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Manslaughter trial begins in Silverton

Bitter argument ends in tragic death

SILVERTON – The town of Silverton is captivated with the trial of native son Mike McFarland, who has been charged with manslaughter and second-degree assault in the alleged killing of his wife, Jessica McFarland last summer.

McFarland was initially arrested for murder after San Juan County Sheriff Bruce Conrad discovered Jessica McFarland dead and covered in blood in the early morning hours June 6 at their Greene Street home, while Mike McFarland darted throughout the house as their two young children slept in the next room.

In opening arguments, Assistant District Attorney David Ottman told jurors that McFarland killed his wife, who was in process of divorcing him, after a night of heavy drinking and bitter argument that concluded with McFarland throwing a Mason-style drinking mug toward Jessica.

During jury selection, Ottman focused on the jurors' views of domestic violence, and later, he told jurors that they would hear from witnesses who would testify that McFarland was frequently abusive toward Jessica.

He said “everyone agreed” that McFarland wasn't trying to kill Jessica the night of June 6.

“But only Michael survived that evening,” he said. “There were holes in her neck. ... She died from his act – of his wanting to hurt her.”

Ottman returned repeatedly to the brutality and violence suggested by the bloody crime scene, quoting one evidence technician saying there was so much shattered glass, “It appeared as if there was glitter all over, all over her chest, and all over her face.”

He said when Conrad arrived in response to a 911 call, McFarland was hysterical and belligerent to the point that he interfered with law enforcement's initial investigation.

When it was his turn to speak, McFarland's defense attorney, Joel Fry, seemed to open the possibility that Jessica McFarland either deliberately or accidentally killed herself with a mug.

“Our defense isn't that he caused her death but he didn't mean to. Our defense is he never touched the mug that killed Jessica McFarland,” Fry said.

He said shortly before Jessica's death, she and McFarland attended a wedding where she threw a glass at his head, wounding him, after accusing him of making adulterous advances on another woman.

Tuesday afternoon's opening arguments came after a protracted jury-selection process that caused some observers to question whether the trial might have to be moved to Durango, given the seeming impossibility of seating an impartial jury in Silverton, where both Mike McFarland and the victim, Jessica, have deep ties and large families.

McFarland's trial started at San Juan County Courthouse on Monday, when about 80 people showed up for jury duty – a sizeable portion of about 200 residents who were issued summons.

Despite the deep bench of potential jurors, selection proved difficult – and deeply personal – in a tiny mountain hamlet, with a year-round population of about 660, where many people in the jury pool knew not just the defendant and victim, who both attended Silverton High School, but have ongoing relationships with many of the people who are called as witnesses.

Ottman said, “This is Silverton. Everybody knows everybody.”

According to Mark Esper, editor of the Silverton Standard & the Miner, District Judge Greg Lyman on Monday asked the jury pool, “Who has not heard of this case before?”

Only one woman raised her hand.

Fry, McFarland's defense attorney, told the pool of potential jurors Tuesday afternoon that their service to the court required considerable courage.

“Juries decide guilt or innocence,” he said. “The 12 of you will be smarter than cops, any group of experts or district attorneys.”

cmcallister@durangoherald.com

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