Meister defense close to wrap-up

MOSCOW - A parade of 11 witnesses made its way through the courtroom Wednesday in the David Meister murder-for-hire retrial as his defense marched its way toward the end of the case.

The witnesses were called on the 16th day of testimony to give credence to the defense theory that a person other than Meister killed Tonya Hart on Dec. 11, 2001, and to support Meister's alibi that he was partying with friends the night she was killed.

Brian Keim, an Idaho prison inmate, testified that while he and Lane Thomas were incarcerated in the Madison County Jail, Thomas told him that he killed a young woman during a robbery. Thomas told him Meister had been convicted of the crime, Keim said, and Thomas offered him 6 pounds of stashed marijuana if he would help point Meister's attorney away from its theory that Thomas had in fact pulled the trigger.

Keim said he got angry at Thomas because he basically wanted him to be a "rat," and help keep an innocent man in jail. He said he declined Thomas' offer.

On Tuesday, Thomas testified he lied when he told various people in jail and prison that he killed Hart. The stories helped him build stature and stay safe behind bars, Thomas said.

But Keim said he believed Thomas' statement that he killed Hart. On cross-examination, Latah County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Evans tried to undercut Keim's credibility, saying that Keim and Meister occasionally took a class in prison about the Odinistic religion, and both believed in some of its tenets.

"As a brother in Odinism with Mr. Meister, you have loyalty to Mr. Meister, is that true?" Evans asked.

"As much as he deserves, yeah," Keim said. But he denied that he was trying to help a friend by testifying in his defense.

Michael Scanlon of Spokane also testified that Thomas said he killed Hart when they were in the Whitman County Jail in Colfax. But in this version, Scanlon said Thomas claimed he and another person went to Hart's trailer home north of Moscow, and the other person shot her.

Keim recalled that Thomas said he was alone when he shot Hart. A single trail of footprints in the snow led away from the trailer, according to the prosecution.

Scanlon said Thomas had a reputation for bragging and telling lies about crimes he didn't commit.

"If Lane wasn't there, in his sick mind, he wishes he was," Scanlon said of the Hart murder.

Defense attorney Thomas Whitney also called Michael Linderman, the grandfather of Jesse (Shorty) Linderman. The prosecution contends Jesse Linderman hired Meister to kill his girlfriend Hart, with whom he had been having a troubled relationship. Jesse Linderman is not facing charges in the murder.

Michael Linderman testified he had given his grandson an engagement ring in the fall of 2001 so he could propose to Hart. Jesse Linderman's mother, Evelyn Coley, then testified that her son told her in October 2001 that he was going to propose. He didn't show her the ring until January 2002, however, after Hart died.

Another defense witness was Meister's friend Kelly Loveland, who testified she went to a party with Meister in December 2001. In his testimony last week, Meister said he sold a HiPoint 9mm handgun to an unidentified man at the party, which was before Hart's murder. Police have determined the same type of weapon was used to kill Hart.

Loveland said she didn't know anything about Meister having a gun or selling it at the party.

Jeremy White, who was Meister's roommate for a few months in 2001, testified he went to get pizza with Meister on the night of the murder. But White wasn't sure about the time, and it wasn't clear whether the pizza run happened before or after the murder.

On cross examination, White admitted he smoked a lot of marijuana at the time, and it could have affected his memory.

Jennifer Ingalls was a detective with the Latah County Sheriff's Office when Meister confessed to the shooting on Aug. 29, 2002, a confession he later recanted. She testified that when she observed Idaho State Police Capt. Kurt Kastens interview Jesse Linderman that day, Kastens asked Linderman why Meister would say that Linderman paid him to kill Hart.

The problem with that, Whitney said, was Meister had not yet confessed to the shooting, and Kastens was therefore lying. While the ploy didn't work on Linderman, Whitney suggested Kastens' murder-for-hire scenario influenced Meister when he interrogated him a short time later, helping induce a false confession.

Whitney and fellow defense attorney Scott Chapman told 2nd District Judge Carl Kerrick they will likely call just two more witnesses. Meister's 2003 conviction for first-degree murder and conspiracy was thrown out after the Idaho Supreme Court ruled the judge at that trial made several errors.

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Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or (208) 883-0564.