For nearly 20 minutes Friday morning, the Trigg County Circuit Courtroom was silent — save for two specific noises.
The buzzing of a television, showing a complete crime scene walkthrough of the Cerulean Road home — taken around 11:57 AM, July 3, 2021, by Kentucky State Police.
And the weeping of Landon Stinson, who walked back to the defense’s table and cried — as the video panned to the living room and showed a slumped Matthew Blakeley in the recliner, and Sue Faris in the floor.
He is charged with their July 2, 2021, familial double homicide.
What followed was a complete review of more than 40 pieces of evidence and photographs collected by Kentucky State Police at both the Faris home on July 3, 2021, as well as Stinson’s apartment on Julien Road. This came through Commonwealth’s Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins and Kentucky State Police Detective Brian Hill.
From Cerulean Road, jurors got an intimate look at 9mm Hornady casings and projectiles which were located near the bodies, photos of the deceased, as well as an empty Smith & Wesson 9mm magazine.
From Julien Road, jurors got a similarly close look at two empty Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun box, one of which still had its manufacturer’s certificate in it, as well as a pair of broken cell phones, one found next to the property and the other in a trashcan. A close up of a box/bag with drug paraphernalia, found near the wooded tree line, was also shared.
Stemming from earlier suppression motions filed by Stinson’s defenders Bill Deatherage and Chris Woodall, multiple objections were noted and overruled by Circuit Judge Natalie White.
Det. Hill did admit to Ovey-Wiggins that he “apparently missed” a bit of evidence at the Faris home, referring to the marijuana supply located in a seat flap of Blakeley’s silver-gray Toyota Tacoma.
Prior to all of the evidence being entered and reviewed, two other noted individuals took the stand for the Commonwealth: Robert Allen and Drug Enforcement Agent Unit Chief Donald Stuart Hurst.
The brother of Faris, Allen testified that he often visited his sister, and had stopped by the night of the crime sometime between 6 and 6:30 PM.
He went to the back door, rang the bell and knocked several times, and to no avail. He sat in the driveway and waited with “a bad feeling,” but noted it was possible she had been picked up for a trip with family.
He went home, called two or three times on the landline, and couldn’t get answers.
It’s here where Deatherage dug for more, and brought about stir from the Commonwealth.
As for Agent Hurst, he served as expert witness to the license plate reader, and confirmed the legitimacy of Stinson’s plate being caught in Amarillo, Texas, the morning of July 3, 2021.
As of noon, Det. Hill was still under cross examination from Woodall and Deatherage. This is day five of the trial, but day two of testimony.
