This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Farmington • Michael Scott Ennis wielded the knife that pierced Tyler Eastabrook's heart last year. That's about the only thing anyone agreed on Thursday.
At Ennis' preliminary hearing there was conflicting testimony over who else was present on Sept. 15 when Eastabrook died. Lawyers also delved into methamphetamine use by Eastabrook and drug dealing by two key witnesses.
But after 2 1/2 hours of testimony, 2nd District Court Judge David Connors ruled there is enough evidence for Ennis to proceed to trial on a charge of first-degree felony murder. An arraignment is scheduled for May 5.
Defense attorney Rich Gallegos said after the hearing that his client would claim self-defense in front of a jury, and that he may ask a judge to reduce the severity of the charge before trial.
Ennis, 34, and Eastabrook, 31, each have a child with one of the hearing's witnesses, Leslie Liptrap. She testified Thursday that Ennis did not like that she was selling methamphetamine with another man, named Jeremy "Sleepy" Diaz. Liptrap, who was 3 months pregnant at the time, said she had not been answering Ennis' phone calls.
Liptrap had been at a neighboring apartment where the other people there were using meth, she testified. About 2 a.m., Liptrap was at her apartment, alone, preparing to move out. Ennis arrived to talk to her, she testified, and she told him he should leave.
At that point, Eastabrook and Diaz arrived.
Ennis then exited the apartment, and Eastbrook and Diaz followed him outside, she testified. She didn't see what happened next, she said, because her landlord arrived to ask her about the noise and why people were coming and going.
Diaz returned and said Ennis had hit Eastabrook in the head, Liptrap testified. She ran outside and saw Eastabrook on the ground. She shook him and told him to get up. Eastabrook died at the scene.
Assistant State Medical Examiner Pamela Ulmer testified Thursday that Eastabrook suffered a single stab wound to the upper left chest. The blade pierced a lung and the left ventricle of his heart. Eastabrook, who was on parole at the time of his death, also had high amounts of meth in his system, Ulmer testified.
The cross-examination from Gallegos focused on how Liptrap originally failed to tell police about Diaz or the meth use.
"Why didn't you tell them about Sleepy Diaz being there?" Gallegos asked.
"Well, because he's a gang member I've got to be a little afraid about," Liptrap replied.
Police found Ennis hiding in a field a few minutes after being called to the scene.
Sunset police Lt. Bruce Arbogast testified Thursday that Ennis told him he picked up a kitchen knife from a box as he was exiting the apartment because he was worried Diaz and Eastabrook would attack him. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Ennis told Arbogast, Eastabrook began hitting him in the head and spun him around.
That is when Ennis swung the knife with his right hand, Arbogast testified. Police later found a knife, believed to be the murder weapon, on the other side of a fence on the property boundary.
Arbogast also read transcripts of two voice mail messages Ennis left on Liptrap's cell phone. The second message read in part, "There's one less mother—— down. One to go."
Gallegos questioned Arbogast about the crime scene. The lieutenant acknowledged there may have been a 10-minute gap between the stabbing and when anyone called 911, and in that time evidence may have been compromised.
Arbogast also acknowledged that many witnesses, including Diaz, have been uncooperative with police and have refused to discuss any or some of what happened. Some of Liptrap's testimony Thursday was the first time he heard that people were using meth prior to the stabbing, Arbogast said.
Twitte: @natecarlisle