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Former Salt Lake City pediatrician Johnny Brickman Wall — on trial for allegedly murdering his ex-wife in 2011 — speculated prior to her death what life would be like if the woman were not around anymore, according to witness testimony on Wednesday.
Klaus Fiebig, who knew Wall from childhood, testified that Wall told him, "Would it be bad if Uta wasn't here anymore?"
Fiebig added: "It implied that she would somehow die."
Christina Gardner Smith, a former medical assistant of Wall's, said she talked with him about his 2006 divorce from von Schwedler. He would say jokingly, "How would my life be if she [Uta] weren't around?"
Smith said Wall also said things like, "How would things go if I moved to California?"
Smith said Wall also joked about "hiring a hitman." But she admitted she, too, made "off-color" jokes in reference to her own divorce.
Prosecutors have charged Wall, 51, alt Lake City pediatrician with first-degree felony murder, accusing him of killing his ex-wife following years of contention involving their messy divorce and custody battle over their four children.
But Wall's defense attorneys maintain that the man is innocent, and that von Schwedler's death was either a suicide or an accident.
Von Schwedler's boyfriend, Nils Abramson, found the 49-year-old woman submerged in cold water in a bathtub in her Sugar House home on the night of Sept. 27, 2011. She was wearing only shorts, and there was blood in her bedroom, at the edge of the bathroom sink and on a windowsill, according to an autopsy report.
Fiebig told a 3rd District Court jury that he was there when von Schwelder and Wall began their courtship and were married in 1990 in California.
He was there when the marriage began to unravel as the years wore on. And he was there in the bitter aftermath of his two friends' divorce, as the two hurled insults, accusations and hurtful words at one another.
But Fiebig told jurors Wednesday that while von Schwedler was mostly happy after the divorce — only sad about how her relationship was with her ex-husband — Wall seemed to be full of hatred and tried to antagonize von Schwedler.
"There was clear intent from Johnny to make Uta's life very difficult," Fiebig said. "There sort of a vengefulness there … It seemed like Johnny really hated Uta. It wasn't tit-for-tat. It was almost an aggression from his side."
Fiebig testified that he visited von Schwedler and Wall separately in January 2011. He said the woman seemed happy and was in a new relationship, but Wall remained fixated on his ex-wife.
"Everything seemed to be centered around Uta and how she ruined his life," Fiebig said.
And after von Schwedler's death, Fiebig said when he visited Salt Lake City again for a memorial service, Wall's hatred for his ex-wife had not wavered.
"He just could not stop about how much he hated Uta," Fiebig said. "This whole thing just didn't stop. He was fixated on explaining to me all the bad things that Uta had done."
Under cross-examination, Fiebig admitted that both von Schwedler and Wall insulted each other in their marriage — "This was not a one-person-at-fault thing," he said — and said von Schwedler had a very strong, direct personality.
Kathi Newman, who was the office manager of the clinic where Wall worked, testified Wednesday that on Sept. 27, 2011 — the same day von Schwedler was found dead — Wall came into work with an eye injury and acting out of character.
"Johnny came up to the door, walked in and said, 'Hi guys! You know I sleep outside with my dog, right?' " she said.
She testified that Wall had a scratch on his face and his eye was bleeding internally — an injury that he explained was caused by his dog getting spooked and stepping on him the night prior.
Wall left the office shortly after, Newman said, and his patients were seen by other doctors that day.
Newman said Wall normally didn't share personal details about his life and it wasn't typical for him to stop and greet others in the office.
Attorney Melissa Bean, who represented von Schwedler in family law issues for several years, said Tuesday that her client was seeking a custody re-evaluation in the months before her death.
During Bean's testimony on Wednesday, jurors were shown emails sent between Bean and von Schwedler, and between von Schwedler and Wall, that showed the volatile nature of the couple's relationship and their struggles to see eye-to-eye on what bills von Schwedler should pay, where the children should spend their time and how the couple's belongings — including family scrapbooks — should be divided among them.
One of those scrapbooks — containing photos of her youngest child — was found floating at her feet when her boyfriend discovered her in the bathtub. A paring knife was also found under her body.
The state medical examiner's office found that von Schwedler died from drowning, but could not determine whether the manner of her death was homicide, suicide or accidental.
Von Schwedler had a fatal or near-fatal amount of Xanax in her system prior to her death, according to court records. Judge James Blanch read from a stipulation Wednesday that said none of von Schwedler's children nor her boyfriend had a prescription for the drug. And von Schwedler herself did not have a prescription, according to previous testimony by her physicians.
But Lynn Hooper, an investigator with the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, testified on Wednesday that Wall had written a Xanax prescription for his mother in May 2011. Hooper said Wall picked up the prescription himself at a Murray pharmacy. He said that no Utah patient records could be found for Wall's mother, who lived in California at that time.
Wall faces up to life in prison if convicted. He has been held in the Salt Lake County jail in lieu of $1.5 million cash-only bail.
He has signed an agreement with the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, giving up his medical icense and his ability to write prescriptions until the murder case is resolved.