Jesse P. Karr right, sits next to his defense attorney as Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer testifies about the September 2009 fatal shooting of Sara M. Whitson
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A jury of eight women and four men began hearing a case yesterday of a fatal shooting in Chehalis the deputy prosecutor suggests comes down to this:
“An accident is when someone gets hurt accidentally, but (if it’s ) the result of someone else’s reckless behavior, that’s a crime.”
Jesse P. Karr, now 31, is charged with first-degree manslaughter in the September 2009 death of 28-year-old Sara M. Whitson. He said it happened while he was cleaning her .22 caliber handgun, according to attorneys and police.
The National Guardsman had just returned home from Iraq about a month earlier and the couple was living together in an apartment on the 1700 block of South Market Boulevard.
Centralia defense attorney Don McConnell told jurors it is probably one of the saddest cases ever; and the two were very much in love.
McConnell hinted testimony would show Whitson walked past the barrel of the weapon at the same time it accidentally discharged.
It took only 10 minutes for both McConnell and Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes to make their opening statements yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court. Each described a series of events on Sept. 3, 2009, that were mostly similar, as were the details offered by Chehalis police officers and a firefighter.
Karr had been sharpening knives for Whitson and offered to clean her .22 caliber Walther Smith and Wesson pistol since he was going to clean his.
Police Chief Glenn Schaffer and detective Steve Nikander were the first to go inside, with medics right behind them, after the approximately 4 p.m. call to 911.
Karr opened the door and led them to the upstairs master bedroom where Whitson lay on the floor, her breathing labored, her eyes wide; she was holding a towel on her abdomen.
Emergency responders picked her up and carried to an ambulance, and she was airlifted to a trauma center.
There was an empty gun case on the bed, a pistol on the floor next to the right corner of the bed, another pistol in the night stand and a couple knives on the dresser, Nikander said.
Detective Rick Silva found a .22 shell casing in the bedroom.
“What he said was he was unloading Ms. Whitson’s firearm and it went off,” Schaffer told the jury.
“He (said) he was standing at the right corner of the bed facing the window with the gun pointed toward the closet,” Schaffer said.
Officer Bruce Thompson described two holes and a gunpowder burn on the little finger of Karr’s left hand. Officer Jason Roberts interviewed Karr downstairs.
Roberts said he asked Karr if he’d gotten in touch with Whitson’s family.
“I think he said, no, he couldn’t,” Roberts said. “Something like he couldn’t tell (her father) he’d shot his daughter.”
Karr put his head in his hands and cried, Roberts said.
“What exactly did he say?” Hayes asked as Roberts reviewed a transcript of his interview.
“I shouldn’t of shot her, I’m so stupid,” Roberts read.
A Chehalis police detective learned the following morning Whitson had died during emergency surgery, according to charging documents.
The trial is expected to last into Friday.
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