Witness For Dibartolo Won’t Testify Defense Can’t Prove That Talk Of Murder Is Related To Woman’s Killing, Judge Rules

In a blow to Tom DiBartolo’s defense, a Spokane judge has ruled out testimony from a man who claims he knows who really murdered the former sheriff’s deputy’s wife.

Besides rejecting the potential witness, Superior Court Judge Neal Q. Rielly made two other key pre-trial rulings Monday, both of which favor prosecutors.

Defense attorney Maryann Moreno said she could not comment on the rulings prior to the trial.

Jury selection is set to begin next week. DiBartolo, 42, is charged with first-degree murder.

The testimony Moreno most wanted a jury to hear would have come from Sam McNeal of Spokane, who claims he heard acquaintances - two black men - discuss the murder of a woman while riding in his car Nov. 1. That’s the night Patty DiBartolo was shot to death.

In court documents filed Tuesday, Moreno said McNeal’s testimony is part of “the crux of the defense in this case.”

Detectives said they’ve interviewed McNeal and found his statements contradictory and unsupported by the evidence.

Deputy Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz argued that McNeal’s statements are hearsay and cannot be allowed at trial. Rielly agreed with Steinmetz that the defense has no evidence tying what McNeal heard to the DiBartolo killing.

Prosecutors say DiBartolo, a deputy for 18 years, shot his wife to death as the couple strolled through Lincoln Park.

DiBartolo wanted to end an unhappy marriage without going through a costly, messy divorce, prosecutors say. He also wanted to get his wife’s insurance money.

DiBartolo insists he and his wife were accosted that night by two black men who demanded money.

One man grabbed a handgun from inside the van and fired two shots, DiBartolo said. One hit his wife in the head, the other wounded DiBartolo in the side.

DiBartolo is expected to testify that he tried to follow the men, fired a shot that missed, then drove his dying wife to the hospital.

Steinmetz’s other victory in pre-trial motions was persuading Rielly to allow the testimony of Carrie Parks.

The artist prepared a sketch of the person who DiBartolo told her had shot his wife.

Parks is expected to testify that DiBartolo, in talking with her days after the shooting, did not act like a man who had gone through a traumatic experience.

Rielly also ruled that Moreno can only call a Spokane dog handler who bolsters DiBartolo’s account if the defense produces evidence that another suspect in the murder exists.

Police said they’ve conducted a thorough investigation and concluded DiBartolo is the lone killer.

Moreno, in court documents filed this week, argued that such evidence will be hard to find.

She insisted that DiBartolo’s account of what happened should be viewed as sufficient evidence to justify the dog handler’s testimony.

Police had asked dog owner Sid Harty to bring one of his trained animals to Lincoln Park a few days after the murder.

Harty said his dog, Judge, has a perfect record in tracking scents at major crime scenes.

Moreno wants Harty to testify that the dog found a strong trail leading away from the van, in the same direction DiBartolo told police the murderers had fled.

, DataTimes