AUGUSTA, Maine — The grandfather of 4-year-old Kendall Chick, who died from blunt force trauma in Wiscasset in December 2017, testified in court Wednesday.
Justice William Stokes informed Stephen Hood he had the Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself during the murder trial for Shawna Gatto.
Justice Stokes told Hood his testimony could potentially lead the state to charge him with assault, trafficking, endangering the welfare of a child or more serious charges. Hood said he did not need to speak with counsel and continued with his testimony.
During testimony, prosecutors played a 30-minute jail call between Gatto and Hood. In the recording, you hear part of this transcript:
Hood: “I am scared and worried for you and me”
Gatto: “Why do you say that?"
Hood: “Had I known about it I sure as (expletive) would have put a stop to it."
Gatto: “What do you mean?”
Hood: “If there was any abuse going on in this house… you have got us in such a (expletive) up situation… I come home from work and…”
Gatto: “Don’t say it don’t say it.”
Earlier in the day, investigators detailed evidence collection. The court heard from a Maine State Police sergeant who is part of the agency's Major Crime Units about evidence collected and documented at 19 Crickets Ln., the home at which Gatto, Hood and Chick lived.
The evidence, including Chick's clothing, and bed sheets, were tested for DNA samples. Eighteen swab samples from the residence were a positive match to either Chick’s blood or saliva.
A forensic DNA expert matched one blood sample to Hood. As of Wednesday, no DNA samples collected were linked to Gatto.
Gatto’s defense asked the experts if they could determine age from the samples, which the crime lab and an expert could not.
NEWS CENTER Maine was told to expect an opening statement from the defense as early as Wednesday. The state says we might not hear from them at all until closing arguments.
The murder trial is scheduled to take a break on Thursday. Justice Stokes told Stephen Hood to report back to court Friday morning for cross-examination.