The murder trial of Michael Isaac Russ focused extensively on weapons and evidence Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
Russ, 40, of 4511 Colonial Circle, Trinity, is charged with murdering Larry Wayne Campbell, 27, of Denton, on Dec. 22, 2017.
Campbell, a father of three, was shot and killed in a parking lot outside BBQ Joe’s Country Cooking, 4873 N.C. 62, Trinity.
King Dozier, along with Assistant District Attorney Walt Jones, are prosecuting the case. The defendant is being represented by Thomas Manning and Allen Swaim, both attorneys from Wake County.
Superior Court Judge Bradford Long is presiding over the case.
Sgt. Jonathan Linthicum with the crime scene division of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office testified Monday afternoon.
Linthicum, who was on the scene of the Dec. 22 homicide, extensively searched the area around BBQ Joe’s for evidence with his team on the evening of the shooting.
“There were no .40 caliber shell casings found on scene,” he said. “All of the shell casings found on scene were .45 caliber.”
Through evidence already presented during the trial, the jury is aware that the victim was in possession of a .40 caliber pistol, while Russ used a .45 caliber.
In total, seven shell casings were located that belonged to the defendant’s weapon.
A picture of Campbell’s evidence on scene was entered into evidence, along with the gun itself. In the image, the safety on the gun is on.
Along with the victim’s pistol, seven .4o caliber bullets and a magazine that holds seven rounds were presented before the jury. The magazine was fully loaded with no bullets discharged when it was located at BBQ Joe’s.
While Linthicum was still on the witness stand, Manning presented him with the gun and, while standing at a distance, requested the sergeant point the gun at him. Manning proceeded to ask him a series of questions:
“How would I know if that gun was loaded? … Would I be able to tell if the safety is off from where I’m standing? … Would I be able to tell what your intent was?”
Linthicum’s response to each question was “no.”
Firearm testimony continues
Next to take the stand was Gregory Stimel, a firearms enforcement officer at ATF.
Stimel testified that his job involves receiving weapons in evidence from law enforcement and testing them.
Dozier questioned Stimel about a gun that was located in Russ’ truck the day of the homicide. Stimel confirmed that there was a silencer, or a suppressor, located on the firearm.
A suppressor on a gun is legally required to have identifying marks inscribed on it, but the firearm lacked any, indicating it was not a registered weapon.
Eugene Bishop, who was deemed an expert in forensic firearm examination, also testified Monday.
Bishop was tasked with examining each of the seven .45 caliber shell casings, in order to determine that each of the bullets were shot from the defendant’s pistol.
To do so, Bishop testified that he used Russ’ gun to fire test shots and compare the evidence shell casings to the test-shot shell casings.
As a result, he concluded that all of the shots were fired from that same gun.
Bishop also received Campbell’s .40 caliber pistol when reviewing the evidence in the case.
The gun was noted as being “fouled” in Bishop’s report. When Manning questioned the expert witness about the terminology, Bishop explained that meant that there was some gunpowder in the barrel, but that there was no way to determine when the weapon had last been fired.
Following Bishop’s testimony, Sgt. Linthicum was recalled to the stand and asked why a gunshot residue test kit had not been conducted on Campbell at the scene.
“There was no indication he had fired,” Linthicum explained to the jury. “We found no .40 caliber shell casings on the scene. … There was nothing that pointed us in that direction that it needed to be done.”
Defendant’s journal shown to jury
Jason Chabot, a former captain in charge of criminal investigations at the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, was the last witness to testify Monday afternoon.
Chabot was in charge of assigning detectives and deputies to the homicide case. He was also present during a second search of the defendant’s vehicle that occurred days after the shooting.
Earlier in the trial, it was revealed that a journal was located in Russ’ truck during the second search, which was conducted with the intention of collecting “club,” or Hells Angels, evidence.
Pages of the journal were projected onto a screen for the members of the jury to review.
Names and phone numbers were written on the pages of the pocket-size journal. Dozier pointed out a few specific phrases and words, perhaps most notably the words “Iron Pats — NC bottoms” written with no additional context.
The prosecution has repeatedly suggested that the Iron Patriots’ bottom rocker — the words/phrase stitched onto the bottom of a biker club vest — is largely the reason why Russ targeted Campbell.
Campbell was wearing an Iron Patriot’s biker club vest with the bottom rocker “North Carolina” when he was fatally shot. Former Iron Patriots members who have testified say that the bottom rocker concerned them, as it could suggest the idea of “territories,” which could potentially anger other clubs — namely, the Hells Angels, of which Russ was a member.
In addition to assisting in the search that yielded the journal, Chabot also previously checked Campbell’s pistol out of evidence in order to test the weapon.
Chabot testified that he first tried to fire the weapon with the safety on, testing to see if it worked properly. He concluded the gun would not fire with the safety on and it fired properly with the safety off.
Following Chabot’s testimony, the court recessed until 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Evidence published to the jury
When court resumed Tuesday morning, the council spent a short amount of time discussing a “field trip” planned for the jurors that afternoon.
The jurors would be bused to the scene of the crime at BBQ Joe’s in order to evaluate where the shooting take place.
Once the jury was brought back into the courtroom, the remainder of the morning was spent publishing the state’s evidence. Members of the jury were given the opportunity to hold and observe photographs and pieces of evidence — including firearms — one at a time.
The jury dismissed for lunch around 1 p.m. with plans to reconvene in the parking lot and board a school bus to head for BBQ Joe’s at 2:15 p.m.
The trial will resume Wednesday at the Randolph County Courthouse in superior courtroom 4A at 2 p.m.