Millstein stabbed, cut 30 times
Written by: Josh Dooley
“This is what is referred to in my field as overkill,” testified Arkansas State Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Kokes during the Gary Parks murder trial Wednesday.
Kokes referred to the 30 stab and cut wounds suffered by Dr. David Millstein when he was murdered in June 2006. Parks, 42, is facing a capital murder charge for the killing of Millstein, his stepfather.
Kokes told the jury one of the four wounds to Millstein’s chest pierced his chest and coronary artery. Millstein was in bed when the attack began, and when he rolled off the bed and fell face-first on the floor, his attacker stabbed him several times in the back, Kokes said.
One of the last wounds Millstein likely suffered was having his throat cut, according to Kokes.
“This type of injury is usually done at or near the end of a sharp force assault,” said Kokes. “It’s generally done to ensure the lethality of the assault.”
Kokes told the jury the amount of blood Millstein lost as a result of the throat wound, and the amount of blood found on his bed, were indicators that helped him determine the chain of events during the assault. The instrument used to stab and cut Millstein was a single-edged, six-inch blade approximately one and a quarter inches wide, Kokes said.
The medical examiner also said he could not definitely say it was a knife that caused Millstein’s injuries.
Kokes told the jury scientific evidence gained during the autopsy allowed him to offer the opinion Millstein died some time between 3 p.m. Friday June 16 and 3 p.m. the next day. Work performed by investigators who spoke to witnesses can further narrow the time of death if the witness testimony is credible, Kokes said.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Joe Perry asked Kokes if an investigator had informed Kokes someone said they thought they saw Millstein alive on Saturday.
“He reported to me someone thought they saw him (Millstein) on Saturday,” Kokes responded. “I don’t know how credible that report was.”
Millstein upset
On the Thursday before his death, Millstein ate dinner with Parks, according to Lois Zyla, a waitress at the now-closed Dino’s Restaurant.“He gave me an eerie feeling,” Zyla said of Parks. “He kept going on about the lamb chops. He said he wanted them but he didn’t have the money to pay for them. Dr. Millstein told him to just get the lamb chops and not worry about it.”
Co-workers testified that the next day, when Millstein went to work, he seemed upset, frustrated and scared.
Karen McDonald, the office manager for Millstein’s medical clinic, told jurors when Millstein came to work the day before he was killed, he was not his normal, happy self.
“He was frustrated and excited,” McDonald said. “He had trouble doing routine tasks. Things didn’t seem to be going right.”
McDonald said she asked Millstein what was wrong.
“He said ‘Gary called me out last night,’ ” said McDonald, who became emotional as she spoke. “He said Gary tried to manhandle him.”
Parks appeared at Millstein’s clinic on Monday, the day after authorities found the doctor’s body at his 1707 Stephens Court home. McDonald told jurors that when Parks entered the clinic, he went to the back and attempted to log on to Millstein’s computer.
McDonald said she was frightened when she saw Parks that day and told a co-worker to call police. McDonald described Parks as abrupt, rude, and angry while at the clinic, and said she was afraid of him.
When asked if Parks appeared to be grieving, McDonald said he did not appear sad about Millstein’s death.
“It was always about money, and Gary trying get more money out of Dr. Millstein,” McDonald said.
Pam Nuzum served as Millstein’s nurse and also said Millstein’s mood on the day before he was murdered was not typical.
“You could tell something was obviously wrong with him,” Nuzum said of Millstein. “He didn’t really want to talk about it right away.”
Eventually, Nuzum said, Millstein told her what was troubling him.
“He was fearful of the defendant,” Nuzum said. “It wasn’t anything new, it was just worse this time.”
When they closed the clinic that Friday, Nuzum testified, Millstein spent an hour talking to her and other co-workers in the parking lot.
“He just told us how thankful he was for all we do,” said Nuzum. “It was strange. It was almost like he was saying goodbye.”
Ex-wife fearful
Rhonda Parks, Parks’ ex-wife, testified she, too, was afraid of him. She told jurors part of the reason the couple divorced was her concern about his drug abuse. She told the jury Parks used and sold cocaine.During cross-examination, defense counsel Danny Glover asked Rhonda Parks if she had spoken with Parks’ mother, Lois Jane Parks Millstein, since Millstein was murdered. Rhonda Parks said she had spoken with her former mother-in-law.
Glover then asked Rhonda Parks if Lois Jane Parks Millstein said she had killed Millstein. As Rhonda Parks nodded her head yes and began to verbalize her response, Prosecutor Attorney Ron Kincade shot to his feet and objected.
The attorneys gathered before Circuit Judge John Putman and argued whether Rhonda Parks should be allowed to answer the question.
After those arguments, Putman told the jury to disregard Rhonda Parks’ answer to Glover’s question and ordered her response stricken from the record.
Parks interviewed
Sgt. Mark Hollingsworth, an investigator with the Arkansas State Police, testified he interviewed Parks two days after Millstein’s body was discovered.During that interview, Hollingsworth said, Parks told him he confronted Millstein when they ate dinner at Dino’s. Parks contended he told Millstein that he — Millstein — was broke and that he needed to solve his money problems, and that things had to change.
Hollingsworth also testified when a search warrant was obtained to search the Maumelle condo where Parks lived and the Toyota FJ Cruiser Parks drove, State Police were short-handed so he asked a friend with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help, and that the FBI sent their evidence recovery team to perform the searches.
Under cross examination by Glover, Hollingsworth told the jury the searches of the condo and the Toyota turned up no evidence that could be directly tied to the Millstein murder.
Testimony resumes today, and the trial is expected to continue into next week. If convicted, Parks faces up to life in prison without parole.
