When the first police officer found her, 61-year-old Judith Pyle was lying behind a trash bin, propped on one elbow and screaming for help. The temperature was near zero.
She was cold to the touch and her speech was slurred, but she was able to give police a description of the man who attacked and raped her. Then, four hours later, she died of cardiac arrest at a hospital.
On Tuesday, Willie Trimble went on trial on counts of felony murder and sexual assault in the attack on Pyle.
Prosecutor Josh Franklin told the jury that the trial will prove Trimble’s DNA was found on the victim, who had just gotten off an RTD bus near her house when she was attacked Dec. 9, 2007.
Prosecutors also intend to prove that the sexual assault and attack led to her death.
Jurors will first have to decide whether Trimble, 47, is guilty of sexual assault, then determine whether those actions caused Pyle’s death.
The attack took place in an alley near East 35th Avenue and Clayton Street in Denver.
Pyle died after going into cardiac arrest after she was taken to the hospital. Her core temperature had dropped to 88 degrees.
“She was pretty distraught,” said Denver policeman Michael Oestmann, the officer who found Pyle. “She just seemed a mess.”
But defense lawyer Suzanne Katchmar told jurors there are “holes in the allegations” and raised questions about whether Pyle’s previous medical conditions might have caused her death.
While cross-examining Oestmann, Katchmar implied he and other officers didn’t do enough to keep Pyle warm while they waited for paramedics to treat her.
Oestmann and another officer helped Pyle to her feet and held her clothing on her while leading her to the back seat of his police car.
Pyle was unable to put her legs inside the car while police questioned her about who attacked her, and Oestmann testified he did not want to force her legs inside because the back seat is cramped.
Chris Piatz, an emergency medical technician, testified Pyle was cold to the touch when he arrived about a half hour after police found her, and her condition was consistent with hypothermia.
“Her clothing was disheveled and wet and cold,” Piatz said. “I noted dried blood to the left of her head, and she seemed to be in an altered mental status. She had slurred speech; she had difficulty answering my questions. She told me she was raped.”
Piatz said he turned on the heaters in the ambulance and placed blankets on Pyle to warm her up.
Katchmar asked Piatz about whether the symptoms Pyle displayed could be attributed to diabetic shock.
“Those were some of the symptoms I saw, yes,” he said.
The trial will continue today.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
