Shannon Green
Homicide suspect Curtis Forbes looks around during a break in testimony at a motion hearing Thursday in Portage.
Nothing has been decided about the evidence jurors will be allowed to see in the murder case against Curtis Forbes, but testimony Thursday described what happened during hours of questioning of Forbes' wife on March 24, the day Forbes was arrested by authorities with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Facts about that day, including the lack of a search warrant for the Forbes' house and the lack of an arrest warrant for Curtis Forbes, should mean that evidence gathered on that day and any information derived from that evidence should not be used if the case goes to trial, according to defense attorneys.
Forbes faces life in prison if convicted on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of McIntyre, 18, a family friend, in Columbus on March 11, 1980.
Defense attorneys Robert Christensen and David Geier, both of Madison, filed a motion in September stating that Forbes' arrest was illegal; according to testimony, while investigators with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office had a search warrant to obtain a DNA sample from Forbes, they did not have a warrant either for his arrest or for a search of his home near Randolph on March 24.
Information gained by detectives that day and which prosecutors might not be allowed to present to a jury include alleged statements by Debby Forbes that she recalled seeing blood on Curtis Forbes' sleeve the night of the killing, that he was shaky and agitated that night, and that his clothing was washed by her mother.
Following a traffic stop of Forbes at 6:27 a.m. March 24, according to testimony, authorities took Forbes briefly to his home before taking him to the sheriff's office in Portage while other authorities remained at his house, questioning Debby Forbes for more than six hours, during which time they conducted a search of the house and retrieved a computer and a flash drive, among other items, as evidence.
Testimony on Thursday also continued to address the issue of whether any of the deputies and detectives were invited into the Forbeses' home on March 24.
Lt. Wayne Smith of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, one of two deputies who stopped Forbes the morning of March 24 and the first deputy to enter their home, testified Wednesday that Forbes invited Smith into his home following the traffic stop.
Other detectives testified Thursday that they were never personally invited into the Forbeses' home, but entered because other deputies were already inside.
Debby Forbes stated that authorities never asked if they could enter her house and never produced a warrant to enter the house, a statement corroborated by testimony from detectives who entered the home that day.
The majority of testimony dealt with what happened after Curtis Forbes was taken away from his home the morning of March 24. In testimony Thursday and in an affidavit filed Sept. 25 in Columbia County Circuit Court, Debby Forbes talked about the nearly 6 1/2 hours she spent in her home being questioned by detectives.
She stated in the affidavit that during questioning and discussion with detectives from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, she did not believe she was free to go or to ask authorities to leave.
She was told she could be charged with homicide as party to a crime, and "that if I cooperated, they wouldn't press any charges" against her, Debby Forbes said at the hearing.
Detectives also told her that her time with Curtis Forbes was over, she said.
"They told me that he was never coming back, that Curtis Forbes died today," Debby Forbes said.
Debby Forbes cried and gasped when she was told that, according to court documents.
Detective Sgt. Dan Garrigan, one of the two detectives questioning Debra Forbes, said he was trying to help her cope with what was happening and that the day was potentially life-changing for her.
"I told her ... she wasn't the one responsible," Garrigan testified. "I tried to convince her to not let Curtis Forbes manipulate her from jail."
Debby Forbes was "visibly upset," appearing like a "deer in headlights," according to Garrigan.
The effect of questioning and statements, Debby Forbes testified, was that she became "severely traumatized, numb, confused (and) terrified" during the hours she was questioned by detectives.
"The effect of all these allegations was to scare me into making statements and answering their questions," Debby Forbes stated in the affidavit. "I was scared, became confused and numb based upon what the officers were saying to me and the questions that were being asked."
Debby Forbes also stated in the affidavit that had she been told she was not required to answer detectives' questions, she would not have done so, and she would have asked that they leave.
Debby Forbes also stated in the affidavit that officers told her Curtis Forbes had affairs with other women, including one who had an abortion as she was giving birth to one of her children, and that Curtis had molested a family member.
Conflicting statements between Debby Forbes and detectives include:
• Someone stood outside the door when she used the bathroom. That statement was denied by detectives during testimony Thursday.
• DNA evidence linked Curtis Forbes definitively to the killing, Debby Forbes stated in the affidavit, although detectives testified Thursday that the evidence is now known to be incorrect, and that there might be no definitive DNA link to Curtis Forbes.
Other information given in testimony Thursday included:
• Detectives took a computer and hard drive that Curtis Forbes had used, telling her they believed he was researching DNA; they also asked to be shown special areas of the home considered secret where authorities thought evidence might be hidden. Debby Forbes showed them a crawl space area on the second floor, but no documents or testimony revealed anything discovered there by detectives.
• That the Forbes had been packing boxes in their house, possibly for a move to Alabama.
• That authorities brought a 12-pack of Mountain Dew soda and doughnuts into the house about 12:30 p.m.
Forbes remains in the Columbia County Jail on $450,000 cash bail.
Authorities say McIntyre was killed during the early morning hours of March 11, 1980, at her apartment in Columbus while her husband, Lane McIntyre, was at work.
An autopsy report said she was bludgeoned, strangled and stabbed.
White ruled Wednesday that a jury will come from outside Columbia County if the case goes to trial.
A decision on the defense attorneys' motion will be made after attorneys on both sides of the case file briefs, or written arguments, which must be filed by Dec. 31.