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Death penalty trial begins in the slaying of the Wolfe sisters (Includes first-hand account)

Susan Wolf, 44, finished her job as a teacher’s aide at Hilel Academy in Pittsburgh, and after running some errands, arrived at her East End home she shared with her sister Sarah, 38, who was a psychiatrist at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, around 7:20 p.m.

A little over an hour after Susan walked in the door things changed. “She was beaten savagely,” Assistant District Attorney William Petulla told the jury in his opening argument. Mr. Petulla, in great detail, explained how Susan’s blood was smeared on walls, doors and steps and how she suffered through a prolonged beating before she was shot “execution style” in the back of her head.

“She was powerless and unable to stop the attack,” Mr. Petulla said. “She didn’t go down without a fight.” “She was able to get some of Allen Wade’s DNA under her fingernails,” he added.

Wade, 45, of Pittsburgh who was a neighbor of the Wolfe sisters is charged in the slayings and also charged with robbery, kidnapping and weapons offenses.

At some point before or after the murder, Mr. Petulla said Wade stripped all of Susan’s clothes off, leaving her lying face down and naked in front of the washer and dryer.

Mr. Petulla told the jury that Wade was already in the house when Sarah returned home around 9:40 p.m. and he beat her, although not as severely as he had beaten Susan, and then shot her in the back of the head.

The defendant made a “ton of mistakes in the hours after the murders were committed that left a trail of evidence,” Mr. Petulla told the jury.

Video from a nearby library showed Sarah’s Ford Fiesta pull into the parking lot and a man Mr. Petulla maintains is Wade is seen walking from the car. He was wearing very distinctive white tennis shoes that had straps on them as opposed to laces.

Video from an ATM machine shows a man wearing a red sweatshirt and gray sweatpants walk past the machine and return a few minutes later and withdraw $600 from Susan’s account, while attempting to shield his face Mr. Petulla told jurors.

The man was seen holding the sisters’ PNC Bank debit cards “like they were trophies,” he added. Bank records indicate that the same man also attempted unsuccessfully to withdraw money from Sarah’s account.

The $600 “was the value of two lives lost,” Mr. Petulla argued.

Mr. Petulla also told the jury about surveillance footage from nearby businesses that show Wade removing the sweatpants and a knit cap he was wearing; which were recovered by police and which contain Wade’s DNA.

In the pants police found a business card belonging to a social worker who Mr. Petulla told the jury will testify that Susan was a client of his, but he did not know Wade. Police also recovered a pair of socks that have both Wade’s as well as Sarah’s DNA on them.

POLICE MANIPULATED EVIDENCE

Public Defender Lisa G. Middleman, told jurors that the police manipulated evidence and changed reports in a rush to solve the case because the sisters were “good victims” — they were “white and came from an influential family.”

The case has grabbed national attention partially because of the brutality of the slayings and also because a Wolfe family member is a member of the Iowa state legislature. Several family members of the slain sisters are attending the trial.

“I’m not going to whine about how the decked is stacked against Allen Wade,” Ms. Middleman told they jury. The DA represents the police agencies, the crime labs in the state. “If you’re gonna have all the money and power then you also have the burden of proving Mr. Wade guilty.

“Please keep in mind that neither side has a monopoly on the truth and that you will hear evidence that Mr. Wade is not guilty,” she added.

Ms. Middleman argued to jurors in her opening statement that police failed to investigate Sarah’s boyfriend, Matthew Buchholz, whom she had been dating for eight months after meeting him online. Mr. Buchholz testified Monday afternoon how he had received a Facebook message requesting he check on Sarah because she had not shown up for work that morning.

He said he arrived at the house around 1 p.m. on Feb. 7 along with a police officer and opened the door using a key Sarah had given him the day before so that he could let an electrician in to do repairs. Mr. Buchholz said he entered the house along with a police officer and noted the alarm was off. “I saw a pair of bare legs” as he looked down into the basement he told the jury tearfully, and also testified he saw blood on a wall and a broken table.

Mr. Buchholz told the jury that he was questioned by police for several hours and also had taken a polygraph test, but did not say what the result was. Common Pleas Judge Edward Borkowski told the jury to disregard his testimony regarding the test.

Ms. Middleman also told the jury that the DNA results that implicate Wade should be disregarded because of the way the results were secured with software that prosecutors purchased. In an earlier ruling Judge Borkowski said that the results could be used at trial and denied a defense request seeking the source code for the software.

Defense attorneys at first appealed the ruling to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, but in March withdrew the appeal.

According to the software TrueAllele, the DNA found under Susan Wolfe’s fingernails, a sock found near Sarah Wolfe’s car and a knit cap found in the Wolfe house during an earlier burglary investigation are linked to Wade. The sock also contains Sarah Wolfe’s DNA.

Dr. Kenneth Clark a forensic pathologist who preformed each sister’s autopsy told the jury late Monday afternoon that Susan suffered numerous — very think lacerations to her head, face and back. Wade showed no visible reaction when the grizzly autopsy and over 30 crime scene photos were displayed on a large screen television, however, several of the deceased sisters’ family members were seen weeping and leaving the courtroom.

Dr. Clark said that he was unable to determine with any degree of certainty the exact time of death.

Testimony Tuesday included a blood spatter expert who testified that blood found in an entrance hallway was the result of a beating or stabbing.

Detective John Hamilton, a crime scene investigator, testified that cleaning products, including bleach, was found near the bodies and there was evidence that someone had attempted to clean up the blood.

“You’ll never find my DNA in that house,” Mr. Petulla told jurors Wade said to a detective while they were canvassing the area on Feb. 8.

“It’s the hardest part. You know what happened, but the necessary evil of having to sit in the courtroom and look at the injuries—it’s brutal, I wouldn’t wish it on anybody,” Kevin Wolfe, the brother of the victims told CBS Affiliate KDKA after testimony concluded Tuesday.

The trial is expected to last three weeks and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty if Wade is convicted of murder.

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