After 1 1⁄2 hours of deliberation Wednesday, jurors found David Killian Sr. guilty on all three counts of sexual misconduct with a minor.
Killian, 70, of North Webster, pled not guilty to the charges after being accused of impregnating his 14-year-old granddaughter between March and August 2017.
The first day of the two-day trial in Kosciusko Superior Court I recessed at 5 p.m. Tuesday and resumed at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Kosciusko County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Brad Voelz rested the state’s case shortly afterward. Adam Turner, attorney for Killian, rested the defense’s case as well.
In closing arguments, Voelz asked the jurors how must the 14-year-old victim have felt when this was happening to her. Did she think she this is how a grandfather shows his love to a granddaughter, Voelz asked, or did she think it was wrong. Did she think if she tells anyone it’s going to break up the family and her grandpa could get into a lot of trouble?
Voelz told jurors that she protected her grandpa.
“Let me say that again,” Voelz said. “She protected her grandpa,” through unwelcome sexual advances, through unwelcome sexual intercourse.
“Even worse, he stole her childhood,” Voelz said. Voelz said the state’s case really was broken into two parts: the testimony of the victim and the graphic details she recounted in court describing body parts and the reaction of a man in his late 60s who had been sexually rejected; and part two: the scientific part.
“The DNA evidence is 262 billion, 400 million times more likely that David Killian Sr. is the father than a random caucasian stranger,” Voelz said. Then Voelz counted out second by second to jurors with his fingers. “One mississippi, two mississippi…,”?saying it would take more than 8,000 years if you were to count in seconds to 262 billion, 400 million. Voelz reminded jurors of Tuesday’s testimony from Indiana State Police laboratory forensic scientist Stacy Bozinovski.
“99.9999 percent,” Voelz said of the probability that Killian is the father of the victim’s baby.
“It just doesn’t get any more certain than this. David Killian Sr. is guilty on all three counts,” Voelz said.
In Turner’s closing arguments, he focused on a blurry timeline and DNA software not used by ISP labs that Turner proposed could have potentially found a reason other than sexual intercourse that the baby has Killian’s DNA.
Voelz got the last word and hammered the state’s point home by saying Killian’s behavior went from bad to worse to even worse to even worse than that.
“This grandpa calls his granddaughter (vulgar names). He demands (vulgar sex acts), promises her money for sex. It’s almost unspeakable,” Voelz told jurors. “And if it couldn’t get any worse than that, he got her pregnant.”
He said the now 16-year-old has the burden of that, but it gets worse. In responding to Turner’s timeline, Voelz shot back and counted again with his fingers the date of conception of the baby to the timeline the victim reported the abuse took place. Voelz said she told police in August 2017 she had been being sexually violated for about five months or so by her grandfather. The victim had her baby in January of 2018. The victim testified Tuesday that she knows the first time he had sex with her was in April, because that’s when a doctor told her she conceived. That April month fit not only the date of conception, but the timeline of abuse, Voelz said, holding up his fingers, “that’s nine months.”
“David Killian Sr. was sexually violating his granddaughter while she was pregnant with his child,” Voelz said.
The victim, flanked by family and supporters at Wednesday’s trial, sat on the edge of her seat with wide eyes as the jury returned with the verdict.
Judge David Cates read the verdict of guilty on all three counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, one Level 4 felony and two Level 5 felonies.
The victim was tearfully nodding her head and smiling at one point as the guilty verdicts were read.
Cates revoked Killian’s bond and remanded him to the custody of the sheriff until sentencing in October.
