they tried to feed Logan soup, he started throwing up and had a seizure.

The detectives left, and Trumbull sat there alone in a small hallway-like room that was bare except for green carpet, four chairs and nothing on the walls except electrical outlets. The viewpoint of the video is from above. At times, unintelligible announcements can be heard.

"Oh, my back," he said.

It sounded like he mumbled, "I'm OK. I love you, Bubba."

That is one of Trumbull's nicknames for Logan. The detectives returned.

"OK, Corey, I've got a little better understanding of what happened with Logan," the male detective said.

Trumbull said he had two children, 4 and 6.

Dean used the opportunity to get some information about the children's mother.

The male detective said Logan's death is suspicious, and an autopsy will be performed.

"If there's anything you need to tell me, now is the time," he said.

Dean said Logan's body had bruising on it. She asked Trumbull if he knew where it came from.

"He had seizures," Trumbull said.

He attributed the laceration on Logan's head to him falling when he had a seizure.

Dean said they have also talked to Johnson and her daughter. She served Trumbull with a search warrant for DNA samples.

"I appreciate you taking the time," the male detective said to Trumbull. "As man to man and father to father, you can look me in the eye and tell me you did not harm Logan?"

"I didn't harm Logan," Trumbull said, weeping.

Dean swabbed Trumbull's mouth for a DNA sample.

Afterward, he said he gave Logan mouth-to-mouth, so his DNA could be in there.

Dean said they were aware of that because Trumbull had told them.

The interview video ended, and Dean began testifying again.

She said Trumbull's story was that he was a heavy sleeper, and Logan ran away while Trumbull was sleeping.

When the detectives told Trumbull that Logan's body was found, Trumbull's response was: "I didn't do it," Dean testified.

1:25 p.m. — Retired Wichita Falls police Detective Betty Dean was called to testify.

She told the jury she was with Wichita Falls police for over three decades and a detective for about 15 years. She investigated crimes perpetrated against children. Dean retired March 30.

In February 2020, she was assigned to the Cline investigation.

She was part of a team from the Wichita Falls Police Department that went to Las Vegas in February to probe Logan's case. They worked with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police detectives to obtain search warrants of a Chevy Silverado with California plates and a storage unit in Nevada.

They were granted the warrants and executed them Feb. 28, 2020.

Photos of what was found in the pickup are displayed onscreen for the jury.

In the pickup, they found a big knife in a homemade sheath with the word, "Chaotik" on it. They found two other bladed weapons in the vehicle.

The detectives found a black belt that had two of the knives attached to it.

Gillespie noted that the manager of the Red Roof Inn had spoken to Trumbull about carrying knives after he saw him wearing them in the parking lot.

He brought a brown evidence package to Dean on the stand and asks her to identify what's in it.

Dean testified that she labeled it as a stick. She said it was a branch found in the back passenger area. An electronic SD card was found in the search, and police took a video off of it that was pertinent to the case.

Dean said she reviewed the video before testifying Wednesday.

Gillespie submitted it for evidence, and Hull objected to that, expressing concerns about the authenticity of the video and hearsay.

McKnight overruled his objection and allowed Hull to have a running objection.

Gillespie asked Dean to define a slang term referring to oral sex.

The judge stopped her and told jurors that they were about to hear evidence that is not part of the allegations in the indictments against Trumbull.

This evidence would be presented to speak to Trumbull's mindset, his relationship with Logan and other issues, McKnight said.

Logan's father and grandmother left the courtroom before a graphic video was shown.

After Dean defined the slang term, the jury watched a cell phone video that was difficult to see and hear. The voices of Trumbull and Johnson have an odd, perhaps creepy cheerfulness as they appeared to be manipulating Logan's emotions.

In the video, Trumbull and Johnson encouraged Logan to touch Trumbull sexually, and he used the slang term defined by Dean. The video became shaky and unclear.

Gillespie asked Dean about what took place at the end of the video.

She told the jury that child sexual abuse happened involving Trumbull while Johnson encouraged it.

Shocked solemnity pervaded the courtroom in the wake of the video and Dean's explanation.

Tuesday, Logan's sister testified that she recognized the voices of her brother, Trumbull and Johnson on the video.

Technical difficulties with another video prompt McKnight to send the jury out for a break at 2:22 p.m. Jurors are to return in about 15 minutes.

1:19 p.m. — Wichita County DA's Chief Investigator Tye Davis called back to testify after the jury returned to the courtroom.

Davis testified about a picture of a necklace that Logan's sister has confirmed belonged to him and other evidence.

11:45 a.m. — The judge dismissed the jury for lunch and told them to return at 1:15 p.m.

11:35 a.m. — Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Detective Michael Brewer took the stand.

Brewer told the jury he has 22 years of experience in law enforcement and 14 as an LVMPD detective. He interviewed Trumbull on Feb. 22, 2022.

Prosecutors play an audio clip from Brewer's interview of the interview.

Logan "hears voices" and is in an in-patient care facility in Midland because of his mental problems, Trumbull said on the clip. He had to be put there because Trumbull would come home from work and discover that Logan had hurt his mom.

Gillespie asked the detective if Trumbull mentioned anything about killing Logan.

Brewer said he didn't.

11:05 a.m. — Tanner Fowler, a Wichita Falls police detective, took the stand.

He told the jury he went to the room at the Red Roof Inn first when he began investigating Logan's homicide on Feb. 27, 2020.

He looked for any evidence that would corroborate stories the police had heard, such as signs of blood. Next he viewed Logan's body in the abandoned car found on the 1200 block of Kenley Avenue.

Fowler testified that the body was in the fetal position, back facing the front of the car. The next day, swabs were collected from the hotel room bathroom for DNA testing.

During testimony Wednesday, Trumbull has sat quietly beside his defense lawyers in court. His head has been shaved except for the very top, which was combed back and gathered in a thin hair band.

Gillespie questioned Fowler about a DNA swab collected from the bathroom. Fowler confirms blood collected there belonged to Logan.

Fowler testified that he recently viewed drone footage showing the area between the abandoned car and the hotel.

The DA's Office shows the drone footage that starts from the hotel and shows a stairwell that Trumbull and Johnson would have had to navigate with a wheelchair containing Logan's body.

His sister testified Tuesday that the couple cleaned and dressed Logan's body and left with it in the wheelchair to dispose of it.

The footage shifts to Kenley Avenue, which is marked with florescent paint where the car was parked.

Fowler testified that he has taken a piece of luggage down steps with the bag going thump, thump, thump down the stairs as a wheelchair would have. This speaks to how much trouble Trumbull and Johnson would have gone though to get the body from the second-floor room and down the stairs.

During cross-examination, Hull pursued a line of questioning to point out that Fowler was not there when the events surrounding Logan's death happened. He came later to investigate.

Fowler confirmed that a DNA test of a swab from Trumbull's skull ring came back with DNA from Johnson but not from Logan.

Gillespie questioned Fowler again, asking him if bleach can destroy DNA.

Fowler said yes.

The detective, who is assigned to investigate cold-case homicides, is excused by the judge.

10:32 a.m. — After the break, Dr. Suzanne Dakil, a specialist in child-abuse pediatrics, continued her testimony under cross-examination by Hull.

Hull pursued a line of questioning to try to get a timeline of the injuries, but Dakil indicated that isn't doable.

She told the jury that torture includes both physical and emotional abuse. An abuser tends to try to conceal the maltreatment if they are planning to continue abusing a child.

Hull asked her if it was possible that Trumbull and Johnson both abused Logan.

Dakil said that is possible.

What we can say is those were injuries that appear to be caused by a massive one-time beating or multiple beatings across time, right? Hull asked Dakil.

She confirmed that.

Hull asked her if an abuser who intends to keep mistreating a child would cause their death.

"Not intentionally," Dakil said.

She testified that there is some medical information from July of 2019, but Logan had not actually been seen by a pediatrician since 2015. That was not in line with medical recommendations.

Hull said it seems strange to him that the child was not seen regularly.

Dakil said annual visits are recommended. Logan did not need a vaccine for school during that four years he didn't see a doctor.

"It is unfortunately not uncommon that kids don't come in unless they need a vaccine for school," she said.

Hull said it raises concerns that a mother wouldn't bring her child in for regular visits to the doctor.

The bottom line, though, is when we look at those injuries, they would be difficult to conceal, especially the injuries to the face, Hull said.

Dakil confirmed that.

"Is it possible that a person who is les than 200 pounds could inflict those injuries over time?" Hull said.

"If you have enough adrenaline and rage," Dakil testified.

Hull said he could bring many hypothetical situations up that could have caused the bruising to Logan's body.

"Only people that were there could tell me exactly what happened," she told the jury.

Gillespie questioned Dakil again after Hull's cross-examination.

She said Logan had methamphetamine in the toxicology screen from his autopsy. It could be from exposure to meth in the environment.

Forensically, it's difficult to know how much he was exposed to because there are so many variable factors such as the child's metabolism. Any environment with drugs is dangerous to children.

In child abuse cases, Dakil has encountered cases where a child would be given drugs, not meth specifically, in the course of abuse. For instance, an abuser might give a child drugs so he would forget sexual abuse.

Besides the bruising from a laceration to Logan's forehead, he had other bruising on his head from other injuries, she told the jury.

Gillespie asked her if there could be a missing set of medical records because Logan's family moved around.

Dakil said something is missing because he was put on medication and then nothing else was indicated about it later.

Gillespie asked her if the things that happened to Logan didn't show that Johnson, who is also charged with murder, is not "mom of the year."

Dakil agreed.

The judge excused Dakil from testifying at 11:04 a.m.

9:05 a.m. — Wichita Falls police officer Buddy Alexander testified that he went to a room at the Red Roof Inn to serve an eviction notice on Trumbull and Johnson.

It was late December in 2019.

There were three dogs, and the room reeked of dog feces, the officer testified. Alexander saw two adults and one child.

“I stepped in the room a couple of steps so I could see,” he testified.

They told him they were waiting for a ride, and he told them he understood, but they would have to vacate the room and move their stuff out of it.

Alexander waited for an hour while they carried their things down to the parking lot. The manager closed off access for that key to the room.

Alexander’s job was done, and he left.

Under cross-examination by Hull, Alexander told the jury he did not have a conversation with the manager about how many people were in the room.

By that time, Logan was dead, according to allegations against Trumbull.

9:12 a.m. -- The DA’s chief investigator, Ty Davis, took the stand to testify that he had observed the autopsy of Logan’s body.

9:15 a.m. —Dr. Suzanne Dakil, medical doctor from Dallas who is a specialist in child-abuse pediatrics, is called to the stand and sworn in.

Dakil also testified for the prosecution in the capital murder trial of James Irven Staley III earlier this year. Staley was convicted for killing 2-year-old Wilder McDaniel.

Dakil told the jury that she has seen thousands of child-abuse victims over her career. She has reviewed Logan's medical records and recalled his last weight as 96 pounds.

His subsequent loss of 30 pounds are consistent with a child losing weight through a pattern of starvation, she said.

The autopsy report showed "a battered, emaciated child. He had significant bruising. He was very thin," Dakil told the jury.

He had a significant break to his nose and as she said earlier to the DA's Office, he was literally pummeled in the face.

A woman who is Logan's family member sitting next to his dad bowed her head to her clasped hands and began weeping at this point during Dakil's testimony.

The DA's Office posted a graphic autopsy photo of Logan's head, and Dakil explained to the jury how it shows that the bridge of the child's nose was shifted by the injury.

The woman who is Logan's family member gets up and leaves the courtroom. His dad remains with his head bowed and eyes away from the photo.

Dakil testified that this was a life-threatening injury that impaired Logan's ability to breathe. In addition, a person would not be able to taste anything or move the tongue to facilitate eating.

This kind of nasal injury would be very violent, and it's not seen in just punches to the face.

Gillespie asked her if a stomp by a 220 pound man to a person's face while he was lying on the ground would cause this kind of nasal injury.

Dakil confirmed that it would.

The DA has said that Trumbull weighed 220 pounds.

The bruising to Logan's face was deep and well into the soft tissue and muscle, she testified. There would be a lot of swelling.

Dakil addressed the role of isolation in child abuse, which affects the child psychologically and also keeps others from finding out about the abuse.

It sends a message of complete control by the abusing adult and helplessness to the victim.

Often, children won't disclose abuse until they feel completely safe, she told the jury. They know if they tell someone outside the family they don't feel safe, that things will be really bad for them.

Child torture is at least two episodes of physical abuse or long-term abuse, Dakil said. There is a pattern of abuse over time.

"We don't know why people do the crazy things that they do to kids," she testified.

But over time, the abusive behavior breaks the kid.

Gillespie described Logan's situation as a hypothetical scenario: The mom's new boyfriend wants him to call him "Daddy" after less than a month. He is forced to stay in a filthy room and is usually not allowed to eat at family meals. He is beaten.

The abuse continues to the point where when they all move to another motel room, he is forced to live under the sink there. He is called a derogatory name. The child is forced to allow a male German shepherd to abuse him.

"Then you have a pattern of stomping, kicking, throwing ...," Gillespie said.

The child was also not allowed to properly use the bathroom.

Dakil testified that a blow that injured Logan's forehead hurt and could have triggered a seizure. And blows like that cause traumatic brain injury.

"I'm going to move on to injuries to the back," Gillespie said.

Just before another photo of the child's body was displayed for the jury, Logan's dad got up and left the courtroom.

"This is very deep," Dakil said about bruises to the child's body. "This is something that's going to take a significant amount of time to heal."

She testified that the bruising shows repeated hitting.

"He is getting hit over and over," Dakil said.

The pattern of bruising to his body show that he may have been curled up in a fetal position when he was struck, she testified.

He would have been in "excruciating pain," Dakil said.

He would cry "unless he learned that crying makes it worse," she said.

He was hit numerous times, causing repetitive trauma, but she can't estimate the number of times he was hit on his back and buttocks, Dakil said. It's common for abusers to favor that area since it doesn't show, and they can claim the child got licks or something.

Dakil said the injuries and autopsy photos show long-term abuse. As for why he died, he didn't have a lot of bleeding around his brain, but he was continually bleeding internally, had been starved and was suffering from kidney disease stemming from maltreatment.

The extensive injuries to his bottom are possibly consistent with being hit with a wooden stick or hand.

Logan's sister testified Tuesday that Trumbull was fond of taking branches and treating them to make them stronger. He would beat Logan with them.

Dakil told the jury that the injuries to the front side of Logan's body were worse than those to the back of his body.

She confirmed he was savagely beaten.

"This kid went down, and the beating continued," Dakil said.

Logan's injuries would have impaired his ability to walk and interfered with other normal activities, she told the jury. It would be obvious that he needed immediate medical treatment.

Dakil looked over and read from Logan's medical records, which indicate he was a healthy kid and had been previously diagnosed with ADHD and was taking medication for it.

10:10 a.m. — McKnight sends the jury out for a break until 10:30 a.m.

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, covers education, courts, breaking news, investigative projects and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Live blog for Trumbull's capital murder trial: Day two