PORT ANGELES — Testimony at Dennis Marvin Bauer’s triple-murder trial earlier this week was capped by a rundown of the prosecution’s case about what motivated the Lower Elwha Road resident to allegedly shoot two men and a woman the day after Christmas 2018.
“This is about drugs, this is about avenging a rape,” Michele Devlin, Clallam County chief deputy prosecuting attorney, said Tuesday during the fourth week of the prosecution presenting its case.
Bauer, 53, a convicted felon, is charged with three counts of first-degree aggravated murder and 14 firearms-related charges. He’s accused of shooting trucking company owner Darrell “Dar” Iverson, 57; his son Jordan, 27; and Jordan’s girlfriend, Tiffany May, 26, all of 52 Bear Meadow Road east of Port Angeles.
Proceedings also included Devlin citing a COVID-19-related incident she disclosed after testimony ended and the jury had been dismissed for the day.
“We had a COVID scare [Monday] that we were able to take care of and make sure that [there were] no problems and nothing came into the courthouse,” Devlin told Superior Court Judge Lauren Erickson and not saying more.
The 16 jurors — the panel has alternates — had to attest to being vaccinated, which is not required of all others in the courtroom. Everyone must wear protective masks.
The person was a witness who was tested “and we moved on with the case,” Devlin said later in a text message.
“We assured that no one was sick nor had symptoms.”
Erickson, who said Wednesday she was unaware of the incident until Devlin’s disclosure, was not concerned.
“She’s doing what they need to do,” she said.
Witnesses Tuesday included Calvin Kuykendall, a neighbor and longtime friend of the Iversons who last saw them Dec. 22, 2018.
Kuykendall said he stopped by the house Dec. 26 as he planned to have Jordan Iverson help him restore a tractor and again Dec. 29, finding the door open both times and no one answering his knock.
Alexander “Butch” Zaharias’ vehicle dashboard camera showed the jury his SUV’s hood as he went down unimproved Bear Meadow Road past the Iversons’ residence Dec. 27, Dec. 28 and Dec. 31.
“The front door remained open both night and day when we drove by,” Zaharias recalled.
Sheriff’s Office Inspector Josh Ley testified extensively about cellphone tower locations and said he took DNA mouth-swab samples of Bauer and Kallie Ann LeTellier, 37, who has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in May’s death.
Ley testified about location information extracted from Bauer’s and Jordan Iverson’s cellphones showing service from Port Angeles and Sequim towers.
LeTellier, who lived at Bauer’s residence, has said the Iversons were killed as retribution for them raping her two weeks before the murders. She is the only eyewitness to testify in the trial. She has said Bauer ordered her at gunpoint to shoot May.
Ryan Ward, 40, has been sentenced to three life sentences without parole after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree aggravated murder and 16 firearms-related charges.
After the jury left for the day, Erickson discussed when the trial might recess for the holidays.
Unger wanted to know when ballistics and DNA experts will testify.
“Not this week, it may not be next week,” Devlin responded.
Unger said a witness for the prosecution who was allegedly supplying drugs to Bauer, Ward and LeTellier has refused to cooperate in the proceedings and has retained an attorney.
“All of these things add time to the trial that I do not believe are relevant to the issues at hand,” she said.
Devlin said she is preparing documents to issue a material witness warrant by Monday to force his appearance.
“With regard to our case, we still have jail calls, we still have the processing of [the] Lower Elwha [Road residence of Bauer], we still have multiple other witnesses,” she said, noting the COVID-19 incident also delayed proceedings.
Devlin said Unger may object to the testimony this week of Noreen Iverson, Darrell Iverson’s ex-wife and Jordan’s mother. She alerted Iverson’s sister, Wendy Peterson, on Dec. 31, 2018, that she had been unable to reach Darrell Iverson for five days, according to a probable cause statement.
Peterson’s subsequent visit that same day to Bear Meadow Road led to the discovery of the victims.
Devlin said other upcoming witnesses include Mike Hill, Steve Gumm, Randy Pieper, Erik Smith, Jeff Ordona, Mike Grall, Stacey Sampson, John Stewart and Derek Allen.
“All of these are law enforcement officers,” she said.
Unger is disputing the need for testimony from about a dozen of the state’s witnesses “of people I have no idea” why they are testifying.
“Like Ryan Ward’s ex-wives, or estranged wives,” she said. “I don’t know why they’re on the witness list.”
Unger challenged calling the alleged drug dealer as a witness.
Devlin said the information was not new.
“The court has already found a conspiracy between the three accomplices,” Devlin said. “It has to do with drugs.”
Bauer, LeTellier and Ward were sending a money order to the dealer, and then a payment failed, setting off a murderous chain of events, Devlin said.
“There was a shortage of money, there was a shortage of drugs,” Devlin said.
“What do you do when there’s a shortage of drugs? You take care of the person that is supplying you.”
Darrel Iverson was “the financier in the whole thing,” Devlin said.
“There’s a whole bunch of convoluted spider webs that we have to bring the people in, in order to explain those spider webs on the drug part,” she said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.