BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering took the stand Friday on the second straight day of pretrial hearings in the murder case against Guy Heinze Jr.
Heinze is accused of killing eight people, including members of his family and a friend, in a mobile home in 2009. He has pleaded not guilty.
He listened in court as investigators detailed how they found "potential evidence" that led to his arrest.
"We had sent the clothing that Mr. Heinze was wearing, specifically the shorts, to the crime lab, and that information came back from the lab that the stains on it that we suspected to be blood was, in fact, not just blood, but was human blood," Doering said.
The chief also talked about a shotgun investigators found.
"Mr. Heinze had told us the reason he took that gun out of the house is, he didn't want to get in trouble because the gun was stolen, something to the effect that he had traded or bought it or traded some crack cocaine for the gun down in the city," Doering said. "Well, the (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) trace came back saying that the gun belonged to one of the victims."
Backing up the chief's claims, detectives recalled for the court what they did to investigate.
"We went back and looked at those shorts -- myself, the other investigators and the chief -- to see if there was any blood on those shorts and exactly what type of blood there was on the shorts," Glynn County Investigator Michael Owens said.
The defense team repeatedly questioned the chain of events focusing on how investigators obatained warrants, what Heinze was wearing, and how they conducted searches.
"Can you describe this bottle?" a defense attorney asked Investigator William Daras in regards to what he found in the searches.
"Just from my recollection, it's a typical pill bottle," Daras said.
"Was it clear or opaque? Did it have a lid on it?" the attorney asked.
"I don't know," Daras said.
"Did you look in the bottle?" the attorney asked.
"I'm sure I did," Daras said.
"What was in the bottle?" the attorney asked.
"I don't recall," Daras said.
It's unclear if any of the evidence will be used at trial. Ultimately, it's up to the judge to decide.