Final witness testifies at Killpack trial

PROVO — The final witnesses took the stand Friday in the trial of Richard and Jennete Killpack.

The Killpacks, who are charged with second-degree child-abuse homicide, are on trial in the death of their 4-year-old adopted daughter on June 9, 2002. Prosecutors say the Springville couple forced the girl to drink about a gallon of water as punishment for taking a sibling's drink.

The Killpacks say they gave their daughter no more than 20 ounces and that they didn't know giving her water could be harmful. Medical experts for the defense have said Cassandra Killpack probably died of a head injury and not from forced water intoxication.

On Friday, state medical examiner Todd Grey, who conducted the autopsy, said that theory is wrong. When defense attorney Michael Esplin asked Grey if swelling in the brain could mask head trauma, Grey said no.

"That's ridiculous," he said.

The prosecution also called a former family friend who testified she never saw Cassandra behave in the way the Killpacks described. The Killpacks say the girl suffered from reactive attachment disorder, a mental illness that can affect adopted children.

The condition, commonly known as RAD, caused her to tear at her clothes, refuse to talk to her mother and smear feces on the wall, the Killpacks said.

But over the course of the trial, former neighbors and friends said they never saw this behavior. Richard Killpack also testified earlier this week that he was initially skeptical of his wife's complaints about their daughter's behavior.

"At first I didn't notice the major issues Jennete was talking about," Killpack testified on Tuesday. "She said we needed to see a therapist, and I said, 'Are you sure Jennete? I just don't see it.' "

Killpack described Cassandra as a daddy's girl who would run to him when he got home from work. But when he was not home, the girl's behavior was different, he testified.

He said she would go an entire day without speaking to her mother, which Killpack said he later learned was typical of children with RAD.

He said he was told to ignore Cassandra when he got home if she hadn't talked to her mother all day.

"I had to show that daddy's in support of mommy," Killpack testified. "She would just sit there with big longing eyes and she would say, 'I really want to talk to you Daddy.' "