Jul 13, 2024 By Mike Jones 4 min read

A month before Louise Weis-Edmonds was shot to death allegedly by her husband in their North Strabane home in March 2014, police were called to a domestic dispute at the couple’s residence where she had fresh bite marks on her arm and her cellphone was found lying smashed on the floor.

Keith Hutter, a retired North Strabane police sergeant, testified Friday on the third day of Scott Edmonds’ homicide trial at the Washington County Courthouse that he responded to the couple’s home at 117 Victoria Drive on Feb. 22, 2014, and found Weis-Edmonds with injuries, along with the damaged cellphone and broken jewelry strewn across the floor.

Hutter said both Weis-Edmonds and Edmonds appeared to be intoxicated and had been arguing over the amount of time she had spent away from the house caring for her ailing parents. Hutter then noticed the bite marks on her arm and scratches on her right hand.

“I felt uncomfortable leaving her in that residence,” Hutter said.

Police asked for any weapons in the house, and Weis-Edmonds surrendered one handgun, although a .380 pistol apparently still remained in the residence, unbeknownst to the officers.

Edmonds was charged in the domestic dispute and ordered to take an anger management course following his preliminary hearing. Hutter said Edmonds never completed the course, because the following month, on March 25, 2014, Weis-Edmonds was shot in the back of the head. Township police charged Edmonds with homicide and evidence tampering in connection with her death, and he’s been held without bond at the Washington County jail since that time while awaiting trial.

Edmonds’ defense attorney, Mark Adams, asked during cross-examination whether Hutter had ever been called to the couple’s home before the February 2014 domestic dispute, prompting the retired sergeant to say he had.

“Many times,” Hutter responded.

In her redirect, First Assistant District Attorney Leslie Mylan asked how many times Hutter had been called there and for what reasons, leading Adams to object and ask for a sidebar. That led to a lengthy meeting in Judge John DiSalle’s chambers to discuss the issue, and when they returned, Mylan announced that the prosecution was resting its case.

Edmonds is claiming that his wife died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the back of her head, but a toxicologist hired by the prosecution said that was unlikely due to Weis-Edmonds’ level of intoxication when she died. Dr. Frederick Fochtman testified that her blood-alcohol level of .411% at the time of her death – more than five times the legal limit to drive a vehicle – meant she was either comatose or had “loss of motor functions” when she was shot.

“She would’ve been significantly impaired, most likely unconscious, from the effects of alcohol,” Fochtman said. “If she wasn’t unconscious, she would’ve been confused, disoriented. … She would not have been able to self-inflict that gunshot wound.”

Under cross-examination by Adams, Fochtman admitted that the high-blood alcohol level might not be indicative for someone who is a chronic alcoholic. The defense hired its own toxicologist, Dr. Lawrence Guzzardi, who testified later in the day that Weis-Edmonds may have been able to function enough to pull the trigger of a gun despite the “very high level” of intoxication.

Guzzardi admitted most people would be nearly unconscious at .411% blood-alcohol level, but he was informed by Edmonds that his wife abused alcohol. Guzzardi said he’s seen anecdotal evidence of “chronic alcoholics” who can still function, meaning someone could theoretically “handle a gun and point it at me, you or herself.”

“It’s completely different in an individual for someone who is very tolerant to alcohol,” Guzzardi said.

On cross-examination, District Attorney Jason Walsh noted that Guzzardi never examined Weis-Edmonds and did not know her drinking habits. Walsh also pointed out that Guzzardi was relying on information coming from the man accused of killing her.

“I have no independent knowledge of Ms. Weis-Edmonds’ drinking history,” Guzzardi said.

With that, DiSalle ended testimony for the day and asked the jury to return to the courthouse Monday so the trial can resume.