After several hours of jury selection, the first day of Eric Graves' attempted murder trial Tuesday was highlighted by the opening arguments of the prosecution and defense, along with the testimony of Graves' mother and sister and a county sheriff's department corporal.
Graves is standing trial for the attempted murder of Carl Wireman and his 14-year-old daughter, Mikayla.The second day of the trial started today with a juror being excused. A male juror came before the judge before the full jury was seated and explained his family had a relationship with Graves' daughter.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor Stephen Hearn moved to have the juror excused. Graves' defense attorney, Daniel Vanderpool, objected. Special Judge Duane Huffer decided to excuse the juror and made one of two alternates the 12th juror.
Testifying today was Kosciusko County Sheriff's Dept. Corp. Kevin Gelbaugh.
Gelbaugh, who was at the scene after the alleged crime, confirmed that at one point Graves stopped breathing. He also told the court he cleared Wireman's weapon and did not believe it had been fired. Gelbaugh also testified he did not personally inspect bullet holes at the scene.
Wireman's daughter was expected to take the stand later today.
During his opening argument Tuesday, Hearn painted the picture of what happened the night of April 13.
Hearn said that Graves and Wireman's wife, Regina, had carried on an extramarital affair for the better part of six years.
Hearn said that in December 2007, Carl Wireman learned that his wife and Graves had reestablished their relationship and that on April 8, she checked herself into a behavioral center in Fort Wayne. While receiving in-patient care, Regina ended the relationship with Graves, which caused him to become despondent and suicidal.
Hearn said Graves spent April 12 at H and H Firearms in Fort Wayne shooting guns.
In a conversation with Regina Workman April 13, Graves told her he stayed up until 5 a.m. cleaning his guns.
After talking to his mother and sister, Hearn said, Graves drove to the Wireman home, rang the doorbell, and when Carl Wireman answered, Graves told him, "I'm here to kill you and your daughter" while aiming a gun at Wireman with a laser pointer turned on.
At that point, Graves and Wireman became involved an altercation where, eventually, Graves produced two more handguns.
Wireman then retreated back inside his home, went to his garage where he retrieved a gun and portable radio, which he had as an EMT for Multi-Township EMS.
Sometime between the altercation and Wireman retrieving his weapon and radio, Graves sat in a lawn chair on the porch of the Wireman home, put a .22 caliber gun under his chin and fired one shot.
Soon after Kosciusko County Sheriff's Dept. Corporals Gelbaugh and Chris Rager arrived.
While Rager was on the stand, video taken from his squad car was shown to the jury. It shows Graves in the lawn chair and Carl Wireman opening his front door as police arrive. Rager asked Wireman who Graves was and why he was at the Wireman residence.
"He's been screwing around with my wife and he said he was going to kill me," Wireman said.
Rager and Gelbaugh then picked up Graves and carried him onto the Wiremans' front lawn while Wireman grabbed a first aid bag to try and revive Graves.
Rager was questioned extensively by Vanderpool.
Vanderpool pointed out that Carl Wireman served as an EMT on the county's SWAT team, of which Rager is a leader. Vanderpool also noted that Wireman was allowed to go into his house on two separate occasions without police supervision.
Rager was questioned about a statement he made at the scene concerning what police could have done better.
Rager said it is common to evaluate what they could do better at crime scenes, and that while the roped-off area of the crime scene could have been bigger, nothing at the scene was comprised.
While Vanderpool tried to call into question police procedure, Hearn noted that photos taken of Graves showed three separate holsters on his person, indicating premeditation.
Rager said tests to see whether gun residue was on the hands of either Wireman or Graves were never conducted.
Hearn called both Graves' mother, Mary Graves, and sister, Shannon Giles, to the stand as the state began presenting evidence.
Giles, who lives in Shelbyville, said she talked to her brother for 33 minutes as he prepared to make his way to the Wireman home in Etna Green. Giles said Graves was angry and upset, and he told her he "couldn't go on anymore."
Graves told Giles that "Carl will take care of it" several times.
Giles said she was aware of her brother's affair with Regina Wireman.
While on the phone with Graves, Giles wrote a note to her husband to call her and Graves' parents and the police.
At one point, Graves recorded his last wishes on his cell phone while talking to Giles.
"I've had five days to think about it," said Graves. "I've had eight years to think about it."
During cross examination by Vanderpool, Giles said Graves had told her his plan was to have Wireman shoot him so he would die and Wireman would go to jail.
After Giles, Mary Graves took the stand.
Mary Graves was the last person to talk to her son before he arrived at the Wireman's.
While Graves was talking to his mother, he ended the conversation by saying, "I'm here now," and hung up.
A day she said she remembers "vividly," Mary Graves said she and her husband drove to their son's home in Winona Lake when they found out he planned to drive to the Wireman's.
Before they could get to his home, she stated her son was driving northbound on Park Avenue in Winona Lake while she was headed south. She said she tried to turn and follow her son but lost him.
She said then immediately drove to the parking lot of Walgreen's in Warsaw and called 911.
"I told them he was either contemplating suicide or he's shooting (Carl)," said Mary Graves.
During cross-examination, Graves said her son was "crying and he was distraught."
During Vanderpool's opening remarks, he urged jurors to "keep an open mind."
"This story is a mystery," said Vanderpool.
Vanderpool said the only witness was a man whose wife had been having an affair with Graves.
Mikayla Wireman was in a bedroom in the home during the events while she talked to both dispatch and her mother.
Vanderpool said that because of his injuries and subsequent surgeries, Eric Graves can no longer remember what transpired the night of April 13.
Vanderpool called into question the motives of investigating officer Joe Mooney, who Vanderpool claimed had his life saved by Wireman, and Rager, who Vanderpool calls Wireman's friend.
At 12:39 p.m. Wednesday, the 12-person jury was finally seated after a white male was chosen to complete the nine-man, three-woman all-white jury. Two alternates, both men, were chosen after another 20 minutes.
After a recess for lunch, the jury was given preliminary instructions before Hearn made his opening argument.
