The psychopathic racial personality. A firearms expert testified that the gun used, a 12 gauge Mossberg model 500A shotgun, requires 6.5 pounds of pressure to pull the trigger, after first loading it with shotgun shells, racking it, and taking the safety off. 

From [HERE] Twentieth District Court Judge David Turfe bound Theodore Wafer, 54, the admitted killer of 19-year Renisha McBride, over for trial on all counts of second-degree murder, manslaughter and felony firearms Dec. 19. Wafer, a white Dearborn Heights resident, admitted to blasting McBride in the face with a shotgun, killing her instantly as she stood on his front porch early during the morning of Nov. 2, 2013, allegedly seeking help after a car accident. 

“Uh, yes, I just shot somebody on my front porch with a shotgun banging on my door,” Wafer said during a 911 call played during his preliminary exam. “I live at 16812 W. Outer Drive. Thank you.”  He hung up the phone after the dispatcher asked what city he was in.

McBride was Black. “The testimony of the first witness, Carmen Beasley, summed it up in a nutshell,” Judge Turfe said during his ruling. McBride earlier ran into cars parked in front of Beasley’s house on Bramell in Detroit.

“[Mrs. Beasley] called 911 first,” the judge noted. “She thought first, then she acted. . .The evidence shows the defendant [Wafer] made a bad decision. There were other reasonable opportunities available. I believe the prosecution has met their burden of proof.”

Beasley testified that she only went outside after calling 911, observing the scene, and noting a young woman who appeared to be hurt and dazed. She said she tried to help McBride, asking her to remain until EMS came. But, she said, McBride kept repeating, “I just want to go home,” then eventually wandered off down Warren Ave. 

“The defense argues Michigan’s Self-Defense Act,” Judge Turfe added. “Yes, if someone knocks or bangs on your door, a reasonable person might bring a shotgun to the door to either shoot, scare the person, or defend yourself. But could [the defendant] have not answered the door, called for help, or run to another area of the house? Instead he chose to shoot.” 

Testimony showed that Wafer had to go to a back bedroom to get the shotgun, open the solid front door behind a screen door, and then pull the trigger to kill McBride. A firearms expert testified that the gun used, a 12 gauge Mossberg model 500A shotgun, requires 6.5 pounds of pressure to pull the trigger, after first loading it with shotgun shells, racking it, and taking the safety off.

The defense claimed variously that the shooting was in self-defense or accidental. At one point, attorney Cheryl Carpenter said it was possible that McBride held the screen door open and tried to grab the gun. Carpenter kept referring to “smudges” allegedly found on the side and front doors, claiming they showed McBride had banged on both doors with her fist or palm.

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Danielle Hagaman-Clark responded that there was no evidence the smudges were even caused by a human being.

“There was no evidence that supports a break-in,” Clark said. “There was no damage to the frame or the screen [other than the hole caused by the shotgun blast], or to the door behind it. There was no testimony that Ms. McBridge banged on the doors. But even if that was the case, you don’t pick up your phone to call 911? You’re so afraid of the folk(s) that are out there, that you open up your door to invite them into the home?”

Police also testified that there was no evidence of damage or attempted damage to door locks on either the front or side doors.

On the first day of the exam, Wayne County Assistant Medical Examiner McBride Medical Examiner Kilak Kesha was subjected to a lengthy, grueling cross exam on his credentials by the defense, including references to his education in his native India, but Judge Turfe qualified him as an expert witness.

Kesha testified that McBride died from a shotgun wound to the face and that he classified the manner of death as homicide.

A sketch of the wound showed it extending from her left eye downwards along her nose to her upper lip, approximately 3 inches long and 2 inches wide. He said there was no evidence of “close-range” firing such as stippling or soot, but estimated that she was likely three feet from the gun when she was shot, due to the limited pattern of shotgun pellet spread. He also said it was possible that the screen door may have prevented evidence of stippling.

“The [pellets] had passed through the soft tissue and bones of the face, and entered the brain,” Kesha said. “Also in this injury were skull fractures and bleeding around the brain. The wound trail was from front to back and left to right.”

Over the defense’s objection, Pesha testified that there was no evidence that alcohol or marijuana had contributed to her death. Judge Turfe said in his summation that Kesha also testified McBride’s body was wet when it entered the morgue. There has been unsubstantiated speculation that she had therefore been in a body of water and was dumped on the porch. However, Dearborn Heights police disputed that in a statement, saying she was killed on the porch.

An officer testified that a “light rain” was coming down when they arrived at the scene.

There has also been speculation about the alleged interval of approximately three hours between the car accident and McBride’s reported death. However, the time of death appears to have been based on the time that Wafer reported the killing to 911.

A map shows that the distance from Bramell and Warren, the scene of the car accident, to Wafer’s home, was approximately one-half mile, which would have involved only a short walk. No evidence was introduced from neighbors or other witnesses who may have heard the shotgun blast itself, and at what time they heard it.

The possibility remains that Wafer may have killed McBride earlier than the time he reported it, and that she lay on his front porch for some time in the light rain, which would explain the wet condition of her body.

Wafer’s arraignment on the information will take place Wed. Jan. 15, 2014  in the Third Judicial Circuit Court (Frank Murphy hall) in downtown Detroit. Judge Turfe continued his bond, set earlier by another Judge. According to some legal experts, charges of second-degree murder generally result in remand, although it is not required.