PANAMA CITY — The trial of Philip Dean Brock continued Thursday as defense attorneys questioned the origin of new evidence in the case and again challenged the Bay County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation of the accused murderer.
The new evidence, $12,000 worth of silver coins discovered hidden on Brock’s property, furthered prosecutor Larry Basford’s argument that Brock killed 65-year-old Terry Brazil last December for monetary reasons. But Brock’s attorneys, Jennifer Fury and Kim Jewell, argued Thursday that Brock’s property had not been secure since his arrest and that anyone seeking access could’ve jumped its fence or chain-locked gate.
Fury asked BCSO Corp. Mark Bailey, the lead investigator in the case, if deputies had been monitoring Brock’s property in Southport every day since his arrest.
“No,” Bailey said.
Brock’s son, Logan Brock, was the only person granted access to the property. He discovered the coins hidden in a pool filter last month after Bailey had arrived to search for additional evidence. Logan Brock has testified that since his father’s arrest, someone entered the property’s living quarters and went through his father’s personal papers.
Further pursuing her argument that Brock’s property was vulnerable to trespassers, Fury presented two photos she said were taken by investigators, one that shows the property after Brock’s arrest and the other that shows the property last month. The photos, according to Fury, showed that some objects on the property were moved or missing. Things became tense after Fury repeatedly asked Bailey to confirm the dates the photos were taken, but Bailey could not. Basford objected and told Judge Brantley Clark she was “trying to jam the photos down his throat.”
Fury was animated throughout Thursday’s proceedings, pacing around the courtroom and pointing at witnesses, Brock and the jury.
Testimony from BCSO Capt. Jimmy Stanford, the head of criminal investigations, became similarly tense. Fury pressed him as to why he did not record an interview with Brock that was conducted after Brock’s initial statement to investigators, which was taped. Stanford’s interview was much longer and covered more information, including details that were later used in court to question Brock’s credibility. As Fury probed Stanford’s reasons for not recording the interview, she frequently interrupted his responses.
“Would you like me to answer the question or not, ma’am?” Stanford asked at one point.
He later said that given the early stage of the investigation, the interview was used for “gathering facts,” and that not all interviews are taped.
“A lot of people don’t want to have that recorder on when they start talking,” Stanford said.
Also Thursday, the jury was shown crime scene and autopsy photos of Terry Brazil’s body. District medical examiner Dr. Michael Hunter said it was obvious Brazil was shot and stabbed before he died. But whether Brazil was beaten with a bed post, as prosecutors believe, was unclear — Hunter said an object similar to a bed post could’ve caused Brazil’s blunt force injuries.
Brock’s trial continues Friday. If convicted of first-degree murder, he faces life in prison.