NC - Janine Sutphen, 57, found murdered, Durham, Jan 2003

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Computer search, body drop linked

No one had seen Janine Sutphen for 10 days when her husband, Robert James Petrick, searched the Internet for "Falls Lake depth," a prosecutor said Thursday.
Petrick's search that day in 2003 led him to a map of the lake's bottom and information about lake levels, currents, boat ramps and bridges, Assistant District Attorney Mitchell Garrell said. It was four days before Petrick called police and reported Sutphen missing. It was five months before fishermen found her strangled body in Falls Lake.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/2830890p-9280481c.html

Petrick Prepares To Defend Himself In Murder Trial
Robert Petrick will take on two roles when opening statements in his murder trial start on Monday.

Petrick, who is currently serving an 11-year sentence for fraud, is defending himself against accusations that he killed his wife, Janine Sutphen, in 2003. Sutphen, a cellist for the Durham Symphony, disappeared in January 2003.
http://www.wral.com/news/5253051/detail.html
 
The prosecution may call as many as 94 witnesses in an attempt to prove that Robert James Petrick manually strangled his wife to death two years ago.

Revealed Wednesday, the witness list includes three children of victim Janine Sutphen, whose chained and asphyxiated remains were found floating in Falls Lake in May 2003.

Also on the list is Phaedra Oorbeck Bonewits, a self-described pagan and witch with whom Petrick reportedly lived for a time in Granville, Ill.

http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-663766.html
 
Somewhere in the vast reaches of a computer hard drive, police should find references to "fishing" and "kayaking," which could explain why Robert James Petrick needed to know the depths of Falls Lake, he told a prosecutor Friday.
Petrick learned Thursday that police had found on one of his computers a record of an Internet search for topography, lake levels and the depths of Falls Lake. Petrick made the inquiry four days before he called police and told them that his wife, cellist Janine Sutphen, did not return home from a Durham Symphony rehearsal. Five months later, fishermen found Sutphen's body in the lake.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/2832184p-9282736c.html
 
A Durham husband charged with killing his wife began mounting his defense Monday in court.

Robert Petrick is representing himself in his murder trial. He is accused of murdering his wife, Durham Symphony cellist Janine Sutphen, in January 2003. Fishermen found her body months later in Falls Lake.
Petrick and prosecutors delivered opening statements in a Durham County courtroom Monday. The defendant described himself as a flawed, but non-violent man.

"I believe that in the end, you'll find much of what the state has to say over the next few weeks to be completely irrelevant in a trial for murder," Petrick said. "I think in the end you'll hear all the evidence, and you'll have to find me not guilty."

Prosecutor Mitch Garrell depicted Petrick as a cold-blooded killer who strangled his wife and dumped her body in the waters of Falls Lake. He said investigators found damaging evidence of a murder plot on one of Petrick's computers.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=triangle&id=3612128
 
Prosecutors offered two more bits of eyebrow-raising evidence Monday, a week after revealing that murder defendant Robert James Petrick did exhaustive Internet research about the lake where his wife's strangled body was found in May 2003.

Petrick kept a hangman's noose in his house, and he had downloaded computer instructions titled "22 ways to kill a man with your bare hands," prosecutor Mitchell Garrell told jurors in his opening statement in Durham County Superior Court.

Garrell said evidence would show that Petrick "planned, deliberated, coldly calculated and carried out" a scheme to asphyxiate his spouse and dump her body into Falls Lake "like so much trash" after she confronted him about family financial woes.
http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-665587.html
 
Janine Sutphen's Sons Had Doubts About Their Stepfather



POSTED: 11:46 am EST November 9, 2005
UPDATED: 9:05 pm EST November 9, 2005


DURHAM, N.C. -- Robert Petrick searched for the words "neck," "snap," "break" and "hold" on an Internet search engine before his wife died, according to prosecutors Wednesday.

<LI>Day 3 Recap: Petrick Trial Emotional For Janine Sutphen's Sons

More than two years after Janine Sutphen's body was discovered floating in a Raleigh lake, investigators continue to find new evidence on computers seized from Robert Petrick's home that prosecutors say support their arguments that Petrick killed his wife.

The Google search was the latest in recently discovered evidence found in the 100 million pages of content removed from computers.

Last week, a forensic investigator discovered that Petrick allegedly researched lake levels, water currents, boat ramps and access about Falls Lake just four days before he reported Sutphen missing on Jan. 22, 2003.

Two of Sutphen's sons also testified Wednesday that they suspected their stepfather in their mother's death.

"I had to follow my gut and I did not feel safe or trust this man," said Robin Sutphen.

He told jurors that when he had not heard from his mother over a two-week period, he called Petrick and threatened to come to North Carolina to find out what was wrong.
More: http://www.wral.com/news/5287261/detail.html?rss=ral&psp=news
 
Robert Petrick, who is defending himself in Durham, N.C., cross examined a computer forensics expert this week. The expert testified about digital footprints he said the state discovered on several hard drives in Petrick's home.

Prosecutors claimed that Petrick, who stands out in his Christian North Carolina community as a self-professed Pagan, left behind a trail of digital evidence including a visit to a site called bloodfest666. Investigators are also focusing e-mails to women they said Petrick was having affairs with and a download of a document entitled "22 ways to kill a man with your bare hands."

Authorities claim that Petrick looked up the depth and topography of a lake where the body of his wife Janine Sutphin was found -- before he reported her missing.

Google's press office did not respond Friday to an email inquiry about the case, but a lawyer standing by for Petrick said he believes the evidence was all culled from the hard drives and he has no information that Google participated in the investigation.

Mark Edwards, who Petrick dismissed to represent himself, said that he believes he could have argued several legal points more expertly than the defendant but he may not have been as adept at cross-examining on computer forensics.

"He's a computer geek," Edwards said in an interview Friday. "I think he knew more about MacIntosh computers than the state's witness did. I'm not sure how much the jury caught, but he seemed to be pretty pleased."

More computer forensics information is expected to come up during testimony as the trial wraps up next week. WRAL has been carrying live streaming coverage on its Web site.
ttp://www.crn.com/components/weblogs/article.jhtml?articleId=173602157
 
Robert Petrick searched for the words "neck," "snap," "break" and "hold" on an Internet search engine before his wife died, according to prosecutors Wednesday.

More than two years after Janine Sutphen's body was discovered floating in a Raleigh lake, investigators continue to find new evidence on computers seized from Robert Petrick's home that prosecutors say support their arguments that Petrick killed his wife.The Google search was the latest in recently discovered evidence found on nearly a dozen computers seized from Petrick's home.

http://www.wral.com/news/5287261/detail.html
 
Robert James Petrick hasn't taken the stand yet in his trial for first-degree murder, and he might not ever do so. But that hasn't stopped him from trying to make points in front of the jury, the prosecutor complained last week.

Prosecutor Mitchell Garrell is attempting to prove that Petrick strangled his wife, Durham Symphony Orchestra cellist Janine Sutphen, and dumped her body into Falls Lake two years ago.

Petrick is acting as his own attorney, and his cross-examination of witnesses was unsworn testimony masquerading as questions, Garrell said repeatedly.

The prosecutor cited some questions that began, "If I told you that?."

At other times, Petrick initiated questions by asking, "What if their was evidence that?," Garrell complained.

Meanwhile, Petrick acknowledged having some problems defending himself.
http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-667690.html
 
The prosecution rested its first-degree murder case against Robert James Petrick on Thursday, and Petrick argued unsuccessfully that the homicide charge should be dismissed for lack of evidence.

Acting as his own lawyer, Petrick said Assistant District Attorney Mitchell Garrell had failed during eight days of testimony to connect him to the death of his wife, Durham Symphony Orchestra cellist Janine Sutphen.

"The state has presented no evidence to show I was the cause of death of my wife ... ," Petrick argued after the prosecution closed its case. "The state has no eyewitnesses. The state has no evidence as to how my wife was transported. The state has no evidence as to why or how my wife was deceased.

"This is a murder trial, your honor," he told Judge Orlando F. Hudson.

"I see no evidence of a murder," he added. "I see no solid evidence that anyone committed a murder, let alone that I committed a murder."

Hudson ruled, however, that the case was substantial enough to be submitted to jurors after Petrick finishes presenting his evidence.
http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-669497.html
 
Robert Petrick called a radio host and newspaper columnist to the witness stand Friday in an effort to prove his wife was still alive after police say he strangled her to death.
Joe Graedon, who with his wife hosts a public radio show, The People's Pharmacy, said Petrick was at his house doing computer work either Dec. 24, 2002, or Jan. 11, 2003.

During the visit, Petrick's cell phone rang, Graedon testified.

The jury was not allowed to hear that Petrick told Graedon the call was from his wife, Janine Sutphen, because Petrick is the only one who could say for sure who called.

Graedon testified that after the call, Petrick started crying and talking about how his wife was depressed and sick.
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/368940.html

When jurors finally begin deliberating on whether Robert James Petrick killed his wife in January 2003, they apparently will have only two choices: Guilty or not guilty of first-degree murder.

Prosecutor Mitchell Garrell said Friday he didn't want the lesser offense of second-degree murder to be an option.

Petrick, acting as his own lawyer, told the judge he had nothing to say about the situation "at this time."
http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-669913.html
 
I often wonder what it would be like to have someone strangle you. Take the last breaths of your life. Do you think of loved ones or do you think of yourself as dying? When all other options are denied do you just succumb to the ravage or do you fight with the last vestiges available? This is a most horrible thought for all victims everywhere. I choose to think that we can make a difference and recognize their hardship and the families hardship. So, many people out there need resolution.I am certain closure is not the correct word as have read too much and know there is no closure just resolution.
 
CP you are giving me the shivers. I guess I don't want to go there! Strangling is so up close, and not quick. I would think that a person would be very involved with the struggle, and the realization that it is real. The thoughts that would go through a person's mind would probably be as varied as the person's who are the victim's.
 
If Robert James Petrick is convicted of murder in the January 2003 death of his wife, a time-worn claim used in many criminal appeals will not be available to him.

Because he is acting as his own lawyer, he wouldn't be able to argue that his attorney failed him
http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-670440.html
 
The man representing himself in his own murder trial will be back in a Durham courtroom Monday. Prosecutors accuse Robert Petrick of killing his wife two years ago.

The judge gave Petrick off last week. The defendant wanted time for his own computer experts to search those same hard drives taken as evidence. From day one, Petrick has been trying to prove to jurors the state has no case.
http://rdu.news14.com/content/headlines/?ArID=77460&SecID=2
 
Prosecutors in the Robert Petrick murder trial plan to reopen their courtroom case after investigators learned of new testimony and information on the defendant's computers that they believe link Petrick to his wife's death.

The prosecution claims Petrick, who is defending himself in the trial, was busy surfing the Internet and doing Google searches around the time his wife, Janine Sutphen, disappeared.

Monday, outside the presence of the jury, Johnson told Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson that he is still finding new evidence.

"Item No. 2 is a Google search for 'body decomposition,'" Johnson said.

Johnson also testified that he found a Google search for "rigor mortis" and Web sites that explained how the human body deteriorates.

Assistant District Attorney Mitch Garrell pointed out Petrick searched those terms on Jan. 8, 2003 -- one day after Sutphen was last seen and a few weeks before Petrick reported her missing.
http://www.wral.com/news/5418819/detail.html

Murder defendant Robert James Petrick rested his case Monday without testifying in his own behalf, and the prosecution today will reopen its evidence to present new digital information against him.

The new information, revealed Monday outside the jury's presence, includes documentation that Petrick's computer hit on the terms "rigor mortis" and "body decomposition" on Jan. 8, 2003 -- the day after he allegedly killed his wife.

Rigor mortis is the body's temporary stiffening following death.

Petrick, who is serving as his own lawyer, objected. But Judge Orlando F. Hudson ruled that the prosecution can reopen its case to admit the new information.

Petrick complained unsuccessfully that Assistant District Attorney Mitchell Garrell's bid to introduce the evidence was "specious at best."
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-673164.html
 
LOL, I do have to interject something here.
If my computer ever gets searched, they will probably find the same thing.
Note to self, ask the mods if Petrick was ever registered as a poster here.
 
After just a little more than two hours of deliberation, a jury unanimously found Robert Petrick guilty of first-degree murder in the 2003 death of his wife, Janine Sutphen.

Both jurors and family members showed a lot of emotion in the courtroom after the verdict. Jurors did not want to talk, but several were seen hugging and crying.

Members of Sutphen's family, also very emotional, said they had waited for the verdict for a long time and that it finally gave them a huge sense of relief.

"I think the wheels of justice, as slow as we may have thought they were, prevailed today," said Christopher Sutphen after the court verdict.

Petrick, who is already serving an 11-year sentence for a fraud conviction, will serve a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.

He gave an automatic notice of appeal and told Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson that he wants a court-appointed attorney for the appeal.
http://www.wral.com/news/5427165/detail.html
 
Guess no one ever told this idiot that by defending yourself you have a fool for a client. He got exactly what he deserved the arrogant creep.
 
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