Witnesses testify Kerry O'Clair Jefferson called police several times before she was killed  

TOLEDO — Kerry O'Clair Jefferson's best friend described her friend's marriage with Dustin Jefferson as one of love and violence — 'lot of cheatings and beatings.'

Trudi Mathes said O'Clair Jefferson told her she and Dustin fought about a week or so before her death and she feared he was planning to 'kill or hurt her.' Mathes said her fear was based on search history O'Clair Jefferson saw on Dustin's phone or tablet.

Dustin Jefferson, 38, is on trial in Tama County District Court. He is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing of his wife, O'Clair Jefferson, 32, who died from two stab wounds to her neck.

Dustin Jefferson is accused of aiding and abetting in the slaying, according to a criminal complaint. His mother. Ginger Jefferson was convicted last year of killing her daughter-in-law.

The prosecution continues its case today. The trial is expected to wrap up early next week. 

Mathes, tearing up, said she never went back to her house after O'Clair Jefferson was killed there. Dustin was living in September 2013 with Mathes and her boyfriend, Carlos Jefferson, who is Dustin's cousin. O'Clair Jefferson was estranged from Dustin but sometimes stayed at Mathes' with him.

Mark Patterson, Tama Police reserve officer, testified he was one of the first officers to go into Mathes' house, and he saw O'Clair Jefferson's body surrounded by blood. He tried to apply pressure to her neck wounds but felt her cold hand and couldn't find a pulse.

Justin Grodnitzky, criminalist with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, testified O'Clair Jefferson's body was found in an office area, but the stabbing probably happened on the bed. The mattress had puncture areas and was covered in blood.

In earlier testimony, Talia Waseskuk, administrative assistant with the Meskwaki Nation Police Department, testified she overheard O'Clair Jefferson yell, 'You're going to jail' to two people who were yelling back during a pocket dial call to the department before the woman was found dead Sept. 25, 2013.

Waseskuk said she couldn't understand or recognize the other two voices over the phone but they were loud and sounded angry. It was the third call from O'Clair Jefferson to the department that day.

Former Meskwaki Nation Police Det. Craig Karr was O'Clair Jefferson's fourth call at 2:25 p.m. She told him her husband was at 104 Harmon St., Mathes' home, but he wouldn't be there long. Police had been looking for Dustin because there was a warrant for his arrest on sex-abuse charges.

Karr said O'Clair Jefferson wasn't angry, but 'excited' or 'anxious.' He asked her to come talk to him about the sex-abuse investigation, but she said she had been drinking and promised to come in the next day. She agreed to give him 'part' of the information, then said she would give more after she were divorced.

Prosecutors claim O'Clair Jefferson was fighting with Ginger and Dustin Jefferson that day over her threatening to tell police where to find him and that last call to her death.

Meskwaki Nation Det. Kimberly Schwartz, who worked for the Tama Police Department in 2013, testified Dustin Jefferson didn't immediately get out of the car when they went to find him at Mathes' home. He arrived after they pulled into the driveway but he didn't get out when she told him they had a warrant and to 'step out.'

Schwartz said Dustin had the keys in his hand and acted like he was going to put them in the ignition. She then pulled out her Taser, and Dustin got out, but said he 'needed to check on his wife' in the house. Dustin seemed 'angry, agitated.' He then made a comment about his 'wife being dead.' Schwartz said she also notice a blood stain on the right thigh leg of Dustin's shorts.