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44 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend February 25, 2004 Murder defendant’s fate is in jury’s hands Both sides wrap up their closing arguments Tuesday in the Repp murder trial By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Jurors will return today to decide the fate of Gary Marvin Repp Jr., who is on trial for murder. The jury began deliberating after hearing more than four hours of closing arguments in the trial’s conclusion Tuesday in Jackson County Circuit Court. Defense attorney Carl Caplan said it would have been impossible for Repp to kill his wife, Kerry Michele Repp, in a matter of minutes and stage the scene to look like a suicide. Prosecutor Mark Huddleston maintained that he had plenty of time. While Caplan argued that his client never would have staged a suicide after firing four shots, Huddleston countered that Repp’s path was forged when he sent off a woeful e-mail from his wife’s account on the morning of her death, May 4, 2002. "The die had already been cast at that point," Huddleston said. Relying on a 911 call from the Repps’ Central Point home to determine the time of Kerry Repp’s death, Huddleston argued that Repp had seven minutes to kill his wife and five to drive to a baseball field. Advertisement Caplan maintained it took Repp longer to make the trip to his step-son’s baseball game because he was towing a trailer loaded with motorcycles. Two neighbors said they saw Repp leave shortly before prosecutors say the murder occurred. But even if Repp left within the neighbors’ time frame, he would have arrived at the field much earlier than many of the other kids’ parents, who all testified that he was the last to show. Despite the lack of fingerprints on the murder weapon, Repp could have shot his wife while wearing gloves, which are easily thrown away, Huddleston said. Despite the lack of evidence that the killer cleaned up in the house, Repp could have removed his clothing and showered, Huddleston said. He could have thrown bloody items into a load of laundry that was freshly washed when detectives arrived at the house. Repp could have performed all these tasks, Huddleston said, after sending an e-mail from his wife’s account, arranging a "suicide" note that Kerry Repp wrote weeks previously and placing her wedding ring on top. No one else would have had a reason or taken the time to stage a suicide after killing her, Huddleston said. No one else would have known of a note written in Kerry Repp’s hand apologizing for hurting her husband. Few people would have known where to find Kerry Repp’s wedding ring, which she did not wear but kept in her purse. "If the time frame is tight for the defendant, it’s much tighter for an unidentified killer," Huddleston said. That person would have had about three minutes after Gary Repp left to enter the house, take off their socks and shoes, find a gun and kill Kerry Repp, leaving only a bloody footprint behind. Attorneys’ expert witnesses disagreed about who made the footprint. The killer’s timeline wasn’t tight because Kerry Repp was alive for much longer than the prosecution’s time of death, Caplan said. Aaron Pardee, who lived one street over from the Repps, said he heard two gunshots that morning — up to 22 minutes after a 911 call was made from the Repp home. But next-door neighbors testified that they heard no gunshots. The Repp home’s new owner, Trudy Vierra, said she allowed detectives to test fire the murder weapon in the upstairs bedroom while she was in the back yard. The noise she heard sounded like a towel snapping. Caplan reminded jurors that she heard test shots on another occasion while she was inside the home’s garage. The shots startled Vierra, Caplan said, and there’s no way Kerry Repp’s sons, who were in the garage on the morning of her murder, wouldn’t have heard shots and been frightened. The boys told police that they never saw their mother that morning. Repp testified that he left the house for a weekend camping trip without saying goodbye. But the proof of Repp’s innocence is his devastated reaction upon hearing of his wife’s death and his use of present tense when he told the police "I love her." Repp hadn’t yet been able to accept that his wife was dead, Caplan said. "It is essential that you never lose sight of the fact that this man was in extreme emotional crisis," Caplan told the jury. Yet Gary Repp was the only person who ever went along with the story that his wife killed herself, Huddleston said. He told police she had been depressed because he was scheduled to leave in a few days for Egypt with his Army National Guard unit. In reality, Kerry Repp was bent on divorcing her husband, and he was running out of time to take control of his life before shipping out, Huddleston said. If his wife wasn’t in the picture, Repp would get custody of their son and ownership of the couple’s house. He would no longer have to worry about his wife’s spending problem or her pregnancy by another man, Huddleston said. "Having Kerry Repp dead gives him everything he wants." Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times