James C. Koepp during his Rock County Court House appearance at a preliminary hearing in the triple homicide.
JANESVILLE — When investigators searched the triple-homicide scene, they found blood on the trailer's carpets, blood on the floor and a broken window.
Investigators later interviewed James Koepp at his home, where they collected the denim shirt and jeans he wore on the night of the homicide.
The evidence inside the trailer and the clothing now are part of two key motions in the murder case against Koepp, who is charged in the January 2007 slayings of Danyetta Lentz and her teenage children, Nicole and Scott.
Koepp, 49, wants the case dismissed, claiming evidence was destroyed when the trailer home was recycled for scrap metal more than a year after the murders.
Koepp also wants the evidence collected off his shirt and jeans thrown out from trial, claiming the clothing was obtained from an illegal search. Prosecutors say a state crime analyst linked the victims' DNA to blood stains on Koepp's clothing.
Attorneys on both sides on Tuesday argued the motions to dismiss the case and suppress the evidence in Rock County Court. Arguments were scheduled to continue today.
In court Tuesday, Koepp sat quietly wearing an orange jail uniform. The victims' family sat in the courtroom.
Several witnesses were called. Photographs and evidence records were introduced as exhibits.
Russell Lucht, Lentz's father, testified that he had the trailer destroyed in February or March 2008 after getting permission from the Rock County Sheriff's Office and Rock County District Attorney's Office.
The trailer had to be removed because no one was paying rent for the lot, Lucht said.
Richard McNall of Stateline Recycling in Janesville testified that the home was brought to his business. He said the trailer was stripped, ground up and recycled.
Roger Stahlke, a forensic scientist with the state crime lab, testified that all the valuable evidence from the murder scene was collected before the trailer was destroyed.
Assistant public defender Walter Isaacson, however, argued that relevant evidence inside the trailer was lost. He said evidence was not preserved, violating sheriff's office policy.
Judge Alan Bates also heard testimony in the motion to suppress evidence.
Rock County Sheriff's detectives Warren Yoerger and Richard Kamholz testified they spoke with Koepp at his home after the homicide. They said Koepp offered to give them the clothes he wore that night.
The clothes appeared to have bloodstains, the detectives testified, and they confiscated the clothes as evidence.
The detectives, however, never told Koepp he didn't have to turn over his clothing, the public defender said.
After hearing testimony, the judge decided to allow Isaacson to file a written brief about the motion to suppress.
Five pretrial motions are pending in the murder case. Legal wrangling is common in homicide cases with high stakes, and no trial has yet been scheduled.
Koepp is charged with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide. If convicted, he faces three consecutive life terms.
Koepp is in prison serving a sentence for felony fleeing. He led law enforcement on a chase when he was supposed to be questioned about the murders.