First-degree murder trial: Medical examiner testifies victim was strangled
Mar. 22—TAZEWELL, Va. — A medical examiner testified Tuesday that a woman whose body was found on East River Mountain in 2017 had been strangled.
A jury started hearing testimony in the trial of Michael Wayne Pennington Jr., who has been charged with first-degree murder and other offenses in the April 2017 death of Kaitlyn "Katiee " Toler of Bluefield, Va.
Toler's body was found on April 6, 2017 along Mountain Lane in Bluefield, Va. Pennington has been indicted on charges including first-degree murder, concealing a dead body, three counts of grand larceny, three counts of grand larceny with intent to sell or distribute, credit card theft, credit card fraud and receiving stolen goods from credit card fraud. Pennington had been living with Toler and Toler's mother.
The Commonwealth's first witness was Dr. Amy Tharp, assistant chief medical examiner, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner-Western District. The courtroom's lights were dimmed as Commonwealth's Attorney J. Chris Plaster turned on a big-screen television and showed the jury photographs taken during the autopsy which Tharp conducted.
While answering Plaster's questions, Tharp said that she found no injuries indicating a sexual assault and no signs of a drug overdose. Toxicology tests showed some alcohol which was "the equivalent of one or two beers," and a therapeutic level of Benadryl, an over-the-counter medication. There was also no indication that Toler was pregnant at the time of her death.
Plaster asked Tharp if she had determined the cause of death, and she replied that it was "ligature strangulation." This is different from manual strangulation which involves placing hands around a person's neck.
"She had something around her neck that cut off oxygen to her brain," she said.
Other possible causes of death were ruled out, Tharp said. Toler was "otherwise a perfectly healthy individual" with no signs of diseases or a drug overdose.
When Plaster asked Tharp how long it might take death to occur during strangulation, she replied that it could require three to five minutes.
Attorney David Kelley, who is representing Pennington, asked Tharp about the possible time of death. She said Toler could have died at least 24 hours before the examination, but since the body had been outdoors in the cold, it would be difficult to determine.
The weapon had not been found. Tharp said it "appears to be at least an inch in diameter," but could not come up with specific dimensions.
A person who worked with Toler at ResCare in Princeton, Monica McKinney, testified that she and Toler usually worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift, and that Pennington normally picked her up when their shift ended. She said that to her knowledge, nobody else ever picked her up at work, and that Toler did not have a car.
McKinney testified that on the day she went missing, Toler did not show up for work. Being a "no show" for a shift meant automatically losing your job. Pennington telephoned and asked when he should pick up Toler, and did not seem surprised or asked any questions when he was told that she was not there. McKinney said she told her coworkers that this was "weird" because he had never called before that day.
Kelley asked McKinney if there were any rumors about Toler being intimate with a male coworker, and she replied that there had been rumors.
The trial is scheduled to continue today and is expected to continue until March 28 or 29.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
