PUBLISHED: October 26, 2021 at 10:33 p.m.
Steve Pankey trial Day 10: Defense calls first witness; inaccurate reports of Pankey’s Asperger syndrome addressed – Greeley Tribune
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Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday morning before defense attorney Anthony Viorst called his first witness, clinical psychologist Dr. Carey Chamberlin, who diagnosed Pankey with Asperger’s syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder.
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Chamberlin initially explained he spent 15 hours with Pankey and met with him on April 4, April 8 and April 15 of this year. Chamberlin later testified during cross-examination he actually spent 11 ½ hours with Pankey to determine his diagnosis and the 15 hours was a “guesstimate.”
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In Chamberlin’s role, he was also required to read through the discovery of Pankey’s case before evaluation began.
After Rourke’s questioning, Chamberlin confessed he never obtained the more than 24,000 pages of the discovery from the Weld County District Attorney’s Office, but he thought he already had it.
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Pankey’s cold case obsession stems from his OCD and Asperger’s syndrome, and began long before the Jonelle Matthews case, according to Chamberlin.
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Rourke read a comment from the psychologist’s report that said the nine exhibits of letters Pankey sent to the DA’s office suggested he participated in Jonelle’s murder. But when considering a Asperger’s diagnosis, the letters indicate nothing except “a fascination with details of cold cases.”
“What other cold cases?” Rouke asked directly after reading the report.
“I don’t know,” Chamberlin responded.
“Did you ask?” Rourke said.
“No,” Chamberlin answered.
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Another common aspect of Asperger’s, in children in particular, is fascination with certain parts of toys, Chamberlin said.
Pankey used to play with toy trucks that clicked when they moved, according to his sister. He took them all apart until he found what made the clicking sound, which was another indication he had the disorder, Chamberlin said during his testimony.
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During cross-examination, Rourke discussed the importance of using multiple sources of information before coming to a diagnostic conclusion as a forensic psychologist, especially to avoid biased collateral sources.
The prosecutor argued that Chamberlin only reviewed a background check, a personality assessment inventory (PAI) data prepared by Dr. Nicole Schneider and nine exhibits introduced at a grand jury proceeding. In addition, he only interviewed two sources: Pankey and his sister.
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Another person’s test results appeared in Pankey’s psych assessment, which appeared to be a templated name. Rourke questioned if the scores could be trusted due to the wrong name appearing over the test results.
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“Those aren’t the defendant’s scores,” Rourke said with a raised voice. “Can we trust the numbers even belong to the defendant?”
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The witness is being paid thousands of dollars for his work by the defense, according to his testimony. In response, Rourke said: “Don’t you think you owe them an accurate report?”
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Upon further questioning, Chamberlin admitted to not interviewing Pankey’s ex-wife, Angela Hicks, and not knowing who she is. Chamberlin’s testimony also revealed he thought Pankey had one son. Pankey had two sons, Rourke said.
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Chamberlin believed Pankey’s answers were designed to fit into a pre-generated area of evaluation, which he described as a function of a “psychopathic tendency,” according to Rourke’s reading of the report.
However, Chamberlin ruled out the diagnosis of a psychotic disorder.
Rourke pointed out Pankey had been searching “Asperger’s syndrome” online as early as 2019, two years before his diagnosis from Chamberlin.
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Detective Mike Prill remained on the stand Tuesday morning before the prosecution rested its case.
Prill discussed more factors that pointed suspicions towards Pankey in the Jonelle case, including sheriffpankey.com, a website created by the suspect when he ran for sheriff in Twin Falls, Idaho.
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The detective also confirmed to Rourke that Pankey had thousands of searches, resulting in at least one every day, about Jonelle’s case starting in 2016.
Viorst continued to make the argument Pankey is a “self-described crime junkie,” with an interest in other young girl kidnappings and murders.
Prill said there were no writings or significant research about any other murder victims in comparison to his search and writings about Jonelle.
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Viorst’s main focus was directing blame on suspect Norris Drake, who was watching the Cosby Show until 9 p.m. at his mother’s house across the street, which would have given him enough time to complete the kidnapping before Jonelle’s father got home at 9:30 p.m.
Prill mentioned a neighbor’s dog was barking at Jonelle’s house around 8:42 p.m. Viorst fired back the neighbor testified he didn’t see anything or anyone in the area.
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The trial for Steve Pankey continues 9 a.m. Wednesday morning with new witnesses from Viorst.
