Natzke murder case handed to jury
A jury deliberated more than three hours Thursday before recessing for the night without a verdict in the first-degree murder trial of Kevin Duck, who is accused in the 2011 death of his girlfriend, Dawna Natzke.
The state — led by Garland County deputy prosecutors Joe Graham and Shana Alexander — rested its case at 1:10 p.m., leaving 20 witnesses on their list uncalled.
When court reconvened at 1:45 p.m. from a break, the defense rested its case without calling a single witness.
Duck is accused of killing Natzke, a Hot Springs Village Police dispatcher at the time, after they left a Christmas party Dec. 21, 2011. Her body was found Dec. 31, 2011, submerged in a pond near the Jessieville community in northern Garland County.
In closing arguments, Graham laid out the state’s case in a PowerPoint presentation and reviewed testimony from witnesses at the Christmas party who testified that Duck was controlling and angry toward Natzke that night.
Duck was the last one to see Natzke alive, according to investigators.
Although the point was not brought up during trial, Graham told jurors in his closing arguments that “obvious
ly someone had to help Kevin Duck” dispose of the body.
The pond where Natzke’s body was found was less than a mile from Duck’s childhood home, his father Luther Duck testified Wednesday.
Prior to Natzke being found by volunteer searchers, Luther Duck reportedly told investigators that if his son had killed her, the body would be located in that pond.
Katie Moosebroker — a longtime friend of Duck’s who testified Wednesday that Duck propositioned her for sex the day after Natzke’s disappearance — told authorities before Dec. 31 that Natzke would be found in the pond where Duck and her husband often fished, Graham told jurors in the closing arguments. The fact was not brought up during trial.
“That’s a whole lot of coincidences,” Graham said. “That’s too many coincidences.”
In his closing argument, defense attorney T. Clay Janske pointed out the contradictory statements from party guests about Duck and Natzke’s behavior at the party and the witnesses who said that Duck’s arm had no scratches on them at the party.
Some said Duck was angry throughout the night and pushed Natzke out the door as they were leaving. Others said the couple seemed fine and were cordial to guests as they were leaving.
Likewise, some testified that Duck did not have scratches while others admitted they hadn’t noticed. Duck wore a red long-sleeve shirt pulled up on his forearms that night.
Former Hot Springs Village Police Department officer Tom Hickox testified Wednesday that Duck had scratches on his arms when he visited with him at the police station two days after Natzke’s disappearance. Duck has maintained the scratches came from picking up firewood and delivering it to Natzke’s mother’s house a few days prior.
In closing arguments, Janske told jurors to ask themselves why Hickox, a veteran law-enforcement investigator, did not take photographs of the scratches on Duck’s body that day.
Janske also took issue with testimony and cellphone reports presented earlier in the day from the prosecution’s expert witness, FBI Special Agent William Shute.
According to Shute’s analysis, calls were made the morning of Dec. 22 from within sixtenths of a mile from where Natzke’s body was found and from where Natzke’s burned-out car was discovered.
Janske told jurors the information from Shute was not an exact science and relied heavily on information from police investigators.
During earlier cross examination, Shute admitted he had never visited Hot Springs Village or the area where Natzke’s car and body were located. In previous cases in which he testified, Shute normally visited the area and visually inspected the terrain and the cell towers prior to doing the analysis. He also sometimes purchased the exact cellphone model being analyzed in order to make comparisons to data.
“You didn’t do that in this particular case, did you?” Janske asked.
“No,” Shute answered. On redirect on closing arguments, Alexander, the deputy prosecutor, called the defense’s case “smoke and mirrors” and said it came down to the fact that Duck killed Natzke then “he sets the car on fire and then goes to work.”
Jury deliberations will continue at 8:30 a.m. today in the Garland County Court House.