It was after the Sheriff's lead investigator talked with Josh Doll, that Sheriff's deputies went to Joseph Benaquist's house and found him lying, bludgeoned and frosted over, in a pool of blood in his snow-covered driveway.
In Genesee County Court yesterday afternoon, the testimony of Investigator Kris Kautz included not only details about blood evidence and the crime scene, but also what happened after photos were taken of murder suspect Scott Doll at the Sheriff's station.
At some point in the wee hours of Feb. 17, 2009, Josh Doll called the Sheriff's station.
"He was curious as to what's was going on," Kautz said. "He asked where his father was that night, and I said I didn't know."
After talking with Josh, Kautz said he notified another officer of a friend of Josh's in the area, which was either Joseph Benaquist himself, or someone who knew both men.
Benaquist's body was found by Sheriff's Deputies at 1:33 a.m.
When questioned by Doll's attorney Paul Cambria, Kautz said he did not tell Doll that his son had called.
At 3:35 a.m., Kautz was told that two women were at the station to see Doll. About 15 minutes later, Doll's girlfriend and a former department of corrections coworker were taken to Kautz's office.
The former coworker wanted to speak with Doll, and she was allowed to do so, escorted by Kautz. Doll sat on a bench at a table in the center of a stark, 12-by-8-foot hearing room. The visitor stood a few feet away on one side and Kautz the same distance on the opposite side, ready to take notes.
Deputy Patrick Reeves, who had testified earlier on Thursday, was in an adjoining control room. The doors were open. Kautz noted the three-minute conversation thusly:
"I was there but I didn't do it," Doll told the woman.
"Did something happen in your head?" she asked.
"No"
"Did it involve an animal?"
"No"
"Tell me there's no dead body."
"I can't say."
"No matter what, you get a lawyer just the same," she said.
"Let the chips fall were they may," he replied. "I believe I'll be in jail for sure. It doesn't matter what lawyer I get. I'll get what I deserve, I guess."
(Reeves earlier testified that his report did not reflect what went on at the station house, and that he didn't hear the whole conversation. But he did hear the part where Doll says "I'm going to jail.")
The accused killer still had not been permitted to contact a lawyer.
Cambria asked Kautz about the investigation in the area where the body was found. Kautz said he was aware that officers from the City of Batavia and State Police, in addition to Sheriff's deputies, searched the area initially over a two-day period. But he wasn't present throughout that time.
Among Kautz's other disclosures was that there was no blood on the lone key found in Doll's pocket. He did not inspect the firefighter's head covering Doll had on when walking down North Lake Road. In March, Benaquist's home was searched, but Kautz was unsure how many times that was done. The victim's mobile phone was never sent in for forensic testing. No one looked to see if Benaquist had heirs, which could possibly have shed new light on the case.
Nor did Kautz attend the autopsy or personally search Benaquist's house or Doll's house, or interview any of Doll's stepsons, or investigate finances.
But Kautz did know that there were 19 blood specks on a vehicle photo taken at the crime scene. That there was a bloody footprint, and bloody leather work gloves were on the vehicle adjacent to the blood-smeared Ford Windstar minivan driven by Doll. That his size-10, white, Starter-brand sneakers were in poor condition and bloody and those overalls were bloody, too.
Photos of this were shown to the jury and entered into evidence. One of the photos of Doll's face with three flecks of blood on it was left up on the projector, larger than life on the wall, well after being shown to the jury.
During the jury's recess, an annoyed Doll asked co-attorney, Daniel Killelea, why are they showing all those bloody photos?
The jury already knew he was at the scene and, according to Cambria's opening statement, holding the mortally wounded Benaquist as he drew his last breath.
Is it grandstanding? Doll asked.
"It's puffery," Killelea replied.
