Prosecution rests in trial for man accused of killing deputy
The prosecution rests its case in the murder trial for Daylon Richardson, the man accused of killing Knox County deputy Nicholas Weist.
One crime scene expert and an accident reconstructionist took the stand today to share their expertise in processing a crime scene. The state brought photos to the attention of the jurors and the prosecution used those photos during expert testimony to paint the picture of the crime scene. Paul Kuhn, a sergeant for the Illinois State Police Traffic- Crash Reconstruction Unit says he walked the scene and took photos. He also says that helped him determine Daylon Richardson hit deputy Nicholas Weist with his car.
“After the ford struck Deputy Weist, the vehicle exited the roadway to the northwest of the intersection with 150th street and entered the west ditch,” said Kuhn. “At that point, the vehicle overturned one time and came to rest on the vehicle’s wheels.”
Both experts also described the photo process and how items are collected from a scene. Crime scene investigator Jeff Thew spoke on what he finds valuable when collecting items for evidence.
“The request was I’m collecting any items that may have come off of Deputy Weist,” said Thew. “We got uniform items or items such as pens. Anything that could have potentially come off of his person.”
The defense called into question the credibility of Thew being able to give an opinion in the case.
“Is it fair to say, your main role here was simply collecting all of the evidence that you located at any of the three crime scenes? is that fair to say?
“Yes, an abbreviated interpretation of it,” said Thew.
Sergeant Paul Kuhn described his thoughts on how Richardson ended up hitting Deputy Weist.
“The front passenger side hood quarter panel area is where he was first struck,” said Kuhn. “I also aligned the vehicles tires with the tire marks that were on the road way to show its path of travel at the same time.”
Our Quad Cities News also spoke with the Henry County State’s Attorney Catherine Runty. She says she is not calling any more witnesses for the remainder of the trial.
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