Jury begins deliberations in Supino case

WATERLOO — The double murder trial of Theresa "Terri" Supino entered its first full day of deliberations Friday at the Black Hawk County Courthouse, following final arguments from county prosecutors and defense attorneys Thursday.

The 54-year-old is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the March 3, 1983 killings of her estranged husband Steven Fisher, 20, and his girlfriend Melisa Gregory, 17, at the former Copper Dollar Ranch northwest of Newton.

The 12-member panel will weigh 10 days of testimony from nearly 40 state and five defense witnesses detailing evidence of alleged confessions from Supino, tales of aggression toward Fisher and Gregory and a possible drug-related connection to the murders — a line of testimony which the defense hopes staves off a conviction.

Without physical evidence tying Supino to the crime scene, jurors will have to decide if the circumstantial case is damning enough to convict the defendant of the brutal nearly 32-year-old murders. Jurors also have the option to convict Supino of second-degree murder if they feel the evidence is not strong enough to support murder in the first degree.

If found guilty, Supino could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

During his closing arguments, First Assistant Jasper County Attorney Scott Nicholson returned jurors to the "puzzle of guilt" the state has been trying to assemble, arguing no one had "better opportunity" and motive than Supino to kill Fisher and Gregory.

Members of both Fisher and Gregory's families were in the courtroom Thursday. Supino's son Rocky Supino, brother Tim Supino, and her mother Beverly Supino sat directly behind the defendant as attorneys delivered their final comments in the case.

For two hours, Nicholson walked jurors back through two weeks of testimony, emphasizing the testimony of multiple witnesses who heard incriminating statements by Supino both before and after the 32-year-old murders.

Prosecutors made sure jurors could clearly understand audio for a possible jailhouse confession recorded at the Jasper County Jail the day following Supino's March 3, 2014 arrest. The recorded phone conversation between the defendant and her brother Tim Supino was played with subtitles Thursday, after a scratchier version aired last week's during testimony. While discussing her charge documents, Terri Supino said "I killed Steve Fisher, I didn't kill anyone else."

The defense disputes the comment as sarcasm in reference to what Supino called incomplete documentation of her charges.

Multiple statements from people claiming they heard Supino giving what co-defense attorney Steve Addington characterized in his closing argument as "so-called confessions" weighed heavily in Nicholson's closing. The attorney revisited testimony by former Supino coworker Allison Simmons who said she heard Supino say "my brother and I killed someone once" during a conversation about death during the 9/11 attackers. He also referred to Tyron Jordan's testimony who claimed Supino threatened him with the statement "I got away with murder once, I can do it again."

Addington argued that investigators could not find another employee to corroborate Simmons' claim. But he did not mention that defense witness Whitney Wilcox's said that Supino's prior drug use could have — by her own admission — affected her inability to recall Supino's 2005 threat to Jordan.

The state attempted to discredit the defendant's theory that Fisher's knowledge of former CDR co-owner Hal Snedeker's drug trafficking gave the rancher motive to kill the two victims. Nicholson reminded jurors Snedeker was not certain that Fisher's was a police informant until after his death and that the two "were friends."

The prosecutor ended by reminding jurors of their duties defined in jury instructions and to the brutality of the homicides.

"If you are firmly convinced beyond a reasonable doubt then you should find the defendant guilty — firmly convinced," Nicholson said. "...The way these two young people were killed, it's clearly murder in the first degree."

In his closing arguments, Addington continually came back to a single comment in Nicholson's closing — repeating the state's theories were not reasonable doubt.

"The most telling aspect of Mr. Nicholson's closing argument is when he stood up here and said, 'while we're throwing out theories about this case' — While we're throwing out theories?" Addington said. "Their job is to prove my client is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Their job is not to throw out theories hoping that one sticks."

Addington reminded jurors of the lack of physical evidence tying Supino to the crime scene. The attorney said advances in DNA evidence have made the defense "more confident" about Supino's innocence. Addington rolled this line of thought into defending a theory of his own —a theory that Snedeker had as much motive to kill Fisher as his client.

"As long as we're throwing out theories," Addington said, "The blood stain on Fisher's Chevy Blazer could have come from the victim sitting straight up with his back to the vehicle — a theory reinforced in testimony by the defense's blood spatter analyst Paul Kish." Addington insinuated regardless of what the killer(s) original intent— to find drugs or money — they wanted Fisher to see Gregory's attack.

Jasper County Attorney Mike Jacobsen rebutted, stating anyone "familiar with angles" would know from this position it would have been difficult for Fisher to see inside the trailer. As the murders brought investigators from multiple law enforcement agencies to Snedeker's ranch, the county attorney argued Snedeker's motive to kill Fisher and Gregory on his property would have been greatly diminished.

Addington called the case a "1983 murder mystery" and said the only twist was the arrival of the TNT television program "Cold Justice" in 2014. Addington was critical of the timing of Supino's arrest during Monday's cross examination of Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty, with the warrant execution occurring on the 31st anniversary of the murders.

"Thirty-two years ago tragedy happened at the CDR. Thirty-two years later a television show came to town," Addington said. "We're here today because a cable television show needed a good ending. But now we're in a court of law. Now the only thing we need is your verdict based on the evidence."

Jacobsen rebutted Addington's criticisms of "Cold Justice" role in the sheriff's office investigation. He said bringing in outside experts such as the retired investigators and prosecutors in the TNT program is no different than sending Supino's pants to Bode Technology Group to locate Fisher's DNA or calling in independent blood spatter pattern experts as the defense did.

"No one in law enforcement is going to apologize for using every tool available to them," Jacobsen said.

In his final statement to jurors, Jacobsen repeated what he wanted the panel to take with them into the jury room.

"This case is about Steven Fisher and Melisa Gregory, not some TV show. That's part of the investigation."

For updates and archived stories on the Copper Dollar Ranch murders, go to newtondailynews.com, follow @NewtonDNews on Twitter and Facebook and see full recaps of trial-related events from Waterloo in the Newton Daily News print edition.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com