Testimony starts in Parks trial; day three begins today

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KTLO News
by: Ray Dean Davis

Testimony began yesterday in Baxter County Circuit Court in the felony capital murder trial of Gary Wayne Parks. Parks is accused of killing his stepfather, Dr. David Millstein of Mountain Home in June of 2006.

The prosecution began laying groundwork for its case by calling several witnesses involved in the initial discovery of Millstein's body and investigators who processed the murder scene.
Ray Dean Davis has the story.

The first two witnesses were dispatchers, Tina Baker, formerly with Baxter Regional Medical Center and Dennis Cantrell with the Mountain Home Police Department. Baker related how concern grew for Dr. Millstein when he didn't return phone calls from the hospital although he was on call on that weekend in June, 2006.

She also said Gary Parks called her during that time asking for a check on his stepfather. She said he didn't sound concerned, but more as if he wanted someone to go to the home. Baker, whose last name then was Finley, called Cantrell at the police station and he dispatched Officer Wade Robson to Millstein's house.

Robson responded to find Millstein's body inside what was termed a very cluttered and disorganized house. He said the bloody victim was lying face-down in the floor with the remnants of some burned material lodged between his torso and arm.

Robson called his supervisor, Officer Kevin Litty, who came to the scene, then called investigators Robert Hardin and Eddie Griffin. During testimony Griffin described what he found at the scene. Among other things, he said Millstein had been stabbed several times with a sharp instrument and his throat had been cut. He said the doctor had one defensive wound on his right hand, as if he'd tried to
ward off his assailant.

Several photos of the crime scene and victim were shown to the six-man, six woman jury after Judge John Putman ruled that they could be admitted as evidence.

In answer to questions, Investigator Griffin said the scene didn't appear to have stemmed from a robbery, although he said he hadn't seen the house before that time and couldn't say for certain that nothing was missing. He also described the house as cluttered and full of items.
Other witnesses included representatives of the state crime lab who testified that blood found on several items in the home came from Dr. Millstein.

In its opening statement the defense team had mentioned semen being found on a carpet at the murder scene, which they contended could have indicated that a female had been with the doctor at the time of his death. However, both a forensic serologist and a forensic DNA examiner with the state crime lab said it was impossible to tell how long the semen had been there.

Also, the DNA examiner said that blood on a shoe found in Gary Parks' car had no DNA profile, indicating that it likely came from an animal. It was pointed out that a cigarette butt found outside the Millstein home contained a DNA profile that matched it to Gary Parks in 10 out of 16 possible areas.

Parks attended the court session, dressed in street clothes and showing little emotion as testimony was given. He is represented in the case by attorneys Joe Perry and Danny Glover, along with Stacey Worthington-Chism, a mitigation specialist with the Arkansas Public Defenders Commission.

The prosecution is being handled by Prosecutor Ron Kincade and Deputy Prosecutor Kerry Chism.

The trial is expected to last for more than a week.