Medical Examiners Testify Brenda Gere Was Beaten, Stabbed During Her Ordeal

EVERETT - Twelve-year-old Brenda Gere, whose remains were found six years after she vanished from her home, was struck in the head and stabbed in the back at least twice around the time of her death, medical experts testified yesterday.

Gere most likely was alive at the time she was assaulted, though her head injuries, possibly from fist blows, were sufficient to kill her, said Dr. Bill Haglund, chief medical investigator for the King County medical examiner's office.

The medical testimony came on the fourth day of the aggravated first-degree murder trial of Michael Kay Green, accused of kidnapping Brenda from her Clearview house, raping her, stabbing her and burying her in a shallow grave near Marysville.

Green, 39, previously was convicted of several attacks on women in which he used a knife and his fists. However, it has been ruled the information will not be given to the jurors unless Green testifies.

Haglund and Dr. Eric Kiesel, the Snohomish County medical examiner, also testified that a pair of red stirrup pants Brenda wore the day she disappeared was found near the body.

Earlier, jurors heard testimony that a red belt Brenda wore that day also was found at the site, intact but unbuckled.

Haglund and Kiesel concluded Brenda's pants likely had been removed prior to her death, leading prosecutors to allege Green raped the girl.

During cross-examination by defense attorney Anthony Savage, Haglund admitted he couldn't say for sure whether Brenda was hit and stabbed, or whether she ran into something that injured her. He also said the injuries could have been inflicted up to a month after her death.

However, Kiesel said he believed Brenda died as the result of a homicide.

Jurors also heard from two Snohomish County sheriff's officers who interviewed Green within hours of Brenda's disappearance.

They testified that Green, a former University of Washington football player, admitted he was in the area the day before and the day of Brenda's disappearance. They said he told them he liked the area and was driving around looking at houses.

They said he also told them he had planned to go to a job interview that day at an athletic club nearby but changed his mind. The prosecution is expected to call club employees who will testify Green never applied for work there, and they had no record of an interview scheduled that day.

Sgt. Thomas Pszonka testified Green gave him permission to search his car. While the interior of the car was dirty, the trunk was in "pristine" condition, Pszonka said, suggesting it had recently been cleaned.