Guardian found guilty of starving Chandler to death

Phillips given life in prison without parole

By Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 4, 2008 at 3:56 p.m.
Updated August 12, 2008 at 4:41 p.m.

A Denver jury took about three hours Tuesday to convict Jon Phillips of first-degree murder in the starvation death of 7-year-old Chandler Grafner.

He was immediately sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 49 years for child abuse resulting in death and for destruction of evidence.

Phillips, 27, looked straight ahead and showed no emotion, as he has during the rest of the two-week trial. He made no statement before he was sentenced.

Chandler's family members whispered an emphatic "Yes!" and held onto one another as they heard Phillips convicted on all counts.

"It would be an understatement to tell you this case was horrific," prosecutor Verna Carpenter told the judge before Phillips was sentenced, struggling to control her emotions.

Phillips was convicted of causing Chandler to die of starvation and dehydration while keeping him locked in a dark linen closet, surrounded by his excrement, while crying and screaming for something to eat or drink.

Autopsy photos showed him so emaciated that his eye sockets and most bones in his body stuck out. The little hair that hadn't fallen out from malnutrition was still standing up in the spikes that the little boy favored.

Carpenter said she has her own 7-year-old, blond, blue-eyed son, and then broke off, choking back tears that she had held at bay during the weeks of trial. Prosecutor David Lamb came to stand beside her.

"There is not a sentence long enough for Jon Phillips," she said. "He deserves the maximum you can give him. That's what justice requires."

"This case has taken an emotional toll on everyone," Judge John Madden said as he imposed the sentence.

Phillips' mother sobbed into the chest of public defender Darren Cantor after her son was led from the courtroom by deputies. Cantor hugged her and whispered, "Sorry."

Phillips' parents quickly left the courthouse, going down a side stairway to avoid reporters.

Chandler had come with his half-brother, Dominic, to live with Phillips and Berry after the boys' birth mother lost custody of them.

Prosecutor Lamb said Phillips grew to have an "intense dislike" for Chandler.

"By May of 2007, Jon Phillips had had enough of Chandler Grafner and wanted to raised only Dominic, his biological child," Lamb said.

After Tuesday's verdict, Chandler's grandmother, Sandra Younger said, "We really feel that justice was done here. We are thankful."

She said she is glad that Phillips will be behind bars for the rest of his life.

"I think he's a sociopath without a conscience."

Younger told the judge before sentencing, "I hope every day he suffers the way my baby did. I want him to live in the terror Chandler must have lived in. He is a monster."

Chandler's mother, Christina Grafner, wasn't present for the verdict. Younger said she was in the hospital.

Chandler's aunt, Stefanie Evilsizer, told the judge before sentencing that her nephew's "beautiful spirit was broken down by the monster sitting before us. He tore our entire world apart. No prison could be as bad as what Chandler was put through."

As he left the courtroom where he has sat for much of the trial, Chandler's biological father, Josh Norris said, "I've gotten a lot of closure today."

His girlfriend said the verdict gives Norris some peace just to "know this monster won't ever see the light of day again."

Jurors, who sat in the back of the courtroom for the sentencing hearing, declined to talk to reporters but clearly rejected the defense contention that Chandler died from undiagnosed diabetes.

"This is an incredibly sad case," defense attorney Cantor said after sentencing. "The verdict is obviously very disappointing to us, but I have tremendous respect for the jury and the system."

Phillip's girlfriend, Sarah Berry, 23, pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder, sparing her a possible life sentence for a first-degree murder conviction.

Younger said she supported the plea bargain because Berry had "manned up, she took responsibility and admitted what she did."

Defense attorneys and one expert pathologist contended that Chandler died of dehydration and wasting caused by undiagnosed diabetes that caused his body to feed on itself.

However, the bulk of medical experts who testified during the trial said there was no sign of diabetes in Chandler's body. Phillips and Berry had not sought medical care for Chandler in the weeks before he died, while he was wasting away.

Among the damning evidence was a cellphone call in which Berry asked Phillips what to do after Chandler became so desperate for water that he threatened to escape from the locked closet, get a knife and kill them if they didn't give him a drink. That call was made nine days before he died.

During the two-week trial, jurors were given a grim description of Chandler's final days. A mortuary worker who weighed him when he delivered his body to the coroner said he only weighed 31 pounds.

Doctors said it would have taken a week or two for Chandler to reach the level of starvation and dehydration he had when paramedics were summoned May 6, 2007, to find him he was already dead.

Prosecutors contended that Phillips and Berry waited several hours to call 911 while they ripped up and disposed of the feces-encrusted carpet from the linen closet. In the spring of 2007, Chandler had attracted the attention of teachers, social workers and police, after he came to school with his ear entirely black. He told teachers "my daddy clobbered me" but later changed his story to say he had slipped in the shower.

Withholding food as a punishment was already apparent then, prosecutors said. When an investigator asked him if he had eaten, he replied, "I'm not good so I don't get things."

But Chandler fell through the social services cracks and was returned to Phillips and Berry with no follow-up.

His death prompted major efforts to examine what went wrong with his case and to reform the system in Denver and statewide.

Lamb said Phillips chose to kill Chandler by depriving him of food and water because of increasing scrutiny by authorities.

Lamb asked the jury for a first-degree murder conviction during his closing argument, saying "anything less than that is a gift of mercy to a man who showed none."

TRIAL BLOG

2:14 p.m.

"This is an incredibly sad case," said Phillips' defense attorney, Darren Cantor.

"The verdict is obviously very disappointing to us. but I have tremendous respect for the jury and the system. We had a different view of things."

Cantor said that a number of doctors they took Chandler's records to believed he died from diabetes. He said they only presented one expert because they did not see the point in making jurors sit through repetitive testimony.

"This case had a fair share of pain for everyone involved," said defense attorney David Jones. A child died. No one could look at those photos and not feel that."

The defense attorneys said they disagreed about the cause of death, but couldn't explain why, if Chandler did have diabetes, he wasn't taken to the doctor long before he died. Jones said that they believed that Phillips should have been charged not with murder but with medical neglect or failure to provide medical care for Chandler.

Cantor said the horrific photos of Chandler's emaciated body set the tone for the case. "They started that emotional roller coaster. Any time you have a case with that kind of emotion involved, it makes it an uphill battle," he said.

Cantor said Phillips was never offered a plea bargain for second-degree murder, as Berry was at the end of the trial.

1:56 p.m.

The prosecutors held a brief news conference with reporters after the trial.

Prosecutor David Lamb applauded the jury for its attention and effort in the case.

"They had a hard job," he said. "We took three weeks out of their lives and showed them some of the worst evidence I've ever seen, so I'm very grateful to them."

Lamb said the case became personal to everyone involved.

"The story is pretty awful, but everything we ever heard about Chandler is that this was a special kid. That made it personal."

The case was particularly personal for prosecutor Verna Carpenter, who kept it together throughout the trial until the sentencing hearing when she had trouble keeping her tears at bay.

"I have a 7-year-old blond-haired, blue-eyed little boy," she said. "You can't imagine subjecting a child to what Chandler went through. Children are innocent and dependent and they need people around them to protect them."

Prosecutors acknowledged that social services officials have taken a lot of criticism for failing to protect Chandler. "The social services system is very flawed," Carpenter said, "but I lay every single ounce of blame and responsibility in this case at the feet of Jon Phillips and Sarah Berry."

She said she hoped the case would serve to make people more vigilant to signs of abuse in children and more willing to step up and say something.

She and Lamb praised the work of police, investigators, teachers and a number of medical professionals who offered to help with the prosecution for free.

Neither had an explanation for Phillips' lack of emotion during the trial.

"I cried the first time I saw pictures of Chandler," Carpenter said. "It should upset you." She said Phillips' lack of reaction at seeing those photos or, apparently, to what Chandler looked like when he was alive is confounding.

"I don't know what goes on with Mr. Phillips," Lamb said. "It didn't surprise me. My guess is that by now, Mr. Phillips has turned a lot of himself off."

1:40 p.m.

Detective Ken Klaus. who interviewed Chandler's little brother, came to court for the verdict.

Asked whether this was one of the worst cases he'd ever seen, he said, "It does stand out but there's always another one, unfortunately. I work with kids. It's what I do. Every case that comes along requires the same amount of energy and passion as this one."

The verdict is a hollow victory for Klaus.

"A child had to die to get this verdict. We weren't able to save him."

"The system worked. The citizens of Denver came together and gave a little boy justification, even though he's dead."

Sarah Berry pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to second-degree murder.

"Nobody wins in a situation like this," said her public defender, Jason Young. "This is an incredibly tragic situation for all the families involved. Hopefully this gives all the families some closure and the ability to move on with the rest of their lives."

Young said the plea offer came up in the final days of the trial and had not previously been on the table.

"It was something that developed late," he said. "We always consider all our options and would have been foolish not to do so. Fortunately, I think it worked out for Sarah's benefit." He said she must serve 75 percent of her sentence and would be eligible for parole at age 58.

Young and fellow public defender Willie Rios sat in on most of the Phillips trial.

"We obviously have been working on this case for a year," Young said. "We knew exactly what was coming in at trial. We knew what the reactions would be."

1:03 p.m.

Phillips’ mother sobbed into the chest of public defender Darren Cantor after the sentencing hearing was over. He hugged her and whispered, “sorry.”

Phillips’ parents quickly left the courthouse, going down a side stairway to avoid being asked for comment.

Prosecutors, investigators and Chandler’s family all hugged and dabbed at tears.

Chandler’s grandmother, Sandra Younger said, “We really feel that justice was done here. We are thankful.”

She said she is glad that Phillips will be behind bars for the rest of his life.

“I think he’s a sociopath without a conscience.”

She said she supported the plea bargain to second-degree murder that Berry received.

“Absolutely,” she said. “She took responsibility. She manned up and admitted what she did.”

11:56 a.m.

Phillips’ conviction on first-degree murder means a mandatory life prison term without parole.

Jurors came back into the courtroom for the sentencing hearing.

Public defender Darren Cantor said he would say nothing and Phillips would make no comment because the conviction would be appealed.

Verna Carpenter said she believed Phillips must be receive consecutive sentences for the different counts. He faces up to 48 years on the child abuse charge and 3 years on the destruction of evidence charge.

Chandler’s aunt told the judge, “from the moment that Chandler was born he lit up our lives. His beautiful spirit was broken down by the monster sitting before us. He tore our entire world apart. No prison could be as bad as what Chandler was put through.”

John Norris, Chandler’s biological father, I’ve never had the honor of knowing that my son. And now never get that chance.

We all hope that justice will be served.

Chandler’s grandmother Sandra Younger said, “He took my beautiful grandson from me. He did this knowingly and with malice and hate in his heart and he did it to destroy my daughter. I hope every day he suffers the way my baby did. I want him to live in the terror Chandler must have lived in. He is a monster. I miss Chandler every single day. I have a new grandson that will never know Chandler except from us.”

“It would be an understatement to tell you this case was horrific,” prosecutor Verna Carpenter, for the first time, struggling to control her emotions.

“This community should be proud of their teachers,” she said. “That community is suffering a huge loss. It’s horrible. It’s beyond belief what Jon Phillips did. When I talked to my 7-year-old boy this morning,” she said, choking back tears and breaking off. Prosecutor David Lamb came to stand beside her. “There is not a sentence long enough for Jon Phillips. He deserves the maximum you can give him. That’s what justice requires.”

“This has taken an emotional toll on everyone,” Judge Madden said.

Phillips had no prior felony convictions.

He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Madden sentenced him to 48 years for child abuse resulting in death. He sentenced him to one year for tampering with evidence.

The judge ordered that the sentences be consecutive.

11:21 p.m.

Going forward with sentencing.

11:20 a.m.

Phillips found guilty on all counts. Going to immediate sentencing.

11:20 a.m.

Phillips sits facing straight ahead showing no emotion as he has during the trial.

Jury convicts him on all counts. Chandler’s family and friends whisper “Yes!”. Chandler’s parents hug one another.

11:17 a.m.

Prosecutor Verna Carpenter reminds family and friends of Chandler not to react regardless of the verdict.

Jon Phillips enters the courtroom with his attorneys.

More prosecutors and law enforcement take seats to hear the verdict.

11:01 a.m.

The jury just told the court clerk that it has reached a verdict.

The clerk is calling attorneys to get them to the courtroom.

10:08 a.m.

Prosecutor David Lamb comes into the court briefly and asks, "What could you possibly be blogging about?"

A court clerk asks the jury about their lunch plans.

9:45 a.m. today

The jury in the Jon Phillips murder trial is deliberating quietly, with nary a peep from the jury room in Courtroom 16.

Judge John Madden is working on his computer at the bench.

The hubbub expected in court today with jury selection getting underway for Sarah Berry evaporated late yesterday afternoon with Berry’s unexpected plea to second-degree murder.

Phillips’ parents are sitting in the hallway as they have during the entire trial, waiting to give their son encouragement when he walks to and from the courtroom.

TV media remain cloistered in a very hot, stuffy anteroom where they have monitored the expanded media coverage (aka cameras in the courtroom) of the trial since it began two weeks ago.

The Rocky is the lone blogger so far.

5:25 p.m. Monday

Berry answered questions from the judge in a faint voice, barely whispering at times.

Her trial was supposed to begin with jury selection Tuesday morning. Judge Madden instructed her that she risked a life prison sentence if convicted of first-degree murder but also might be acquitted or convicted of a lesser charge.

She and her attorneys agreed that the factual basis of the plea was the affidavit prepared at the time of her arrest, which detailed Chandler’s starvation and dehydration, and the conditions in the closet in which he was imprisoned.

“Guilty,” she said, choking back tears.

Berry will be sentenced Sept. 29.

She left the courtroom with her eyes downcast, not looking at her family.

5:13 p.m.

Sarah Berry, who also was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 7-year-old Chandler Grafner, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder late today.

Berry’s trial was to get underway Tuesday as the jury deliberated its verdict in the Jon Phillips case.

But last-minute negotiations resulted in a plea bargain that spares Berry from a possible life prison sentence.

She will be sentenced to 48 years in prison.

She faced the same charges as Phillips – first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and destruction of evidence.

Berry appeared in court in a khaki jail uniform, shackles around her waist.

3:53 p.m.

Defense asks for mistrial based on personal comments by prosecutors during closings.

Judge says comments don’t cross the line or merit declaring a mistrial. He said defense objected to the comments when they were made and he sustained the objections.

He again denied a motion for judgment for acquittal.

3:44 p.m.

Chandler and Dominic both told people about the cold showers.

Dominic told the detective that Chandler had to pee and poop in the closet, she said.

He also said that his mommy and daddy cleaned the closet before calling 911.

Carpenter said she was at a loss for how to deal with the cat-box theory of the defense.

“The cat that basically must have exploded in the closet,” she said, “the absurdity that cat droppings would account for the amount of feces found in the closet, on the box and the air mattress.”

If jurors remained uncertain, Carpenter suggested they get the evidence box containing the air mattress. “Open it up and take a whiff,” she suggested, “and ask yourself how someone cleaning up cat droppings would smear them all over the air mattress and the bottom of the closet shelf.”

“After Jan. 11, Jon Phillips thought no one was watching Chandler any more and that’s when things changed dramatically,” she said. “He forgot someone was watching -- A really smart 5-year-old boy who led us to the evidence.”

“At some point of screaming for food and water, he probably gave up and only Dominic could hear his pleas,” Carpenter said.

She asked for guilty verdicts on charges of first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and destruction of evidence.

The jury is dismissed for a break and to begin deliberations.

3:32 p.m.

Phillips’ defense attorneys said in opening statements that their expert would say he died of diabetic ketoacidosis, but his opinion changed by the time he testified, prosecutor Verna Carpenter said.

“That’s because there weren’t any ketones in Chandler’s body,” she said. “There was no acetone in his blood.”

Instead, she said, Dr. Stephen Factor testified Chandler died of having an elevated blood glucose level “that would suck the tissue dry.” She noted that he conceded that could have been caused by diabetes or being deprived food and water.

The blood tests that Factor relied on were conducted on blood that had been stored improperly in a lab that wasn’t accredited, she said.

She said it doesn’t matter whether Chandler had pneumonia or had aspirated some vomit, because neither caused his death.

Factor also said he couldn’t tell if Chandler had been deprived of food, she said.

Carpenter said that Factor’s opinion doesn’t explain why Chandler had sores all over his body for rubbing against hard surfaces while having no fat left in his body.

Prosecution experts said Chandler had been deprived of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, not just food and water, she said.

“Chandler had ceased growing long before he succumbed to starvation and dehydration,” she said, something that took several weeks.

“He was likely in a comatose state,” she said.

3:14 p.m.

“In the end, you have to ask yourself, did they prove this to you,” Cantor told the jury.

“This is not the most serious charge you can be charged with, first-degree murder, this is someone who missed the signs,” Cantor said.

2:52 p.m.

“The winds of emotion have blown through this case” from the moment paramedics came to Chandler’s home, said defense attorney Darren Cantor.

“Those people had every reason to be upset by what they saw,” he said. But Chandler’s appearance and his death weren’t caused by Phillips’ intentional starvation of the 7-year-old boy, he said.

Cantor said that medical evidence indicates that Chandler’s blood sugar was high at the time he died.

The high glucose level from Chandler’s eye fluid means that his blood sugar level was even higher when he died, Cantor said.

The changes that defense expert Dr. Stephen Factor found in Chandler’s liver, pancreas and kidney don’t happen quickly and indicate that he had diabetes, Cantor said.

“It’s not starvation,” Cantor said. There was no change in the heart tissue, he said. Chandler didn’t have a fatty liver which would be expected if he was being starved to death, he said.

The shocking photos of Chandler’s emaciated body at death show that his body was feeding on itself because he had diabetes, Cantor said.

The many air fresheners found in the apartment were there merely to get rid of the odor of the cat, he said.

The so-called security camera wasn’t hooked up to anything and a person would have had to be sitting in the living room – where the camera was - to watch what it recorded, he said. There were better locations for the camera if they were truly trying to monitor the linen closet, he said.

The kind of starvation and dehydration Chandler suffered can easily be the result of an unrecognized case of diabetes, Cantor said, if you don’t see the signs.

Prosecutors “cherry-picked” through Dominic’s statements to find the ones that fit the picture they were trying to paint, Cantor said.

Dominic gave many different versions of events. “What’s he mixing up? We have no clue,” Cantor said.

Dominic drew Chandler standing up in the closet, Cantor said, when that was impossible in the linen closet.

He noted that no clothing was produced as evidence with feces, urine or vomit on it.

As for cleaning up after Chandler died, Cantor asked, “If you’re gonna do a cover-up, wouldn’t you pull the carpet pad, too?”

He also said they wouldn’t have left all the air fresheners around if they were part of a massive cover-up.

If Chandler was screaming for help, as Dominic said, why didn’t any of the neighbors hear him, Cantor asked.

2:19 p.m.

Prosecutor David Lamb began closings by showing the green apartment door behind which Chandler lived, telling jurors that secrets went on behind that door, but the trial had opened that door.

Chandler gave many hints long before he died.

When asked if he had eaten, he said, “I’m not good so I don’t get things.”

“What has to be done to a child for a child of 7 to describe himself as not good enough for food?” Lamb asked.

“What 7-year-old has the concept of going to jail if he lies?”

Lamb also described the “cruelty of Chandler’s last Easter” when Phillips wouldn’t let him play or sit with the family and forced him to have oatmeal by himself instead of Easter dinner with the family.

Lamb showed the jury the photo of chandler and his brother, with bars drawn over Chandler’s smiling face.

“Who does this? Who puts a child in prison? Who does this to a photograph and then displays it for everyone to see?”

He was not killed by a secret killer,” Lamb said. Instead, Chandler was killed by the man he knew as his father.

“He chose to deprive this child of food and water knowing if you do that, the child is going to die,” Lamb said..

In January 2007, Lamb said, “being beaten was just the starting point for Chandler. He was being beaten and abused and he was being programmed not to talk about it.

He showed up at school with bruises over and over, Lamb said. On Jan. 17, 2007, he comes to school with a blackened ear. He tells them “my daddy clobbered me.” But a few days later, he tells them he slipped in the shower and that his parents were angry that he had talked to his teachers about being hit. He confides in a teacher’s aide, “I get in so much trouble when you interrogate me.”

Chandler’s parents knew they had to shut him up, Lamb said, so they pulled him out of school and stopped bringing him around Old Chicago Restaurant where both Phillips and Berry worked.

Food became a weapon to be used against Chandler, Lamb said. The ultimate punishment became the linen closet where Chandler would eventually be kept in filth without food or water and left to die.

The last time anyone sees him in any kind of health is April 2007, when he is refused Easter dinner, Lamb said.

Lamb quoted Chandler’s brother telling his therapist, “Chandler would beg me for food. Sometimes they would feed him. Sometimes they would not.”

As for the closet, Lamb said, “That was a prison cell.” He noted the screws and twine used to keep the doors closed from the outside.

Lamb pointed out the fingerprints on the closet door pointing up from the bottom, indicating that someone on the floor was pushing on that door trying to get our.

DNA from cells left in Chandler’s feces in the closet show he was kept prisoner there, Lamb said.

Dominic also told jurors about the closet, Lamb said. “He showed you through those drawings what happened in the closet,” he said.

Lamb showed jurors photos of Chandler’s emaciated body after death. “Chandler’s little body tells you he wasn’t even allowed to be comfortable in this cell. Chandler’s little body tells you he was in this closet for a long time.”

“It was a simple equation for Jon Phillips,” Lamb said.

“By May of 2007 Jon Phillips had had enough of Chandler Grafner” and wanted to raise only his biological child, Chandler’s little brother, Lamb said. “He had an intense dislike for Chandler Grafner.”

“His motive against this child is spelled out in bruises from that school in January to the morgue in May.He had a choice to make based on self-preservation. Jon Phillips had a choice to make. He chose a dead body over explaining a sick and battered child. Jon Phillips chose a dead body over having to explain an injured child again.”

“A dead body doesn’t talk, doesn’t talk about the closet, about the bruises and a dead body won’t put you in jail.”

Jon Phillips knew Chandler was dying, Lamb said.

“Who on this planet would look at this child and say he’s just a little sick? He was a living corpse,” Lamb said.

The time it took to get to this condition indicates that Phillips knew Chandler was dying, Lamb said.

Chandler’s repeated demands for food and water were ignored. “This man knew what he needed to stay alive,” Lamb said.

There was an overwhelming smell of decay, feces, urine and cleaning products in the apartment, Lamb said. “They show you that this man knew he had a corpse in the closet,” Lamb said, pointing to Phillips.

Phillips and Berry dealt with it by buying dozens of forms of air fresheners, air purifiers and air filters. They also placed a fan in the bathroom window to try to “vent the odor of Chandler’s demise out of this apartment,” Lamb said.

“On May 4, what did they do? They went to Wal-Mart to buy more things to cover the stench of this dying boy.”

They also altered the refrigerator door so it wouldn’t be easily opened and installed a security camera to make sure they knew if he ever escaped, Lamb said.

Phillips told police that it took 20 minutes for paramedics to arrive when it took less than a minute, Lamb said.

They cleaned up the evidence and took the stuff to the trash before calling 911, Lamb said.

He even concealed the fact that he had pulled Chandler out of school from his own mother, Lamb said.

He had no birthday party because “the war was on” by then, Lamb said.

Phillips showed no reaction when Chandler died because “he expected it” and had caused his death, Lamb said.

Dominic drew a picture of Chandler on the day he died, saying, “His eyes were open but he wasn’t able to talk because his throat hurt.”

Lamb also reminded jurors about the picture of Chandler that Dominic drew with “squiggles” coming from him that Dominic said were his screams for help.

Lamb also played the cell phone message from Berry to Phillips telling him that Phillips told Dominic if they didn’t give him something to drink, he was going to get a knife from the kitchen and kill them.

“Chandler didn’t die for another eight days,” Lamb said.

Lamb’s voice broke as he described Chandler’s last days.

He asked the jury to find Phillips guilty on all three charges.

“Anything less than guilty of murder in the first degree is not the full measure of justice that the evidence shows you,” he said.

“Anything less than that is a gift of mercy to a man who showed none.”

1:17 p.m.

The trial resumed at 1 p.m. sharp and Judge Madden is reading instructions to the jury.

Although the defense attorneys said they intended to present evidence that Chandler’s paternal family has a history of diabetes, that didn’t take place. Defense attorney David Jones said he learned of that possibility through comments to the Rocky’s blog where relatives have discussed diabetes in their family.

It’s not clear why the defense only learned of that fact, if it is true, through the Rocky’s blog.

Jurors will hear closing arguments after instructions are read.

10 a.m.

More than a year after his gruesome death, little Chandler Grafner will get a headstone, thanks to Rocky Mountain News readers.

The Rocky reported last year that the boy was buried at a Wheat Ridge cemetery without a headstone. Since then, dozens of readers have contacted the Rocky, offering to pay for the marker.

After lengthy delays because of disagreement among family members over how to handle the issue, the parents agreed in June to allow donors to pay. A fund was set up with the aid of a non-profit agency and more than enough money was collected within a week.

Norman's Memorials in Wheat Ridge ordered the granite last month and the headstone is expected to be installed this fall.

Seven-year-old Chandler Grafner died May 6, 2007. His caretakers - Jon Phillips and his common-law wife, Sarah Berry - are accused of locking Chandler in a closet and starving him to death.

Phillips' murder trial is expected to conclude this week and Berry is expected to go on trial later this year. Since the trial began, readers have been contacting the Rocky about the headstone.

Last fall, the boy's father, Josh Norris, and the mother, Christina Grafner, met with Norman's Memorials in Wheat Ridge to pick out a flat marker of dark blue granite. The design is to include a ceramic photo of the boy holding a baseball when he was about 4, and phrases such as "You are my sunshine" and "An angel too beautiful for this world to keep."

But they disagreed over how to pay. Norris, who was not involved with Chandler, said he didn't have enough money to pay for the marker. Grafner wanted the family to take care of the headstone but they didn't, she said.

Without agreement from the parents, the headstone could not be ordered.

In June, the Rocky contacted the boy's parents after learning that the grave still didn't have a headstone. The mother decided to allow Rocky readers to pay for the headstone. At the time, she said she was pregnant and felt bad that her son still didn't have a marker and she wanted him to have one. Norris said he was unemployed and could not pay.

A memorial fund set up for the headstone collected more than $4,000. The marker costs just over $1,300. The remaining money will be given to a charity that helps abused and neglected children.

The Rocky will report when the headstone is installed. Chandler is buried in the children's section of Mount Olivet Cemetery.

--Myung Oak Kim

9:02 a.m. Monday

Jon Phillips was advised about his right to testify.

He said he’s been advised about that right and made the decision not to testify.

Prosecutors tell the judge they have decided not to present any rebuttal testimony.

Defense attorney David Jones says they may want to present a last minute witness from the Chandler’s family to testify about a family history of diabetes. Family members have been discussing this on comments to the the Rocky’s blog, he said. He asks for more time to locate a witness.

The prosecution says that what the defense does may change their decision about rebuttal.

Judge Madden decides he will call the jury in, both sides will rest and they may reopen the case if necessary and the witness is located.

The jury is called in and the defense and prosecution formally rest their cases.

The jury is given a long, early morning break to allow lawyers to argue about what instructions of the law they will hear. They are told to be back at 1 p.m.

4:59 p.m. Friday

Cross examination of Dr. Factor continued after the break.

Carpenter tried to show that Factor didn’t know anything about how the blood was stored before it was tested after the autopsy or the certification of the lab that conducted the test. But Factor emphatically stated that “unless the blood had totally degraded and has mold growing in it,” the test results he saw were valid for showing that Chandler had diabetes.

Factor agreed that Chandler was so severely dehydrated that it alone could have killed him. He also agreed that he can’t tell what caused the dehydration, including whether he was denied water or anything to drink for days.

Judge adjourns court for the day.

The defense is expected to rest Monday morning.

There will be some rebuttal testimony Monday before closing arguments.

3:42 p.m.

Dr. Factor vigorously resisted prosecutor Verna Carpenter’s attempts to show he wasn’t an expert in childhood diabetes and would have to “defer” to the opinions of someone who was.

“I don’t need a pediatric pathologist to tell me what the findings were in this case,” he said.

He admitted he didn’t review police reports and didn’t know if the evidence showed that Chandler was denied food and water by his parents.

Carpenter contended that Factor reached his conclusions without knowing that Chandler had been injected with glucose and had 45 minutes of CPR during resuscitation. None of the results shown in Chandler’s autopsy were related to the injection of glucose or CPR during resuscitation, he said.

“It would not at ALL affect the liver changes or the pancreatic change” or the blood test,” Factor said, a growing tone of exasperation in his voice.

Carpenter showed Factor a photo of Chandler’s emaciated body after death.

“You would agree that his appearance is not normal, correct?”

“He certainly looks wasted,” he said.

“Anyone could see that?” she asked.

“Yep.”

He said he agreed that Chandler would not reach that appearance overnight.

He said that any bruises and abrasions on Chandler’s body would not be related to diabetes.

Carpenter pointed out that Factor did not find evidence of ketoacidosis, the complication that defense attorneys said during opening statement had claimed Chandler’s life.

“Based on the one measurement in the blood, he did not have acetone in this blood; however, that did not negate the likelihood that he had diabetes with severe hyperglycemia,” Factor said.

Factor said a diagnosis of ketoacidosis is usually not done after death.

“Because parents usually take their kids to the hospital when they’re sick, right?” asked Carpenter, prompting an objection by the defense which was sustained.

Court goes to afternoon recess. Cross will continue after break.

3:05 p.m.

Dr. Stephen Factor continued his expert testimony for the defense after the lunch break.

The pathologist said he saw changes in Chandler’s pancreas that indicated elevated glucose levels associated with diabetes.

“This is something that takes months to develop if not years,” he said.

He said the changes showed the pancreas was developing specialized tissue to try to overcome the problem the body was having dealing with sugar.

Factor said he didn’t see evidence of pneumonia that the Denver coroner saw.

He said he saw “extensive aspiration of protein material” in the airways of the lung often associated with vomiting. He said it likely occurred just before the time of death but couldn’t tell if it had anything to do with causing his death. If it had been there for along time, it would have developed into pneumonia.

Factor said the kidney showed changes and damage caused by severe dehydration. He said one of the complications of diabetes is increased urination because sugar acts as a diuretic in diabetics.

He said Chandler’s organs did not show evidence of starvation caused by being deprived food.

The heart slides were completely normal, he said.

He said he asked for a special blood test because of what he saw in the tissue slides and Chandler’s emaciated state

The results, he said, “confirmed my belief that he had diabetes as a cause of his wasting and dehydration.”

He said the stored blood from Chandler’s body would have lost glucose during storage, “so the elevated levels of glucose showed that he had elevated levels of glucose in his body for a long period of time – weeks.”

The injection of glucose given to Chandler during resuscitation efforts wouldn’t have a meaningful impact on the test, he said.

A person can lose 10 to 20 pounds of weight over a short period of time just by sweating during physical activity, he said.

Chandler could have lost 15 percent of his weight due to dehydration caused by diabetes, he said.

Diabetes can be diagnosed after death in this case, he said, as well as others he has seen in the past.

The vast majority of patients are diagnosed when they are alive, he said. “Diabetes can be a fatal condition,” he said. “I’ve seen several patients not diagnosed until after death.

As for Chandler’s emaciated state when he died, Factor said, “Wasting is part of the whole picture of diabetes.” Because of problems with insulin, he said, “the body has to shift for metabolic reasons to using up fat and protein stores (in muscle tissue) for energy.”

Factor said he couldn’t rule out starvation by being deprived of food as an “associated cause” of Chandler’s death, but that the changes in his body were explained by diabetes which he believed caused Chandler’s dehydration and wasting of his body.

His emaciated condition was consistent with untreated or uncontrolled diabetes, Factor said.

He said he did not see anything in the slides inconsistent with diabetes.

“I am absolutely certain he had diabetes,” he said.

12:33 p.m.

New York pathologist Steven Factor testified as an expert witness for the defense via a video conference from Maine where he is vacationing. He is the key witness the defense is relying on to show that Chandler died of a complication of undiagnosed diabetes.

Factor said he has done autopsies on persons with diabetes, including children.

He said he reviewed Chandler’s autopsy report and tissue slides in his case.

He didn’t look at photographs of Chandler, he said.

He said there is a difference between autopsies conducted at a hospital and by a medical examiner. He said examination of the fluid within the eye became routine for medical examiners because of the delay in getting the body to the coroner’s office.

Changes occur in that fluid as a result of changes in the cells of the eye, he said. It cannot be used to compare the level of electrolytes in the blood, he said.

If the glucose level in the eye fluid is low, it can’t be used to show the level of glucose in the blood, Factor said.

If the eye glucose level is high, it is significant because it would indicate that the glucose level in the blood would be even higher, he said.

He said Chandler had very high levels of sodium, chloride, glucose, urea and nitrogen in his eye fluid.

The injection of glucose in Chandler’s body by paramedics who were trying to save him wouldn’t have impacted his blood glucose level, causing it to shoot up, he said. “He was already dead when he was being resuscitated,” he said.

Factor said he had seen many cases where subjects received injections like Chandler did and the glucose in the eye fluid was at its normal low level.

Giving CPR for a long period of time wouldn’t affect that either, he said.

He said he reviewed the liver slides for Chandler’s autopsy. They indicated that a high amount of blood glucose had been taken into the liver, he said. The injection of glucose Chandler received wouldn’t have affected this because the liver shuts down at death, he said. Factor said the liver slides told him that Chandler had a high level of glucose in his blood before he died.

Trial adjourns until 2 p.m. for lunch.

11:36 a.m.

Several Rocky commenters and readers have wondered: Why no death penalty for Jon Phillips?

Sue Lindsay's response:

Prosecutors could have sought the death penalty for first-degree murder against Jon Phillips but chose not to.

“The main factor in our decision was whether we wanted to make Dominic participate in a prosecution where his father could be put to death,” said prosecutor Verna Carpenter. “We didn’t think that would be healthy for Dominic.”

11:35 a.m.

Trial was recessed to allow everyone to move to Courtroom 6, where the courtroom has been set up for video testimony from the defense witness.

10:33 a.m.

Joseph Crossley said he worked with Jon Phillips at Old Chicago and last saw Chandler a week or two before he died. He said he looked healthy and not as if he had been losing weight.

Sarah Berry had given him a ride to work, he said.

10:25 a.m.

Donna Crossley, who met Phillips through her son when he worked at Old Chicago, smiled at Phillips as she was sworn in as a defense witness.

She said her son was getting out from work late one night in early 2007 and Phillips brought her a glass of iced tea. He talked about getting custody of his two kids and talked about how much he loved them.

“He cared about them,” she said. “He wanted a good life for them.”

She said she saw them off and on over a period of about three months and never saw a difference in the way the kids acted or how Phillips treated them.

She said she knew Phillips less than a year and the boys only a few months.

She said she was never at the Phillips home.

10:06 a.m.

Prosecutor David Lamb begins cross-examination, showing that defense expert witness Edward Wilson didn't review all the evidence in the case. Wilson said he didn't review all the police interviews because that's not his area of expertise.

If a question has to be asked repeatedly, Wilson said, there is a risk that the subject matter of the question is embedded in the child's memory. "If you allow a child to go back and back and back, certainly it will set a memory that may overtake what really happened," he said.

If a child gives two different stories, it raises the question of what is the truth, he said.

If a child is placed in a closet or given cold showers for punishment and parents act like that's normal, the child may believe that's normal, he agreed.

Giving rewards like the yellow ball Dominic was given for telling on his brother for stealing food, quickly reinforces that behavior in children, he agreed.

Lamb contended that Dominic set the tone in his interviews with therapist Tammie Ellis and was the one, for example, who told her that the squiggles coming from the figure he drew of Chandler represented his screams for food and water.

Wilson said there is a difference between investigative and therapeutic interviews.

"When you develop a therapeutic alliance, you are sending a signal to the child that no matter what is said or how terrible it is, you are with a person who is nonjudgmental and you can say or do anything. That's different than what you do in an investigative interview," he said.

Although he said Tammie Ellis did a good job of developing that therapeutic alliance, when a therapist is in alliance with the police department, the results you get are going to be skewed, Wilson said.

Wilson said Dominic saw the trauma as his loss of family, not the death of Chandler that Ellis concentrated on.

Wilson said he wasn't saying that Dominic was unreliable. "That is the jury's job," he said.

Lamb said Wilson was being paid to say detective Ken Klaus did a bad job interviewing Dominic. Wilson said he is paid $250 an hour or a $2,000 per diem during testimony.

Lamb gave examples of things Dominic said that were found to be true because of evidence like the box and carpet found in the trash that he had described.

Defense attorney David Jones reiterated through Wilson that giving a skewed interview can affect what the child says.

9:32 a.m. Friday

Defense witness Edward Wilson, an expert in child psychology and forensic interviewing, continued testimony begun late yesterday. He was called to evaluate the interviews that 5-year-old Dominic had given.

He said he sees a problem with Dominic’s interviews with police, particularly with repeated questioning, even when the interviewer tries not to be leading in the questions.

A child that age does not understand time concepts like how long timeout is or when things really happened, he said.

Repeated questioning also is a problem because the subject of the questions becomes part of the child’s memory, he said.

Children sometimes will hide or hoard food when they suffer from attachment disorder, he said, explaining that it is a sign they are not secure.

Problems with potty training are also a sign of attachment disorder.

Potty issues come up as the child is around age 2 and beginning to develop autonomy, he said.

Smearing feces on the wall is another sign of attachment disorder, he said

4:50 p.m. Thursday

Psychologist Edward Wilson, an expert in child psychology and forensic interviewing, was called to evaluate the interviews that 5-year-old Dominic had given.

Children his age are egocentric, view the world as revolving around them, have a poor concept of time and may mingle fact and fantasy in what they say, Wilson said.

The younger the child, the more suggestible they are, he said.

Children often will give the responses they think you want, he said.

4:07 p.m.

The two boys’ mother was a “train wreck,” prosecutor David Lamb said during cross examination, because she didn’t show up for appointments or for drug tests required by social services. In contrast, she agreed, Jon Phillips looked great.

Lamb pointed out that Phillips knew when the home visits would be.

“He was acting like a good parent while you were watching, wasn’t he?” Lamb asked.

“Yes,” Nemecek replied.

The last time she was in the apartment was Jan. 11, 2007, she said.

She said she never saw a surveillance camera trained on the hallway by the linen closet.

She said she also never saw the children’s bedroom in a mess with clothes and boxes all over the floor, or food on the floor or stuffed in the heater vent.

She said she never saw a "cute photo" of Dominic and Chandler on the wall with Chandler’s face blocked out with bars drawn over it.

She never saw air fresheners all over the apartment, and it never smelled like urine and feces, she said.

She said she didn't see a closet door altered so that it couldn't be opened.

She said she didn't know that Chandler had been withdrawn from school.

Nemecek choked back tears as she viewed a photo of Chandler’s blackened ear and bruised face.

If she had seen or known these things, she agreed, they would have caused her concern.

“He knew you weren’t coming back to that house after Jan. 11, 2007, didn’t he?” Lamb said. “He knew that nobody would be watching.”

3:46 p.m.

Defense attorneys for Jon Phillips began their case by trying to show that Chandler and Dominic had food issues long before Phillips got custody of them.

Alysse Nemecek, adoption case worker in Jefferson County, said she became involved in the cases of Chandler and Dominic in late March 2006.Their birth mother, Christina Grafner, was arrested on an outstanding warrant and they were taken into custody, she said.

It was about 3 p.m. and the children had not had anything to eat yet, she said.

She said she contacted Jon Phillips on April 4, 2006, because they were looking for a place for them. At the time, they were with their maternal grandmother.

Jon Phillips said he wanted the boys to live with him, she said.

After a series of supervised visits, the boys went to live with Phillips and Berry.

At first it was considered a temporary placement in May 2006. Home visits were done to make sure things were going well, she said.

During a July 2006 visit, she said Chandler was excited to show off that he had learned the days of the week.

She said she saw a healthy attachment between the two boys and their father.

In August 2006, she made another visit to make sure things were going well “because they had been through a lot.” The visits also went well the rest of the year.

In November, she said, choking back tears, “They were doing awesome. Chandler sang me songs he was going to sing in the Thanksgiving play at school. Dominic sang songs and counted.”

The last home visit was Dec. 11, 2006. She said the boys were very excited because they had their own Christmas tree in their bedroom that they had decorated with their stuffed animals. Their artwork was hung on the walls.

She said Phillips appeared to want the children with him very much. She said he appeared to have good parenting skills.

She said she recommended in January 2007 that he get permanent custody of the boys.

She said she has never suggested taking away favorite foods or snacks as a form of discipline. She agreed that taking away Halloween candy or TV might be appropriate.

2:18 p.m.

Judge denies motion for judgment of acquittal.

Defense says Jon Phillips isn’t ready to decide whether to testify.

The defense plans to call about five witnesses.

2:17 p.m.

Prosecution rests.

2:13 p.m.

Under cross examination by defense attorney David Jones, Ellis said that Dominic told her “my parents didn’t do anything” when they discussed that they were in jail.

Asked why he thought they were in jail, he said, “my mommy and daddy did bad things. They made me take showers. They didn’t take care of me and made me eat fish.” Then he told her about having to eat fish mixed with vomit.

Ellis said he missed his parents but that “his initial trauma was Chandler dying.”

Jones questioned Ellis about several sessions in late 2007, while they were reviewing the “something bad happened” book, when Dominic told her he had not been in the closet himself.

At the time, Ellis wrote in her notes, “Dominic said he had never been in the closet and seemed surprised by the picture” he had drawn showing him inside the closet with shelves overhead.

1:20 p.m.

Testimony will resume shortly. Additional reporting from this morning's testimony follows:

Chandler Grafner's little brother told his therapist that Chandler had to stay in a closet where he begged for food and water and had to "pee and poop."

Therapist Tammie Ellis, who began sessions with Dominic after Chandler's death in May 2007, said Dominic told her Jon Phillips and Sarah Berry put Chandler in the closet because he was "bad," and sometimes for stealing food. Dominic said he stole food because he was hungry.

Dominic said his father told him to "tell" on his big brother when Chandler stole food and that one time he brought him a yellow ball as a reward for telling on his brother.

During one session, out of the blue, she said, Dominic asked her, "Did you know my brother drank bleach water?"

Ellis said when she asked him why, he said it was because his parents wouldn't give him any water.

Dominic told her that he hated to eat fish, telling her, "I hate fish. I want the fish to be kicked in the face. Fish makes me puke."

He told her that he and Chandler would vomit when forced to eat fish and that Phillips and Berry would mix up the vomit with the fish and force them to eat it.

She said she used drawings Dominic did for a "something bad happened" book to help him talk about what had happened.

He drew pictures of the closet with Chandler in it.

He told her he had also had to go in the closet "and it was really scary" but that Chandler had to go in there a lot.

Dominic also drew pictures of them in the shower, telling her they had to take cold showers when they were bad. One picture he drew showed Chandler with a red mark on his buttocks, Ellis said.

"Dominic said his brother often asked for food and that his brother was hungry," Ellis said. "He said he asked his parents for food. He said Chandler asked to get out of the closet often and that it was very scary in there. He said sometimes they would let him out and sometimes they wouldn't."

In another session, Dominic said Chandler had asked his parents for food and water but that "sometimes they would forget."

Dominic told Ellis there were some "secrets" during one session, telling her that his father was in jail.

Ellis said Dominic asked her if her own parents put her in the closet when she was little. When she told him they hadn't and that wasn't a good thing to do, she said he seemed surprised because he thought that's what happened to everyone.

Ellis said Dominic drew a picture of Chandler dead on the couch on Aug. 6, 2007, after telling her "there was something more bad that happened" and that "my brother died." The picture showed his eyes shut and his mouth flat. Dominic told her his brother had thrown up a little that day.

He said his parents put the couch back together and threw a box and a blanket from the closet in the dumpster before calling 911. He said his mommy sat on the couch watching television until paramedics came. Dominic said his parents told him Chandler was dead during their ride to the hospital.

12:36 p.m.

The trial is in recess for lunch. Testimony is expected to resume about 1:30.

11:51 a.m.

Therapist Tammie Ellis described her sessions with Dominic.

She said they drew pictures, including one of the day Chandler died.

Dominic always drew Chandler with a sad face, she said.

One picture showed Chandler in the closet with “squiggles coming away from him. Dominic told “those are Chandler’s screams,” she said. “He was screaming for food and water and to get out of the closet. Chandler looks very skinny.”

He drew another picture of Chandler in the closet telling her, “Chandler is screaming for the bathroom.”

In another session, he drew a picture of them eating fish, telling her he hated fish and wanted to kick fish in the face. He said he and Chandler threw up when eating fish and were forced to eat the fish mixed with vomit.

He drew a picture of the day Chandler died.

“His big brother’s eyes were open and looking at Dominic,” she said. “He said Chandler wasn’t able to talk because his throat hurt. Dominic said it felt very sad.”

Dominic told her his parents threw a box from the closet and other items in the trash before calling 911. Then they sat on the couch watching television.

At that point in the session, Ellis said, Dominic “became very distant and numb. His voice became quiet and quieter. Wasn’t able to look at me in the eyes.”

9:56 a.m.

Under cross examination by defense attorney David Jones, O’Toole said he didn’t test for animal DNA.

He said no DNA was found in the large samples of feces from the underside of the shelf, but he said the size of the sample is irrelevant because the DNA comes from cells excreted along with the waste, not the feces itself.

The testing used was for human DNA and the samples matched Chandler’s, he said.

9:42 a.m.

DNA analysts from the Denver crime lab spent about 45 minutes explaining to the jury how DNA is collected and tested.

DNA analyst Shawn O’Toole showed the jury photos of the closet shelf which contained large dark brown stains on its underside.

He said DNA profiles are unique unless a person has an identical twin.

DNA found in samples from the carpet, air mattress and shelf are exclusively from Chandler Grafner, O’Toole said.

Samples taken from the shelf and door contained mixtures of DNA that were consistent with his markers, but not exclusive to him, he said.

Chandler’s DNA profile would only be found in one person in 320 billion, O’Toole said.

8:40 a.m. today

Trial is getting a late start this morning while video equipment is set up for a defense expert who is going to testify via televised conference call.

Prosecution is expected to wind up its case today.

Jury just now coming in at 8:40 a.m.

5:23 p.m. Wednesday

After the jury left, the judge and attorneys discussed what to do about the feces-encrusted evidence.

It's all been kept frozen at the property bureau pending the trial, but jurors visibly recoiled when they were shown the piece of carpet and shower curtain. The two items were displayed on a table right in front of the jury box.

Defense attorney Darren Cantor said he saw about six jurors hold or wrinkle their noses and squint when the items were displayed and the repulsive aroma filled the courtroom.

Judge Madden expressed concerns that they might all arrive to a reeking courtroom in the morning if the evidence were allowed to become "warm and thawed."

He ordered that it be kept in a cool room in the basement of the courthouse.

Prosecutors said they didn't mind if the evidence had thawed and lost its foul odor by the time Sarah Berry's trial rolls around.

4:57 p.m.

A foul odor from the box and the air mattress lingered in the air of the courtroom as Shawn O’Toole, forensic DNA analyst with Denver police department, began to testify.

He said he tested the closet doors, the bottom shelf and some swabs from the baseboards at the bottom of the closet.

He said he also obtained samples from the piece of carpet and the air mattress recovered from the trash.

When he examined the carpet, O’Toole said, “I noticed several stains, more heavily on the outside of the carpet. There were some reddish brown stains that smelled heavily of urine and feces.”

Cells shed from the body and contained in the urine and feces were tested.

Most of the cuttings taken from the carpet tested positive for urine and feces, he said.

There was brown matter on all over both sides of the air mattress and it smelled more strongly of feces than the carpet did, he said. It also tested positive for feces.

O’Toole showed the jury the shelf. The top of the shelf appeared relatively clean, but the bottom had stains on it which he tested, he said.

Three samples collected came back positive for feces, he said.

Trial adjourns for the day.

4:18 p.m.

A piece of carpet believed to have come from the bottom of the closet where Chandler was allegedly kept was put on a table in front of the jury. It was tan with brown matter along the edges. Detective David Naysmith said the carpet has been kept stored in the freezer of the property bureau.

Jurors were also shown the green and white striped air mattress recovered from the trash. It appeared to be covered with brown matter. Naysmith said it also had been stored in the freezer pending the trial.

3:57 p.m.

Detective Martin Vigil said he searched through the trash for evidence from the apartment, looking for items Chandler’s little brother had described including a white striped shower curtain, a piece of carpet, a cat box, a purple Mountain Dew shirt and a cardboard box that might have feces on it.

He said they found a white and green striped air mattress, piece of carpet and a cardboard box, all with what appeared to be feces on them.

No cat box was found, he said. He said the fecal matter did not smell or look like cat feces. “I have cats and I know what cat feces smells like,” he said. “This was human feces.”

He said the same fecal matter was on the carpet and air mattress.

Jurors are shown photos of the pile of dumped garbage and the individual items recovered.

He said they also found a box addressed to the apartment complex, indicating that the items likely came from that apartment building.

3:39 p.m.

Garbage truck driver Tim Goode said he was collecting trash May 7, 2007 at the apartment complex where Chandler died when he was pulled over by two undercover detectives.

“What did they want?” asked prosecutor Verna Carpenter.

“The trash,” he laughed.

Goode said he was directed to take his load to a landfill where he unloaded it and police took over.

2:55 p.m.

Jurors heard testimony from Stephanie Stronks-Knapp, a child abuse expert and forensic interviewer with the FBI, to help jurors evaluate interviews and testimony about interviews witnesses had with Chandler’s younger brother.

Kids don’t always report abuse of themselves or siblings, she said. Younger kids don’t always have words to describe what happened and they often think they’ve told people about abuse when they really haven’t been specific enough to be understood.

They also may not understand how serious it is because abuse is normal in their homes, Stronks-Knapp said, or lower expectations of what “normal” is.

Since their worlds revolve around themselves, children also think they are responsible for causing abuse, she said.

“Kids who are abused and neglected often still love the person who is abusing them,” she said.

Some children don’t report abuse of themselves to protect siblings from abuse, she said.

A child who witness abuse may not report abuse because they blame themselves for not stopping it, she said.

Children often report abuse by making accidental disclosures when asked what happened to them, she said.

They also may just give pieces of what has happened, she said.

Reaction to that disclosure will affect how much more they say about it, she said. “If bad things happen,” she said, if they are taken out of school or get more abuse for telling, they may say nothing more or may recant. “They just want the bad stuff to stop,” she said. “They want to take it back and have things go back the way they were.”

Noon

The trial is in recess for lunch. Testimony is expected to resume about 1:30.

11:50 a.m.

The prosecution wrapped up questioning for Dr. Nancy Krebs, a nutrition expert, about details of Chandler's final days.

"He would have been lethargic and I would have thought it would have been quite apparent that he was sick," she said. "He wouldn't have been walking fast or far."

As Krebs' one-hour mark on the stand nears, the defense took over the questioning.

--Carrie Porter

11:45 a.m.

Chandler suffered from scurvy due to Vitamin C deficiency, said one expert on the stand.

Expert Nancy Krebs explained how numerous red lesions and broken capillaries indicate scurvy. Using autopsy pictures, she also showed the effects of other nutrition deficiencies, such as Vitamin B and protein.

"He had less than half a teaspoon of urine in his bladder," Krebs said.

The nutrition expert said dehydration takes about one to two weeks before proving fatal.

--Carrie Porter

11:28 a.m.

Expert Nancy Krebs said she did not see any long-term complications from Chandler's premature birth.

"By the time he was one year old, he hit the normal curve for the national growth chart," said Krebs. "He was in the fifth to tenth percentile for weight, and since he was shorter than average, his weight was only a little bit lower than his height."

The director of nutrition at Children's Hospital described Chandler as "very emaciated" upon the time of his death. Krebs then stepped to the floor to use a large television monitor for a photo slide show. Microphone in hand, she talked the jury through her impressions of Chandler as she pointed to his "grossly sunken eyes and cheeks."

Each slide illustrated evidence of dehydration and starvation. Krebs used photos from other medical cases to compare with Chandler's photos.

--Carrie Porter

11:11 a.m.

The director of the nutrition department at Children's Hospital took the stand in Courtroom 16. The jury sipped water and took notes as Dr. Nancy Krebs' credentials were reviewed. The prosecution continued by questioning the cause of Chandler's death.

"In my opinion it seems very likely that he died of a combination of dehydration and starvation," said Krebs, speaking to the objective data she studied.

The defense and prosecution are now meeting with the judge at the front of the courtroom to handle an objection.

--Carrie Porter

10:57 a.m.

Fingerprint examiner Charles Martinez said he found no usable prints in the closet where Chandler allegedly was kept, even in areas where a person normally leaves “use” prints.

He said unusable prints were found on the bottom of the louvered bi-fold door of the closet. The only way it could get there is if someone were on the floor with their fingers pointed up, he said.

He said he found poor quality prints on the door, the inside of the door and the bottom shelf of the closet.

He said that wiping or cleaning will make prints unusable.

“You can destroy fingerprints by wiping them off of an item,” he said.

He said the closet had a foul smell.

10:04 a.m.

David Hageman has seen it all during 23 years transporting bodies for mortuaries and the coroner’s office.

But he said seeing little Chandler Grafner’s emaciated body brought him to tears.

“I became very angry. I became very emotional,” he said. “It is something that will always stay in my memory. The fact that he looked extremely malnourished -- I became very angry. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“I prepared his little body for transport,” Hageman said, explaining that he placed Chandler’s body in a white body bag, placed it on a gurney and wheeled it to vehicle.”

Hageman said he weighed Chandler’s body when he arrived at the coroner’s office. “He weighed 31 pounds,” he said.

“I’ve had many days of emotional distress because of this,” he said.

9:50 a.m.

Despite what guardians Jon Phillips and Sarah Berry said, Dr. Wells said their claims he was being given food and water were “inconsistent” with his condition when he came to the hospital with massive atrophy of his tissues and organs.

Wells said he had no food in his stomach or intestine.

Defense attorney Darren Cantor tried to make the point that Wells couldn’t tell if that was because he wasn’t been given food or couldn’t keep it down.

Wells said that he was given twice the amount of sugar normally given in attempts to resuscitate him which would have elevated his blood sugar levels at the time of death.

It would not necessarily indicate that he had been eating, Wells testified.

9:42 a.m.

Dr. Wells examined photos of Chandler taken after his death and said they show he was physically abused in addition to being starved to death.

“He was so extremely malnourished, he would not have been able to move around enough to sustain accidental injuries like these,” she said.

She said he had cuts, scrapes and bruises from head to toe.

He also had developed a number of “bed sores” from being unable to move for a long period of time and having no fat to cushion the skin and bone.

“That would happen over a period of time, not just an hour or two,” she said.

As for Chandler’s ear injury in January, she said his changing explanation for how it happened is a clear indicator of abuse. First Chandler told teachers that his “dad clobbered” him in the shower. Later he said he had slipped and fallen.

9:31 a.m.

Dr. Kathryn Wells, child abuse specialist from Denver Health Medical Center, said she normally evaluates children brought in for possible physical abuse. She doesn’t know why she wasn’t asked to evaluate Chandler when he was alive and brought into the Family Crisis Center in January 2007, five months before his death.

She reviewed his records after his death and said an ear injury like Chandler had in January 2007 is a clear indicator of abuse because the ear is normally protected during accidental falls, she said.

The ear is very protected,” she said. “Bruising of the ear is one of the first areas I look at. If there is bruising of the ear, it elevates my concern.”

Teachers who reported the abuse said Chandler came to school with his ear nearly black from bruising.

9 a.m. Wednesday

The trial resumed shortly before 9 this morning, with testimony from Dr. Kathryn Wells, child abuse specialist from Denver Health. Dr. Wells evaluated Chandler's injuries.

4:50 p.m. Tuesday

Dr. Haas was surly during cross-examination by defense attorney Darren Cantor, telling him sternly at one point in the questioning about findings of the defense expert, “I think it’s free so say I did not spend my time working on your case.”

He conceded that medical professionals may disagree about conclusions.

“There is a book you rely on called Forensic Pathology, isn’t there?” asked Cantor.

“There are a lot of books called forensic pathology,” Haas replied. “Is it the one I referred you to?”

Asked to talk about the test the defense expert performed on Chandler’s blood, Haas replied, “You’re wasting everybody’s time talking about it.”

Haas contended that the blood was kept refrigerated, not frozen, making results questionable. Also, sugar levels in the blood could be skewed because of glucose administered in the attempt to resuscitate Chandler.

At another point, Haas said, “Blood glucose has nothing to do with this case.”

Cantor became exasperated with Haas’ sarcastic remarks at one point.

“Your honor, his editorial comments are inappropriate,” Cantor said, asking the judge to tell him to just answer the question.

Chandler’s glucose level never reached the diabetic range, he said.

It was “high normal” because of medical treatments he received, not because of diabetes, Haas said.

3:53 p.m.

Dr. Haas said Chandler’s organs and tissues were atrophied due to starvation and dehydration. His bladder had less than a teaspoon of urine in it, indicating severe dehydration, he said. Normally, diabetics drink excessive amounts of water to rid their bodies of sugar, meaning that the kidneys and bladder would be full, he said.

Haas said he estimated Chandler had been without food and water for at least four days and “probably a lot longer.”

Levels of urea built up during dehydration were excessively high. “They were as high as I’ve ever seen them in forensic toxicology,” Haas said.

Haas said he had done six autopsies on children who died of diabetes and Chandler had no indication of diabetes in any of his organs or tissues. He also said none of them were as emaciated as Chandler.

In fact they may put on weight because they are drinking so much water due to their diabetes, he said. “Their livers are always big and full of fat,” unlike Chandler’s atrophied liver that had no fat, he said.

He said he also found no indication of diabetic ketoacidosis, which the defense says caused Chandler’s death.

In that disease, the body breaks down muscle and fat for energy and acids build up in the blood.

Haas said glucose levels in the fluid in the eye are often a better indication than those in blood because they don’t change after death. Chandler’s level was 198, which Haas attributed to administration of dextrose – which he likened to a 16 ounce bottle of Coke – during the frantic attempt to resuscitate him. Normal is under 200, but diabetics always have levels above 400, he said.

Chandler had half of the amount of glucose in his eye fluid that you would expect in someone with diabetes, he said.

Haas also discounted a lab test done by the defense expert in support of the ketoacidosis theory.

Haas said the lab is not certified nor accredited by the College of American Pathologists.

“I thought that test was nonsense,” he said.

2:43 p.m.

Dr. Joel Hass, an expert of pediatric pathology, said there was no question that Chandler died of starvation and dehydration. He said no diabetes or other disease contributed to his death.

“A cross section of rib showed that he had stopped growing at least five days if not weeks before he died,” Haas said.

The pathologist said Chandler was emaciated and that his organs weighed two-thirds what they should have.

He said that Chandler was “far, far below” the 5th percentile on growth chart for his age. “Half of all 3-year-olds weigh more than he did,” Haas said.

11:32 a.m.

Kutalek’s partner, Dr. Rudy Schmiedt, was the last pediatrician to see Chandler before his death. He said Jon Phillips brought Chandler in with a cold, fever and sore throat July 5, 2006. At that time, Chandler weighed 38.5 pounds.

He said he had never instructed Phillips to give any of Dominic’s medicine for asthma or any other illness to Chandler. Schmiedt said generally he did not think that was a good idea, especially since Chandler had no history of asthma.

"He was small and thin throughout his whole life but he was basically a healthy boy and thriving,” Schmiedt said.

11:19 a.m.

Under cross-examination, Chandler’s pediatrician said that when Chandler broke his arm, he was so skinny he had to use a special cast. The doctor’s notes described him as “exceedingly thin.”

When his mother was concerned about bruising, Dr. Kutalek said he ran tests to rule out other medical conditions.

Defense attorney Darren Cantor said that Chandler looked different than other patients the pediatrician had seen with ketoacidosis because he was dead.

Kutalek said Chandler is often described as thin in his medical records, but that he had made up for his low birth weight as a premature baby and was in the 10th percentile on the growth curve.

Kutalek said none of the patients he treated with ketoacidosis looked like the photographs of Chandler “including those who died.”

10:45 a.m.

Chandler Grafner’s pediatrician said described him as a “perfectly healthy child” who never showed any signs of having diabetes.

Dr. Kenneth Kutalek said he cared for Chandler until he was 6, from the time he was a premature infant. Although he was small for his age, he caught up to the growth curve, the doctor said.

Defense attorneys contend that Chandler died from ketoacidosis, a complication of diabetes, but Kutalek, who said he had treated many such patients, said Chandler had no sign of the disease and no family history of it.

Asked if patients with ketoacidosis look like Chandler did in photos taken after he died, the doctor replied, “not even remotely like that.” The doctor said Chandler looked like he had no muscle mass left, “more like a concentration camp victim.”

When Chandler was under his mother’s care, the doctor said she brought him in for normal check-ups and childhood illnesses, but that Chandler was generally in excellent health and showed no signs of abuse. Chandler was last seen in the office in July 2006. He died May 6, 2007.

9:38 a.m. Tuesday

During cross-examination of detective Ken Klaus, defense attorney David Jones emphasized how susceptible young children are to suggestive questioning. Klaus said that is why he avoids leading questions when interviewing children.

Jones noted that Dominic said he and Chandler had tacos the night before he died, contrary to evidence that he had been given nothing to eat and drink for days.

Jones said Klaus' questioning about "what happened in the closet" may have prompted Dominic to come up with something that might not have happened.

Dominic described showers his father made them take as "mean" and "super-duper cold." Jones said that Klaus described the showers during questioning as "very mean" after Dominic told him that.

4:25 p.m. Monday

In his second interview with Dominic, he told the detective that his “mommy and