Testimony begins in 1997 cold case trial
The body of Kirsten Renee Hatfield has never been found
During opening statements in an unusual murder case Tuesday, Oklahoma County prosecutors told jurors the defendant “snatched” the 8-year-old victim from her Midwest City home in 1997.
“This case literally spans two decades,” First Assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland said.
The defendant, Anthony Joseph Palma, was charged in October 2015 with first-degree murder after new DNA testing connected him to items at the crime scene, according to prosecutors. Palma, now 58, is accused in the presumed death of Kirsten Renee Hatfield.
The girl’s body has never been found.
Palma denies any involvement. He sat expressionless during opening statements wearing a dark dress shirt and glasses. He listened intently with his arms crossed and elbows on the defense table.
On May 13, 1997, the girl’s mother, Shannon Hazen, tucked Kirsten and her 3-year-old sister into bed. The next morning, Kirsten was gone.
“When Shannon Hazen went to wake up her daughters, she began the horror that no parent should have to endure,” Rowland told jurors.
Hazen and more than a dozen other relatives were present in court Tuesday.
Hazen’s home then became a major crime scene and investigators found a ripped pair of the victim’s underwear in the backyard, Rowland said. Blood was on the underwear, as well as on the victim’s bedroom windowsill, Rowland said.
Investigators followed numerous leads but the case went cold until new testing of the blood evidence in 2015 revealed DNA from an unknown male, Rowland said. Investigators then decided to obtain DNA samples from male subjects whose names had surfaced in the investigation.
Palma was questioned about Kirsten’s disappearance in 1997 and again in June 2015. He told police both times he was home the night of the incident. During the latter interview, Palma consented to giving a DNA sample, police reported.
Rowland said that after investigators submitted new DNA samples to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, “they had one match, Anthony Palma.”
Palma’s DNA matched the blood found on the girl’s bedroom windowsill and on her underwear, according to prosecutors. Rowland said Palma denied ever having been to the victim’s house and didn’t have an explanation for the DNA match.
Palma lived two doors down from the victim in 1997 and hadn’t moved. After his arrest, investigators spent nearly two weeks searching his home.
“Mr. Palma steadfastly denies involvement,” defense attorney Thomas Hurley told the jury during his opening statement.
The defense attorney doesn’t deny that investigators found genetic material belonging to Palma on items at the crime scene but asked the jurors to determine what it means.
Defense attorneys had tried to get the murder count dismissed, claiming prosecutors couldn’t prove that a crime even happened.
Prosecutors, though, argued that someone can be convicted of murder even if the victim’s body is never recovered as long as the evidence is sufficient “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“No body” cases are rare but Oklahoma County prosecutors have had success getting convictions in the past.
The trial began Monday with jury selection. There are five men and seven women on the jury.
Testimony began Tuesday afternoon with two women telling the jurors about separate incidents of assault in the 1980s involving Palma. District Judge Glenn Jones has allowed the evidence to be presented because it shows a “propensity” of Palma to commit the type of act he is charged with now.
A third woman is expected to testify Wednesday.
When arrested, Palma worked as a groundskeeper at Lake Thunderbird State Park.