DNA highlights murder trial testimony
JASPER, Tenn. — DNA evidence in the trial of Angela Kilgore, the woman accused of killing Whitwell business owner Jerry Ridge in 2016, was produced from sampling numerous items in evidence, but DNA evidence from both the suspect and victim on a single item was a rarer find.
It was found on a shirt seized from Kilgore’s truck, on a can of lighter fluid and on gloves found near Ridge’s body.
Kilgore, 53, was arrested in October 2016 in the May 17, 2016, death of the 72-year-old Ridge, whose body was found by firefighters inside his State Route 28 business, Valley Pawn Brokers, after a fire. Authorities were suspicious of the fire early on.
Kilgore’s jury trial began Monday in Marion County Circuit Court in Jasper, before state Senior Judge Don Ash.
Testimony on Tuesday came from local and state law enforcement, local and state fire officials, TBI forensic scientists, a DNA expert from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, a Ridge family member and a man who works at a convenience store down the street from the crime scene.
DNA from blood samples matched Kilgore on a blue plaid shirt found in Kilgore’s truck and a knife from Kilgore’s pocket, and at least three of the weapons Kilgore allegedly took from the pawnshop. Ridge’s blood DNA was found on numerous items introduced as evidence, including things from his desk and surfaces all over the pawnshop.
Many of the DNA samples were a mixture of “at least two individuals,” most of the time tying only Ridge to the sample as the “major contributor” of DNA in the sample. Most of the time, only one person’s DNA was identified.
But both Kilgore’s and Ridge’s DNA was found on the gloves and the blue plaid shirt seized from Kilgore’s truck.
Assistant Public Defender Norm Lipton attacked how investigators collected evidence, how many people were walking around the crime scene and whether the DNA evidence was reliable.
Lipton even had TBI DNA expert witness Lisa Burgee use a calculator on the stand to figure the concentration of DNA sampled and what makes the difference between “major” and “minor” contributors in a sample.
Earlier in the day, witnesses testified that Kilgore was at the Valley Pawn Brokers shop owned by Ridge earlier the afternoon of the fire and spoke with another woman who was there to make a payment to Ridge. The woman testified that Kilgore didn’t seem upset, but she noticed Kilgore was wearing purple nitrile gloves.
The witness also said Kilgore was driving a red pickup truck and testified that her 8-year-old grandson went with her and Kilgore to look at puppies in the truck while at the pawnshop.
The woman said Kilgore was still at the pawnshop when she left about 3:30 p.m. CDT that day. Fire officials testified that the fire broke out about 4:50 p.m. CDT and Ridge’s body was found shortly thereafter.
Other testimony came from an employee at a nearby convenience store who said Kilgore was at the store at the time he learned a fire had broken out at the pawnshop down the street. Kilgore asked him if he knew what was going on, he testified.
He said he called the police to find out what was happening and told Kilgore the pawn shop had burned and she replied, “Oh, really?” and then gave the same reply when he told her he thought someone might have been found inside.
Kilgore returned to the store again later in the evening, after local police had asked the man at the store to watch for a red pickup truck they believed belonged to her.
When Kilgore returned in the truck, the store employee photographed it and notified police. The employee also testified that he noticed Kilgore wearing “fresh white bandaging” on her hand and that blood was showing through the bandage.
Other testimony Tuesday morning from fire and law enforcement investigators involved accelerants used to start the fire, Zippo lighter fluid cans found during the investigation and autopsy results that showed Ridge had sustained a gunshot wound from a .25-caliber pistol and been stabbed in the neck.
Purple gloves were found at the fire scene, near Ridge’s body, along with a bloodstained receipt book with Kilgore’s name in it for her purchase of $4,000 worth of items.
It was the last transaction Ridge conducted.
The trial will resume at 8:30 a.m. CDT Wednesday with expected state testimony from the medical examiner and other investigators. Assistant District Attorney Steve Strain told Judge Ash at the end of the day Tuesday that he believed the state might be able to rest its case by lunchtime.