Justice for Skylar had to come with compromises

CEDAR RAPIDS – Too many unanswered questions remain in the 2008 murder of 2-year-old Skylar Inman, but police and the prosecutor on the case say they did everything possible to get justice for the child.

“You can't change public opinion,” Linn County Sheriff's Sgt. Kent Steenblock said Wednesday. “We believe we know the truth. We did a thorough investigation and stand by the charges.”

First Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said this case will haunt him for the rest of his life but the bottom line is he knows the two people responsible for Skylar's death are going to prison.

Steenblock, Sheriff Brian Gardner, Lt. Gene Parks and First Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks sat down with a Gazette reporter to talk about the investigation that spanned two years.

They said they couldn't go into details of the evidence that wasn't presented at trial but did talk about the difficulties they encountered in this case during the investigation and prosecution.

Skylar's mother Brianna Volesky, 20, of Cedar Rapids, and her ex-boyfriend Lee Muldoon, 25, of Coggon, were sentenced last week to 10 years in prison on lesser charges for the crime. Each claim the other one abused Skylar.

Skylar had 130 bruises on her body and had been beaten over the course of about two months. She died July 11, 2008 from blunt force injuries to her abdomen.

Volesky was charged with neglect of a child and involuntary manslaughter, and as part of a plea deal she agreed to testify against Muldoon, who stood trial for first-degree murder.

Muldoon's trial stopped before the prosecution's case wrapped when police uncovered evidence during a search in another case that Volesky had been using drugs.

Maybanks said the credibility of his key witness, Volesky, crumbled and he couldn't prove Muldoon's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, so he offered Muldoon the same plea deal.

“When you see this child with a 130 bruises on her body… as a prosecutor I'm as human as the next person, and you want to see somebody pay for it but the evidence has to be credible.”

Steenblock said he knew what would happen when he told Maybanks about Volesky's drug use.

“I had no choice,” Steenblock said. “It was the ethical thing to do. An investigation is always changing and evolving as you go along.”

“Everybody is a suspect in a case like this,” Gardner said. “We didn't close our eyes to anything.”

Steenblock said there were two persons of interest, Muldoon and Volesky, but they looked at everybody who had direct contact with her.

Tyler Johnston, Muldoon's attorney, made several accusations last week during sentencing about law enforcement not doing their job. Johnston repeatedly claimed Muldoon's innocence in Skylar's death. Muldoon is only guilty of not doing anything to stop it, he said.

Gardner said the investigators followed the evidence wherever it took them.

Parks said the entire detective division was involved. “We probably did 25 to 30 interviews and follow ups,” Parks said.

Steenblock said there was inconsistencies in Muldoon's and Volesky's explanations for the injuries. More of that evidence would have presented if the trial had continued.

Also, there would have been more evidence from the medical examiner regarding the injuries and how they could have happened, Steenblock said.

Parks said they put together a timeline but it kept changing because there were false statements made and the investigators would have to go back and do more interviews.

Steenblock said the only reason Volesky wasn't arrested at the same time as Muldoon in September 2008 is because the Linn County Attorney's Office asked them to wait because Volesky was pregnant with her second child. She was arrested and charged about a year later.

That child was taken into custody by the Department of Human Services after Volesky's arrest and has been adopted, according to trial testimony. Muldoon was the child's biological father and he was already charged and in jail.

Maybanks said other problems in this case and in other cases like this is when witnesses say things differently in trial than what they said during interviews and depositions.

“Sometimes, they'll say stuff you haven't heard before or change how they say it in court,” Maybanks said.

Steenblock said several of the witnesses also tried to minimize what happened. He isn't accusing them of covering up evidence -  it's just normal that they wouldn't want to believe something horrible or get anyone in trouble, he said.

The sheriff, investigators and Maybanks all said this was a difficult case for them on a personal level.

“Any time there is a death of a child it is a significant case,” Gardner said. “You give them all your attention. They tug at your emotions.”

Maybanks said he will never forget Skylar.

“The idea result doesn't happen because you can never bring them back.”