BOULDER — Jurors in Diego Olmos Alcalde’s murder trial viewed autopsy photos Wednesday that showed severe injuries to Susannah Chase’s skull and brain that prosecutors say she sustained at the hands of the defendant.
Defense attorney Mary Claire Mulligan argued that the cause of Chase’s death is not in question and said the photos would serve only to “shock and stir” the jury.
But prosecutor Amy Okubo said the photos are important because they speak to the fact that Alcalde intended to kill the 23-year-old University of Colorado senior when he struck her with a baseball bat.
Boulder District Judge James Klein ruled to admit the photos. He said the law favors inclusion of evidence and that the prejudicial nature of the photos would have to far outweigh their evidentiary value for them to be kept out.
But he warned jurors to view the photographs dispassionately.
As the jurors looked at the photos, Boulder County deputy coroner John Meyer pointed out six lacerations to Chase’s scalp, three fractures to her skull, and areas of bleeding, swelling and bruising on her brain.
He told the jury Chase’s head injuries were consistent with blunt- force trauma.
Alcalde is charged with raping and beating Chase on Dec. 21, 1997, and leaving her in a downtown Boulder alley. She died the next day.
Alcalde was picked up by police more than 10 years after the crime, when his DNA was matched to semen found in Chase’s body.
Alcalde contends the real killer is still out there.
Earlier Wednesday, the jury heard from Dr. William Abbott, the emergency-room physician who assessed Chase at Boulder Community Hospital after she was found by police.
Abbott testified that Chase had deep lacerations that “extended down to the skull,” indicative of “quite a severe force.” He said it soon became evident to him that her brain was swelling.
During cross-examination, the defense challenged Abbott’s reversal of his assessment nearly 12 years ago that Chase had not been sexually assaulted.
But Wednesday, the doctor told the jury a lack of trauma doesn’t always indicate consensual sex. About half of sex assaults don’t leave signs of physical trauma, he said.
“I was drawing a conclusion that wasn’t supported by my exam and I don’t know why I did that,” Abbott said.
