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Officer testifies to chaos of shots and screams
A Norman police officer testified Tuesday during a triple-murder trial of trying to organize chaos of shots and screams, as a man ran out the front door of a Norman home.
"He came out sprinting, hands in the air, yelling 'Go in, go in, they're dying,'" said Officer Joshua Barker, of Stephen Link, 35, son of Tami Link, 52, grandson of Letannah Bishop, 87, and nephew of Sheila Ellis, 56.
All three women were shot Sept. 4, 2007, inside the Norman home of Tami Link and her husband, Joseph "Brent" Link, 1517 Oklahoma Ave.
Barker said he responded to the "nature unknown" call about 4 p.m. that day two years ago with lights and sirens.
Barker said Stephen Link was screaming that his uncle William Eugene Davis was lying on the porch with a gun.
"We couldn't see him," Barker said of the uncle. "It was a little scary to think there's someone on a porch with a gun that you can't see."
Barker said he smelled alcohol, which he described as a sour whiff, near the porch and saw ammunition on the ground.
"You don't really see cold shotgun rounds very often," he said.
When he came upon the uncle, Barker said he was lying on the ground, alive, with a shotgun underneath him and breathing laboriously.
"It was like a gurgling sound," said Barker, who was the first officer inside the home. "I remember seeing wounds and blood. There was quite a bit of blood."
Barker said Officer Kevin Smetter, who also testified Tuesday, slid the shotgun from underneath Davis.
Davis, 52, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the three women. He also faces a count of assault with intent to kill Brent Link.
Prosecutors Greg Mashburn and Christy Miller are seeking the death penalty for Davis, contending that he deliberately shot the women.
Defense attorneys Craig Corgan and Lynn Burch contend Davis was drunk, was taking Valium and was in no condition to kill intentionally.
During cross examination, Corgan asked witness Gary Cuellar, a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for 13 years, to describe an alcoholic blackout.
Cuellar said during a blackout the person is still awake and is performing tasks automatically, but isn't conscious of his actions.
"You just don't know what's what, but you're still doing what you do," he said.
Cuellar is a friend of Stephen Link's and was giving Davis a place to "crash" after he moved to Norman in March 2007 from New Mexico for a "clean slate," Link said.
Cuellar, a local handyman, has a history of steering alcoholics through a road to sobriety. Link said Cuellar has offered pillows and a piece of floor to about 30 men and has three rules for house guests: No drinking, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and find a sponsor.
Cuellar said he kicked Davis out after Cuellar overheard Davis say to a friend, "I've got a butt load of money and I'm stuck in this hell hole, and I don't know how to get out."
"Oh yeah, he was buzzed then. He'd been drinking," Cuellar said of the conversation, adding that he later found beer cans under a bush by the porch of his home.
Cuellar said he didn't think Davis was "buzzed" the day the three women died, but added that he was in and out during the workday.
"No, I didn't think he had been drinking. I'd have said something otherwise. Those are the rules," Cuellar said.
The trial continues today in District Judge Lori Walkley's courtroom.
Nanette Light 366-3541 nlight@normantranscript.com
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