Need a father? Expose number one

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090504/LOVELAND01/90504001

James Whitler's 11- and 13-year-old children are expected to deliver emotional testimony today in their father's first-degree murder trial.



Whitler is accused of trying to kill his 11- and 13-year-old children in May 2008 after beating process server Stephen Allen to death with a baseball bat after receiving divorce papers and a restraining order temporarily keeping him from seeing his children.

The trial begins its first full week of testimony today.


Sgt. John Feyen, the first officer to arrive on scene, testified last week he saw James Whitler strangling both of his children. Deputies used Tasers to free the children from
Whitler's grasp, Feyen testified.


Lisa Whitler, testifying Friday, said her ex-husband seemed calm in the 30 minutes it took him to read the divorce papers and restraining order before he delivered the first of many blows from a tee-ball bat to Allen's body.


She also testified her children sent her "hate messages" through voice and text messages in the week before she filed for divorce, while they were living with their father.


When proceedings start up again at 9 a.m. today, Whitler's 11-year-old son is expected to testify, and prosecutors have also indicated jurors will see a 90-minute recording of the boy's interview with investigators.


Prosecutors also have said they will call Whitler's 13-year-old daughter to testify.


Whitler's attorneys, public defenders Eric Vanatta and Kathryn Hay, don't dispute their client killed Allen but argue he did so in an altered state of mind.


They also argued during opening statements that James Whitler loved his children and told them, "I have to protect you" just before he started strangling them.


The trial is going into its third day of testimony today. Prosecutors have indicated jurors will see more than 200 pieces of evidence during the two-week-long trial.