February 21, 2008
Chasing clues in Tipton killing: Bloody blanket, paving worker prove meaningless, investigator testifies at Moore trial
Author: Sheryl Marsh, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
Feb. 21 A paver driving heavy machinery around Karen Tipton's home and a bloody blanket and sheet on the roadside nearby didn't pan out in solving her murder.
Decatur police investigators were satisfied after questioning the paver, Martin Scott Lane, that he was not a suspect. And forensic tests revealed that the blood on the blanket and sheet came from a dog, not the victim.
Defense Attorney Sherman Powell Jr. wanted to know more about Lane during his crossexamination of Decatur police Sgt. Mike Pettey.
Pettey testified most of the day Wednesday during Daniel Wade Moore's capital murder trial in Morgan County Circuit Court.
Lane was with a crew that paved Tipton's and her neighbor's driveways. The men were in the area of the two homes for three days, including March 12, 1999, the day Tipton was killed.
Responding to Powell's questions, the investigator said a truck driver who delivered asphalt for the paving jobs told Detective Barry Hamilton that he saw Lane driving a
Bobcat around the Tipton home between 1:30 and 2 p.m. March 12. Pettey said he learned that Lane was cleaning up the area where the crew had worked at the home.
Pettey said he and Hamilton acted on that information and searched for Lane. They ultimately found him in Illinois. Authorities there had arrested Lane on a misdemeanor warrant and detained him for Pettey and Hamilton to question.
During the interview, Pettey said, Lane gave Hamilton the description of a man who came to the Tipton home while he was cleaning up outside. The man was tall, slender, had long dark hair and wore a ball cap, Pettey said. Lane told the investigator that the man approached him. Pettey did not say what if anything the man said to Lane.
Pettey said Tuesday that he ruled out Lane as a suspect after the interview in Illinois.
Powell entered into evidence a photograph of the Bobcat and marks it left on the ground at the victim's home. Also, Powell entered pictures of the blanket and sheet that contained dog blood.

Looked under rocks
Pettey told the jury that investigators searched the Tipton home from the third floor to the crawl space and dug in a pile of gravel outside while collecting evidence.
He said police questioned numerous individuals, including friends of the family, and when the investigation was over, Daniel Wade Moore was charged with Tipton's death.
Pettey said he had probable cause to arrest Moore on April 9, 1999, but he didn't because,
"We were not going to rush to judgment."
He said he wanted to make sure because of the crime's severity.
Pettey said police received a lot of information that amounted to rumors and gossip, which he eventually disregarded after the investigation.
Investigators developed Moore as a suspect when his uncle asked an assistant district attorney to tell police about a statement Moore made to him.
Moore's uncle testified earlier this week that the defendant told him that he and two friends were in Titpon's home when one of them stabbed her to death. Moore never named the friends because he recanted the statement, saying he made it up.
Also Wednesday, state Assistant Attorney General Will Dill questioned a surgeon who treated Moore when Moore stabbed himself as detectives questioned him April 9 about the murder.
Moore called combative
Dr. Ron Workman said Moore was so combative and profane that medical staff had a hard time trying to get X-rays of his chest.
The doctor said blood tests were done on Moore and the results were positive for cocaine and marijuana.
Workman said Moore had 16 stab wounds to the left side of his chest in the area of his heart and a lung.
The doctor said Moore punctured his lung while stabbing himself and he admitted Moore to Decatur General Hospital, where he stayed three days.
When Moore went back to get stitches removed, Workman said, Moore was a different person. He was cordial and cooperative.
Moore had been under police guard at the hospital.

A grand jury indicted Moore in November 2000 on four counts of capital murder.
Pettey said he believes the murder weapon was a cutlery knife from a set the victim owned.
A sheath that covered the knife was on the counter after her death.
Also, Pettey said be believes the killer used a fireplace poker that police found in the master bedroom as a weapon on Tipton.
Authorities say DNA evidence will prove that he killed Tipton.
Testimony continues Thursday in Circuit Judge Steve Haddock's courtroom.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
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Record Number: 11EFB25F63AEFAB0