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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah pediatrician accused of killing his ex-wife seemed surprised that he was not arrested the night her body was found, a Salt Lake City police officer testified Friday afternoon.
Salt Lake police Detective Tracy Ita said that after an initial police interview, 50-year-old John Brickman Wall seemed surprised when officers told him he would be taken home and said, "But I'm a monster."
Defense attorney Fred Metos said Wall made comments about being "a monster" after officers asked him what his children would think of him if he was responsible for Uta Von Schwedler's death.
Metos also noted there was no transcript or recording of the comments made immediately after the September 2011 interview.
Wall's attorney Fred Metos has asked a Utah judge to rule Wall's statements to police during the initial interview should not be allowed at the upcoming murder trial because they were made under "psychological and physical coercion" by the detectives.
Metos is also asking the judge to throw out statements Wall made to his children and others in the days after Von Schwedler, 49, was found dead in her bathtub.
A medical examiner ruled Von Schwedler died from drowning as well as a fatal amount of Xanax. The medical examiner stopped short of ruling it was a homicide or suicide. Police called the death suspicious but didn't arrest Wall until April 2013.
Prosecutors said there wasn't a single piece of evidence that broke the case open. Instead, a combination of factors stacked up, leading prosecutors to charge Wall with murder 18 months after Von Schwedler died.
Some of the key pieces included DNA evidence under the victim's fingernails that didn't rule out Wall; the fact that von Schwedler died in part due to an overdose of Xanax but didn't have a prescription and was not depressed; and Wall's inability to explain his whereabouts the night of her death.
Metos has argued that the evidence suggests Von Schwedler ingested the Xanax herself.
Judge Denise Lindberg is not expected to rule on the statements until additional police testimony can be heard next Tuesday.
Wall appeared in court Friday with his wrists and ankles shackled and wore a blue jail jumpsuit. During the hearing, he kept his head bowed while taking notes on a yellow notepad perched on his lap.
Ita testified Friday that during the initial police interview, Wall was not isolated and was allowed breaks and water.
He said Wall did not question why officers showed up to interview him.
"We had not told him anything. We just showed up and asked him if he'd come down and talk with us," Ita said. "It seemed odd that he wouldn't ask us why we wanted to speak to him."
Officers lied to Wall when they told him he wasn't a suspect and that DNA linked him to the scene, Metos said, arguing the officer knew it was too early in the investigation for any DNA tests to have been completed.
After Friday's hearing, Metos told reporters that those statements and officers' behavior caused Wall to make "somewhat incriminating" statements.
"He never really admitted doing anything," Metos said. "The best he said is, 'I don't remember doing that,' or 'I don't think I did it.'"
Prosecutor Matthew Janzen declined to comment after Friday's hearing.
Last October, Wall pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and aggravated burglary. No trial date has been set.
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