3:05 p.m. – Defense cross-examines Wardlow and asks him about the call from Blakely saying semen was found. He said what he heard from Blakely that day is one reason he believes Stites was sexually assaulted.
2:42 – Wardlow is back on the stand with Tanner cross-examining. He testified that there was an Austin woman who reported that Reed tried to kidnap her. No arrest was ever made.
In 1995, Wardlow said there was a sexual assault submitted to the DPS crime lab where the victim withdrew. He could not remember the details why. He said he was seeking a case-to-case match, knowing that victim positively identified Reed.
He said a result in that case-to-case comparison was a match to the Stites case. As a result, he executed a search warrant for Reed's blood, hair and saliva samples. The warrant was conducted after David Board had interviewed Reed.
2 p.m. – Court takes a break so the judge can see the lawyers in the chamber
1:54 p.m. – Wardlow looks at several items, including an H-E-B badge, that were found at the scene where the truck was found.
He said he interviewed Fennell twice during the investigation. Ronald Duncan, a former Bastrop police officer whose wife previously testified that he now has dementia, also talked to Fennell when it was a missing persons case.
Wardlow said Fennell and Stites shared the truck and he could not figure out how Fennell could have committed the murder and gotten back home in time. He said he could not determine if a Giddings police vehicle was used.
1:35 p.m. – Former Texas Ranger Rocky Wardlow takes the stand, with prosecutor Lisa Tanner questioning. He was the main investigator in the Stites murder case, which started as a missing persons report.
Wardlow said when Stites' truck was found at Bastrop High School, he noticed the driver's seat in an awkward position with the seat belt still connected. He noticed a broken cup as well, all things that made it appear something had happened inside the truck.
He said Stites' body was found partially clothed with a T-shirt lying on the side of the road. He thought she might have been sexually assaulted. Later, he said Karen Blakely with the DPS crime lab called him and confirmed that she was sexually assaulted.
11 a.m. – Break time for the court.
10:30 a.m. – Board is still on the stand. He says he knew Reed prior to 1996 and had dealt with him on more than one occasion. Prosecutor Lisa Tanner points out that Reed has a long history of sexual assault. The defense objects, saying they don't want the state to get into Reed's background.
Tanner shows Board Reed's reports of sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault. Board confirms. Board confirms that Stites' body appeared to have been sexually assaulted, which caused him to look for someone with a history of sexual assault."
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The entire KVUE report can be read at:
