She rolled her eyes. “You know, I can’t really remember the sequence like that. I think I screamed about the same time I saw what I saw.”
“Three seconds,” I said. “And you say Katy Loomis had no reaction to your presence until you screamed?”
“I said. She was just frozen there. Like stuck in time.”
I looked back at Jenna’s statement to Detective DePaul.
“Stuck in time? That seems like a very specific recollection. A precise description. I don’t see that in your statement to the police. Did you just remember that while you’ve been here in court?”
“Objection,” Quick chimed in. “Counsel is making a speech.”
“Your Honor, it is my job to explore the accuracy and consistency of this witness’s statement to the police against what she’s testifying to here today. That’s all.”
“I’ll allow it,” Judge Castor said.
“Can you repeat the question?” Jenna asked.
“Sure. This description you now have of Mrs. Loomis being frozen or stuck in time, that’s new. That isn’t how you described what you saw to Detective DePaul four months ago when the events were fresh in your mind, is it?”
“It’s what I remember. That’s all I can tell you. It’s what I saw. I don’t know if I told it like that to Detective DePaul at the time.Or if I did and she didn’t write it down like that. No clue. But I’m telling you now what I saw. That’s it.”
“All right,” I said. “I’ll move on. Let’s go back in time a bit. You stated on direct that you never sensed tension between Mr. and Mrs. Loomis. Is that right?”
“I guess. Yes. They were nice to each other when I was around them. Yes. But I also said I knew Mrs. Loomis had moved out for a while early in their marriage.”
“But Mr. Loomis never discussed that with you, right?”
“No. He didn’t discuss it with me and I didn’t ask.”
“Okay. And likewise, you never overheard the Loomises arguing when you were in their presence.”
“No.”
“Just the one time when you claim you thought you heard them yelling at each other when you arrived?”
“No. But a lot of the time, Mr. Loomis had already left for work by the time I got there.”
“I’m only asking what you observed, Jenna.”
“Then yes. I mean, no. I never overheard them arguing, except that one time.”
“If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to circle back again to what you said you saw when you entered the home on March 14th. Besides seeing Mr. Loomis’s body and the blood and Mrs. Loomis. You said you saw her holding a bloody knife. Was it in her right hand or her left hand?”
“Um … her right hand.”
“Mr. Loomis slept on the right side of the bed as you stand at the foot of it, correct?”
“That’s correct.”
“So if Mrs. Loomis was standing over him on his side, that means her left side was closest to you, correct?”
“Um … yes.”
“But you say you clearly saw her holding a knife in her right hand. How was she holding it again?”
“I don’t know what you mean. In her hand.”
“Well, in your statement to the police, you stated she was holding the knife. You weren’t specific about how she was holding it. Now you’ve testified she was holding it up and over Tom. So I’d like to understand that. Was Katy holding the knife loosely, with her arm down, the blade pointed at the floor? Did she have it raised? Was it flat against her palm? I’m asking you specifically, how was she holding that knife?”
