Tree of Life Trial's Second Week Concludes: SWAT Officers, Medical Examiners, and Expert Witnesses Testify
Second Week of Testimonies Full of Graphic Images, Harrowing Gunfight Exchanges and Autopsies
On Tuesday and Wednesday, I traveled to New York for my best friend’s wedding, so I hope you can forgive the lack of details I can provide. (Thankfully, I survived the smokey apocalyptic weather.) I will be using the incredible coverage of my peers, Oliver Morrison and Paula Ward to quickly recap what happened Tues. and Wed.
PITTSBURGH - During the initial week of the trial, poignant testimonies unfolded, providing firsthand, emotional accounts of the events that transpired within the confines of the Tree of Life synagogue. This past week, SWAT officers took the stand to recount chilling encounters with gunfire and detail the acts of terror perpetrated by Robert Bowers on October 27. Additionally, medical examiners presented their findings after conducting autopsies on the 11 victims who tragically lost their lives at the hands of Robert Bowers.
Monday
Monday, the only day besides Thursday that I was in court, had an odd element to it from the beginning. It started with the defense putting in a motion objecting to the use of graphic images in the courtroom as evidence. This isn’t the first time they have objected to their use. Before the trial started, they filed a motion to prohibit the pictures because of how graphic they are, but the judge overruled them.
The state of the synagogue after the shooting was horrific. According to a Hatzala member who had come in from NY to help clean the synagogue and aid the community, it was “one of the worst crime scenes, with tissue and body parts strewn all over the synagogue.”
The defense argued that there was no need to show the jury multiple graphic images of the same bodies. Stating that there was no need to show so many pictures for evidence, which would only be done to appeal to jurors’ emotions and create prejudice against the defendant.
Soo Song, who is quickly becoming a rockstar to some media members, responded, “The reason why there are so many pictures is because the defendant killed 11 people.” after commenting sarcastically that she appreciates that they waited until the night before at 10:30 p.m. to file the motion.
The judge overruled them, noting that “there is nothing more relevant than these images.” They then agreed, however, to adjust the warning given to the jury before images were shown in court.
The first witness of the day was SWAT officer Michael Saldutte, one of the team leaders who entered the synagogue.
He went from being in bed with his two-week-old son to driving 104 mph to the synagogue within minutes. At roughly 10:29, half an hour after Bowers entered the building, Saldutte and his team entered the building.
After entering, the team was immediately overcome by the smell of burnt gunpowder and the sight of bodies lying in pools of blood. At this time, the first graphic image was shown in court. Saldutte apologized to the jury for being insensitive to what he was stepping over at the time. He said he had to get to the shooter, so he didn’t have time to look at the victims, who were already deceased.
Saldutte then recalled his journey through the synagogue’s unorthodox structure, finding three bodies in the basement: Dan Stein, Richard Gottfried, and Mel Wax. He then made his way to a fourth-floor classroom, where the SWAT team believed they had cornered the shooter.
Saldutte and his fellow officer, Tim Matson, slowly entered the room when they were pummeled with gunfire. Saldutte remembered how Matson just fell to the floor, not yet hearing the shots but seeing bullets impacting him. His instincts took over, and he dove in front of Matson, protecting him with his body armor from more bullets.
As he shot at the shadow and muzzle flash moving throughout the back of the room, he suddenly felt his gun click. Something that no soldier wants to deal with mid-gunfight.
“It was one of the worst experiences of my life” - Michael Saldutte
Thankfully, another SWAT officer, Andrew Miller, had joined the fray, which allowed Saldutte to come out with the injured Matson, pulling all 6’3 and 310 pounds of him.
After the morning break, the weird day continued.
The court was about to reconvene when the court assistant in charge of the jurors ran in and whispered something to Judge Colville. So as not to disturb decorum, Colville reacted like everything was normal and called for an early lunch due to “unforeseen circumstances.” When the jury came back, they were down one to a total of 17 members (12 sitting, five alternates). I strongly suspect the graphic images were too much for them, and they had to leave. Not sure how common that is…
Tuesday
Andrew Miller, the officer who enabled Saldutte and Matson to escape the classroom, testified in the morning. He spoke of the warzone environment, with dust and soot kicked up from all the shooting making it hard to see through the room and see who was shooting at them.
After a second gunfire exchange, Bowers was hit and ran out of ammo, causing him to surrender to SWAT. Miller then became the next SWAT officer to testify to what Bowers said as he crawled out of the room: “I had to do it. Jews are the children of Satan, and they're murdering our children.”
The prosecution then called the medical examiner, Dr. Ashton Ennis, who did autopsies on four victims. Ennis and the courtroom were briefly shown pictures of some of those victims. He noted how some of them were shot point blank, with the muzzle of the gun leaving burn marks on their bodies.
Wednesday
The footage revealed Wednesday showed Bowers being carried out on a stretcher down a fire escape. In this video, Bowers’ voice can be heard for the first time. Pittsburgh paramedic Shawn Eigenbrode testified that he had talked to Bowers about a green clock found at the synagogue, which many thought at first to be explosive. It wasn’t, but when asked to lift his shirt so SWAT could see if he had explosives, Bowers reportedly said, “Don’t be ridiculous; I’m not a terrorist.”
I was lost for words when I heard that. (Saldutte testified to Bowers saying that on Monday)
They finished the day with another SWAT officer and two medical examiners who identified the 11 bodies found in the synagogue and related to the jury the fatal injuries each suffered.
Thursday
When they recovered Bowers’ phone at the scene of the crime, to access it, they had to put in a passcode. The catch was that if they failed to get in after 30 attempts, it would self-delete all data. A fun and protective measure that Android users get, unless they have young children.
They sent the phone off to Quantica to get access. Curtis Thomas, an electronics engineer with the FBI, took the stand and explained to the court exactly how he did it. By programming the Android to an older version, they were then able to confuse it into thinking that it essentially had unlimited attempts. Thomas then had the FBI supercomputer, which is not in your local Walmart, attempt every possible passcode until it got the right one.
They then showed different images and documents found in the phone to the jury. These included selfies of Bowers peering through his fingers, making the infamous ‘White Power’ sign, and photos of his gun collection.
The court is taking a scheduled Friday off and will reconvene next Monday.