"All I could do is look at my brother's eyes while he was falling"

Judge: John Feeney
Prosecution: DDA Stacey Eads
Defense: Russ Clanton
Courtroom: One
Day 1 preliminary hearing for Judson Stiglich

Jennifer Robinson, sister of the victim Ryan Robinson and Stiglich's girlfriend at that time, testified this morning. Her testimony had to be interrupted for her to take a break. She was crying and very emotional. Her testimony and questioning by Ms. Eads took all morning because she would pause and was sobbing at one point. Half-way through her testimony, Ms. Eads asked her, "This is difficult for you" and she said, "yes." Often, she had to be asked to repeat what she said or speak up and even then, some of her testimony was muffled due to her crying as she recalled the events of the night when her 22 year old brother was shot.

Stiglich was crying during parts of her testimony. So did the Robinson and Stiglich family members in the courtroom.  Towards the beginning of her testimony, when Ms Eads asked Jennifer Robinson what she was doing at Stiglich's house, Robinson family members sitting behind me, whispered "drugs."

Jennifer Robinson is the only eye-witness to the shooting of her brother. She testified that on the evening of January 7, her brother was angry and that he came to Stiglich's house and threatened to hurt them. She testified that both, she and Stiglich, had done meth that evening. She testified that she told her mom that she shot her brother because she did not want them "to hate Jud" and that they would not believe it was an accident.

Jennifer Robinson testified that she took Stiglich's gun away from him and threw it somewhere on the Cutten school grounds because Stiglich was going to shoot himself.  She said she begged him to give her the gun and told him "I can't lose my Bubby and my best friend all in one night."

Tomorrow morning, Mr. Clanton will cross-examine Jennifer Robinson and two other witnesses are expected to testify.

Jennifer Robinson is 32 years old and she has lived "in Eureka on and off" and also in SoHum and Rio Dell. While testifying, she would not look at Stiglich but there were three moments during her testimony that she briefly glanced at him. She said Stiglich was her boyfriend and the relationship began 5 months prior to the night her brother was shot and that she had known Stiglich since she was 15 years old.  Several times during her testimony, she referred to Stiglich as "my best friend." Asked to elaborate on her relationship, Jennifer Robinson said, "He was always my best friend. I was always there for him."

She could often not recall certain details saying, "I don't remember," or "I don't know". The night of January 7, 2015, while she said Stiglich and she smoked meth, she could not recall how much but she did say that they did not consume any other intoxicating substances. She was supposed to spend the night at Stiglich's and they were in the bedroom when, "There was a loud knock on the door, then one of us opened the door. It was my brother. He was angry."

Jennifer Robinson said that Stiglich was at the door and she was in the bedroom and that she could tell Ryan Robinson was angry by "looking at him, his tone of voice and how he was talking." When Ms. Eads asked her why she thought Ryan Robinson was angry, Jennifer Robinson said "Probably because I was over at Jud's."

Ms. Eads asked her, "What was Ryan saying?"

"He said he was gonna hurt us." When asked for specifics, Jennifer Robinson said," I'm gonna hurt you guys."

Jennifer Robinson said that she then walked out to her brother and said,"Bubby, let's go." She did not see any weapons in her brother's hand but she said she had a gun in her jacket pocket. Ms. eads asked her if she knew whether "Jud has his 45 at that time" or whether he had a gun at all. Jennifer Robinson responded,"After my brother was shot, I did."

Jennifer Robinson said that she grabbed her brother's arm and tried to get him into his car which was parked in the driveway on the other side of Stiglich's truck. Ryan Robinson's car was running with loud music blasting and in between sobs, she said, "I almost had him in the car. I told him Bubby, let's go home. He was trying to get away from me. He moved around me. He wouldn't listen to me."
Then she testified that Stiglich opened his garage, and that she got into the car and heard Stiglich ask her brother "if he was going to hurt me." Stiglich was standing inside the garage and she cannot remember if her brother responded. "Ryan went over to Jud and then I heard a shot." Jennifer Robinson was crying, Judson Stiglich was crying and Stiglich and Robinson family members were crying at this point.

Jennifer Robinson said that she got out of the car and heard Stiglich ask her brother, "Did I hurt you?" and Ryan Robinson respond, "Yeah" and then he fell backwards. She said her brother was standing on the gravel by the garage and that Stiglich was standing by the door of the garage.

Jennifer said that when Ryan had walked from the car towards Stiglich, "he was angry", she paused and then continued, "he was angry for me being with Jud. Usually my brother would listen to me but he wasn't listening to me and he was trying to get away from me." She also said that earlier she heard her brother say, "I'm going to get my gun."

When she heard the shot, she ran towards her brother and "All I could do is look at my brother's eyes while he was falling. I don't remember anything else."

Jennifer Robinson then ran to "Zach's house." He is Stiglich's brother and lives nearby. "I was freaking out. I wanted them to call the cops." Jennifer said she was screaming. "Jud just shot my brother." She is not sure who opened the door but she remembers Zach and his girlfriend Kelly.
"I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where Jud was." Then "I ran outside and seen Jud." She said she was "screaming for Jud and saw him by the garden."

"He had a gun to his head" When Ms. Eads asked her if Stiglich said anything, Jennifer said, "He said he was gonna shoot himself." She could not remember the specific words. She was crying and Stiglich wiped away tears after Mr. Clanton handed him a tissue.

"I begged him not to; please don't do that Jud." She said she could not remember if he gave her the gun or she took it from Stiglich. "I took the gun and said please don't do this." She said they went to her "mom's house, through the woods,  to pray." Jennifer Robinson could not remember what the gun looked like, "I don't know" she said to Ms. Eads, "maybe black and silver."

Ms. Eads asked if they went directly to her mother's house and Jennifer Robinson said, "No, we stopped at Cutten school and I threw the gun into a bush."

"Why did you throw the gun?" asked Ms. Eads.

"I was scared he was going to kill himself and I didn't want him to, he was my best friend." Jennifer Robinson said that Stiglich asked for the gun back but "I was begging him not to; I can't lose my Bubby and my best friend all in one night. I told him we had to go to my mom's house and pray."

Jennifer Robinson said that they woke her mother up and told her what had happened and asked her to "pray." When her mother came to the door, Jennifer Robinson said that she "told her my brother had been shot and that I did it because no one would believe it was an accident and I don't want my family to hate Jud."

Ms. Eads asked her, "What was Jud's response?" Jennifer Robinson said that Stiglich said, ""We have to tell the truth."

"Did he tell your mom he shot Ryan?"

"I think so," said Jennifer Robinson.

"I started to pray. I told Jud we had to pray and we prayed. Then my mom said Jud needed to go home and I gave Jud a hug and a kiss and he walked out of there." Jennifer Robinson said her mom left to go to the hospital "to meet my brother but he never showed up. I prayed and listened to Brother McDonald preach on the video and waited until the cops came and picked me."

Ms. Eads asked Jennifer Robinson why she took off her jacket at Zach's house and she responded that she "was hot" and then later she said she took off her shirt, possibly in the woods for the same reason and Stiglich gave her a sweatshirt.

Ms. Eads asked her why she told her mother that she shot her brother. Jennifer Robinson said that, "Jud is not a hateful person. He was never mean. I didn't feel like he could kill my Bubby. He knew how much Ryan meant to me. He didn't have vengeance in his heart towards Ryan."

Ms. Eads asked Jennifer Robinson why she didn't call 911. "I thought they were already there, I remember hearing sirens."

Previous post with other links and charges:

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2015/01/ryan-robinsons-family-stares-at-judson.html?m=1