Murder trial testimony continues
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on October 15, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Gary Metzger, left, waits for court to reconvene after a lunch break Tuesday. Metzger is on trial for the first-degree murder of Jean Metzger Hubbard. On Tuesday, witnesses discussed the discovery of the victim's body as well as the autopsy results. Testimony in the case was expected to resume today.
Jean Hubbard did not die peacefully of natural causes in 2011.
Instead, she was suffocated with two plastic grocery bags.
The "simple," "quiet" woman did not receive a proper burial.
Rather, her body was wrapped in a sheet and bound with twine before being transported to a wooded area off Millers Chapel Road and concealed with leaves, branches and shrubbery.
The men and women who will decide the fate of a man charged with first-degree murder in connection with his sister's death heard testimony and saw photographs associated with the last few moments of Ms. Hubbard's life -- and the aftermath of a crime the state alleges was perpetrated by the woman's brother, Gary, and his wife, Ann.
And as they reviewed, one by one, images captured by a State Bureau of Investigation agent and medical examiner, tears fell.
A second day of testimony unfolded Tuesday inside the Wayne County Courthouse as Assistant District Attorney Matthew Delbridge continued to build a case he told the court should wrap up by the end of the day.
And while the photographs of Ms. Hubbard's body drew the most visceral reaction from the jury box, the moments SBI Agent Justin Godwin and forensic pathologist Jonathan Privette spent on the stand were not the only sensational ones witnessed by the jurors.
Goldsboro police officers detailed the events that unfolded Aug. 4, 2011 -- when a search for Ms. Hubbard's body near the Metzgers' home turned into a manhunt for the man and his wife.
Sgt. Doug Bethea said when he arrived at the scene, he was told to follow a man and woman walking away from it -- but that moments later, he lost sight of them.
And GPD Selective Enforcement Unit officer Thomas Collins said he responded to the vicinity of Wilber's Barbecue to resume the search.
"There was a soybean field, so I could see where the beans had been stepped on. As soon as I saw the beans had been stepped on and footprints in the sand, I saw a white male subject behind some trees," Collins told the court.
The man, he added, started running.
But when the officer pulled out his firearm and commanded him to stop, he did.
"And there was a female past where he was," Collins said.
Both suspects would ultimately be taken into custody and later identified as Gary and Ann Metzger.
Testimony was scheduled to resume this morning and the state is expected to wrap up its case.
It is unclear whether or not Mrs. Metzger will testify against her husband.
Tuesday's witnesses included:
State Witness No. 10, Goldsboro Police Department Cpl. Trevor Albaugh: Told the court that he responded to several crime scenes associated with the 2011 death of Ms. Hubbard. He testified that he was among the lawmen called to Ms. Hubbard's home Aug. 4, 2011 -- that he photographed and collected several pieces of evidence there, including a newspaper dated July 29, 2011, a bank statement dated Aug. 1, 2011, and several ATM receipts. He also told the court that he was dispatched to the home of Gary and Ann Metzger Aug. 5, 2011 -- that he photographed and collected several pieces of evidence there, as well. Among those items was a bundle of "twine rope" and more ATM receipts. Albaugh testified that he was also present when Goldsboro police processed Ms. Hubbard's car in the Spence Avenue Walmart parking lot -- that after it was moved to a storage facility, he photographed and collected several ATM receipts found inside the car. The officer, at the request of Assistant District Attorney Matthew Delbridge, presented and identified several pieces of physical evidence that were recovered during the course of the GPD's investigation into Ms. Hubbard's death. Among that evidence was a stack of cash, a handwritten note, Ms. Hubbard's debit card, various receipts and the twine found in the Metzgers' shed. During cross-examination, defense attorney Bill Gerrans asked Albaugh if any DNA analysis was conducted on any of the evidence. The officer said there was not. Albaugh also confirmed that there were several other lawmen present at the scenes he responded to -- that no fingerprint evidence was found and no handwriting analysis was conducted on the note that was recovered from the Metzgers' home.
State Witness No. 11, Goldsboro Police Department Investigator Doug Bethea: Told the court that he was present when lawmen decided to search for Ms. Hubbard's remains Aug. 4, 2011, near the home of Gary and Ann Metzger. He testified that when he arrived, he was told to follow a man and woman who were walking away from the scene, but shortly after he began his pursuit, he lost sight of them. When asked if one of the two people was in the courtroom Tuesday, he identified Metzger.
State Witness No. 12, Goldsboro Police Department Selective Enforcement Unit officer Thomas Collins: Told the court that he was the person who ultimately located the Metzgers after they fled the scene of the search for Ms. Hubbard's body Aug. 4, 2011 -- and detailed the manhunt for the couple. Collins testified that he was told that the couple had fled across U.S. 70 and had taken a path "directly behind Wilber's Barbecue," so he attempted to find them. When that location did not pan out, he took another path -- one "leading to a field" -- and searched the area. "There was a soybean field, so I could see where the beans had been stepped on. As soon as I saw the beans had been stepped on and footprints in the sand, I saw a white male subject behind some trees." The man, he said, attempted to flee, but when Collins pulled out his firearm and commanded him to stop, he did. "And there was a female past where he was." Both suspects would ultimately be taken into custody and later identified as Gary and Ann Metzger.
State Witness No. 13, State Bureau of Investigation Agent Justin Godwin: Told the court that he was called in to assist the Goldsboro Police Department after they located what they believed was Ms. Hubbard's body in a wooded area off Millers Chapel Road. Godwin testified that he took several photographs at the scene and was the person who uncovered the woman's remains -- she was "not buried in any way," he said, but instead, covered with leaves, branches, logs and shrubs. He also told the court that it was not possible to access the site with a vehicle because the pathway was blocked by concrete barriers -- that the site where the body was discovered was some 1,000 feet away from those constructs. Godwin testified that as he approached the body, the "smell of death" was potent and that when he removed the debris, Ms. Hubbard's remains were in a state of "severe decomposition." The agent said there was a sheet covering the body that had "rope or string" binding the two together in several different locations -- that Ms. Hubbard's head was covered with plastic bags. The body was removed from the site by a funeral home after approval to do so was granted by a medical examiner. During cross-examination, Godwin testified that he was asked to investigate two telephone numbers -- but said he did not use that information to locate people.
State Witness No. 14, forensic pathologist Dr. Jonathan Privette: Told the court that he has performed more than 1,100 autopsies during his career -- that in 2011, he worked for the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Chapel Hill. Wayne County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Arnold Jones recognized Privette as an expert in the field of forensic pathology. The doctor testified that he performed the autopsy on Ms. Hubbard's body. He told the court that a sheet was "secured to the body with twine" -- that there were two plastic bags over her head. Privette also said that during the autopsy, he noticed bruising on Ms. Hubbard's neck that could not have occurred after death and a broken bone near her neck that was consistent with strangulation. He testified that he believes the cause of death was asphyxia caused by strangulation. During his testimony, graphic photographs taken during the autopsy of Ms. Hubbard's decomposed body and the bags over her head were published to the jury. During cross-examination, Privette said he had no way to tell who killed Ms. Hubbard -- whether the person was male or female; whether they were right- or left-handed.