Estherville, IA (KICD)– Testimony from the State’s witnesses continues today in the trial of Cee Jay Van der Wilt. Up first today was a forensic firearms expert for the Division of Criminal Investigation. They stated the gun recovered from the property of Connor Uhde’s stepfather was test fired to compare markings on the shell with the one recovered at the scene of the crime. The expert concluded the markings on the test fired shells were consistent with the one from the crime scene.
Next was the agent who initially interviewed Van der Wilt days after the crime, who recorded their conversation. In the recording, Van der Wilt began with saying he never saw the victim, David McDowell the night of the crime. He told the agent that he was at Brady Salberg’s apartment with the rest of the witnesses but slept through most of the night. That story began to change during the interview, with Van der Wilt saying Salberg’s neighbors had wanted to hurt McDowell, as they had kicked him out for allegedly stealing in the past. He then said he didn’t trust Uhde or Salberg, and even said he believed Uhde had stolen his shotgun out of his truck weeks before the murder.
He eventually admitted to being in the car with Uhde, Salberg and the victim that night, but stated Uhde was the one in charge and Salberg was the one who pulled the trigger. He claimed Uhde then told them to collect items from the scene and told him not to say anything or he would be another loose end.
The last witness for the day was Uhde himself, who was originally set to go to trial on the same charges as Van der Wilt last week. Uhde recounted the boxing match last August, in which McDowell and another person were boxing, and once Van der Wilt and Uhde saw McDowell winning, stepped in and the three beat McDowell. This led to assault charges for the three as a video of the incident was streamed on Instagram Live and was seemingly the motive for the murder. Uhde claimed Van der Wilt had said numerous times since then that he wanted to hurt or shoot the victim.
Uhde’s account of that night placed Van der Wilt in charge, much like previous testimony, but in his statement, he claimed he never handled the gun or even knew it was in the car. He said he witnessed Salberg aiming the gun and then he lowered it and told him to stop, then went to get into the car. It was then he says that he saw Van der Wilt pull the trigger, and says it was Van der Wilt who was making the threats to anyone who spoke of the night.
The State has one last witness for next week and the defense will present their witness, with Judge Duane Hoffmeyer expecting closing arguments and jury deliberation to take place Wednesday or Thursday.
