"I did not enter the apartment but I could see a male lying on his back with quite a bit of blood and he was deceased."

(Kobak)

On Agust 25, EPD Detective Ron Harpham was the on-call investigator. "At 18:10 hours, I received a call from Patrol Sgt. Terry Liles who advised me there was a shooting at 1317 7th Street and that one party was deceased." The apartment of the alleged crime scene was Apartment B.

The first officers to respond were Patrol Sgt. Terry Liles, Officer David Haynie and Officer Ben Altic. "They all arrived at the same time."  Officer Altic was the primary responding officer.

Detective Harpham arrived at "18:35 hours", checked to see if the crime scene was secure and that a crime log had been started. Detective Harpham was standing outside the apartment.

"I did not enter the apartment but I could see a male lying on his back with quite a bit of blood and he was deceased. I closed the door, gave instructions not to enter the crime scene and went back to the station."

During the investigation, Detective Harpham heard the 911 call.

"The call came in at 17:59 hours" on August 25. EPD dispatcher Janelle Crnich answered that call.

"Eventually the caller identified himself as Dave Kobak." During the call, Kobak told Ms. Crnich  that "he had shot his friend Fred"with a rifle. Kobak said that "Fred was on the carpet near the TV."

Deputy DA Barnes if Kobak mentioned "why he shot Fred?"

Detective Harpham testified he recalled Kobak saying "he was going to beat me up. He hit me two or three times." Kobak said this was in the bedroom.

Ms. Crinch asked Kobak to step outside the apartment. Sgt. Terry Liles, Officer David Haynie and Officer Ben Altic, all arrived at the same time. Detective Harpham estimated the time the officers arrived to be "18:01/18:02 hours."

"Later on Officer Brian Ross arrived but he never made it to the crine scene," said Detective Harpham.

This is testimony by Detective Harpham after he viewed the body cam worn by Officer Altic: "Upon his arrival, the three organized their approach and walked to the location with Ben Altic behind Sgt. Liles."

"You could see David Kobak standing and talking on the phone in front of the apartment under an awning."

In response to a question by Ms. Barnes, Detective Harpham said, "The only question Officer Altic asked Kobak was while he was walking him to the patrol car. This question was in response to what Kobak said. Officer Altic asked Kobak, 'Is there anyone else in the apartment?"

"Kobak's response was, 'Yeah Fred, but he is dead."

Officer Altic put Kobak in hand restraints, did a pat down and walked him to a patrol car.

After this, Detective Harpham testified about he saw on Sgt. Liles body cam.

"I saw them all arriving at the same time, organizing their approach. Sgt. Liles asked Kobak to step away from the awning. Sgt. Liles opens the door and you can see a deceased male lying face down. Sgt. Liles did a security check and then called the ambulance."

Footage from Officer David Haynie's body cam showed that, "The ambulance personnel came and rolled Loftus onto his back."

At the EPD station, Detective Harpham met with Detective (now Captain) Sgt. O'Neill. "He agreed to write a search warrant for David Kobak's blood and apartment."

Detective Harpham arrived at the EPD station at "18:45 hours" processed Kobak and started interviewing him at "18:50 hours".

When Detective Harpham advised Kobak of his Miranda rights, Kobak said, "I have no rights. I fucked up. I killed my buddy."

Even after being advised of his right to stay silent and that anything he said could be used against him in court, Kobak said,  "I don't need to remain silent."

"This guy is my buddy and he pissed me off.I guess I pissed him off.  He hit me a couple of times. It did not leave any marks but it hurt. He pissed me off a lot. He said things I do not want to say to you."

At Detective Harpham's request, Officer Jonathan Eckert administered a breathalyzer test; Kobak's blood alcohol content was .16

Kobak gave Detective Harpham Loftus' name. "They were longtime buddies for 40 years. Both men were commercial fishermen. Usually, David was the captain and Fred, the deckhand. David was a good friend of Loftus' dad."

Loftus was a guest, not a tenant, and he had been staying with Kobak "for a couple of weeks."

On August 25, Kobak said that he went to Ernie's bar, which is located at 6th and A. He walked there and met Loftus at the bar. They walked back together to his apartment.

Kobak said they both drank a lot that day. "He said Fred left to purchase alcohol. David was cooking dinner. Fred was getting pissy with him and he was getting pissy with Fred.  Loftus hit him in the face. He did not leave any marks but it hurt."

Kobak told Detective Harpham that "Fred was being insulting," but Kobak would not tell him the nature of the insults. Kobak said that Loftus did not threaten him.

The rifle was in Kobak's bedroom. Kobak said that Loftus was unarmed during the first argument.

"The only motive David Kobak gave me was that Loftus made him angry. He went to the bedroom, retrieved the rifle, stepped back into the room, said something to Loftus who was in the kitchen and he started shooting."

The rifle had 30 rounds. When Detective Harpham asked Kobak how many times he shot Loftus, Kobak responded, "How many casings are left?"

Detective Harpham asked Kobak what he said to Loftus before shooting him. Kobak said, "Fuck him, I'm sorry about that."

Kobak said that Loftus was facing him when he shot Loftus and that Loftus did not have a weapon.

The interview ended when Kobak told Detective Harpham, " he did not want to talk about it anymore."

Detective Harpham took photos of Kobak's upper body, hands and arms. There were no injuries.

At 21:11 hours, a search warrant was obtained and Detective Harpham went back to Kobak's apartment. He described Kobak's apartment in detail.

"Loftus was in a supine position and there was pool of blood to the left of his head. Some evidence of shell casings visible on carpet and top of furniture." This was before the apartment was searched for shell casings.

"The firearm was located behind the door in Kobak's bedroom where he said it was," said Detective Harpham.

He described where the casings were in detail, said "all casings were to the right." There were 10 bullets. Four mostly intact bullets; three lead without jackets; two mangled copper jackets. Some fragments were found in the kitchen.

Detective Harpham attended Loftus' autopsy which was done by forensic pathologist Dr. Mark Super. " Eight bullets were found in the victim. Cause of death was gunshot wound." Loftus was 58 years old. There were no injuries or trauma on Loftus' hands.

In his cross examination Deputy Public Defender Luke Brownfield asked Detective Harpham if he observed any signs of intoxication and he asked this a few times. Detective Harpham said slurred speech and that when he was interviewing Kobak, he could smell the odor of alcohol.

Kobak made the statement, "I couldn't help myself."

A neighbor who was recorded on Sgt. Liles body cam said that "five minutes  before, he heard something like a banging." Dispatch call was 18:01, first officer arrived at 18:03. Kobak was making spontaneous statements; he said shooting Loftus was "the biggest mistake of my life."

In response to a question by Mr. Brownfield, Detective Harpham said based on text messages from Kobak's phone, he made the assumption the two men met at Ernie's at 1 p.m.

Loftus' blood alcohol level was .17; there were no drugs in his blood. There were no drugs at Kobak's apartment.

Loftus' girlfriend,  Robin Innes, who lives in Santa Rosa spoke with Detective Harpham months later. "She believed she had been in contact with Loftus the day of the murder. She thought, by phone. Loftus was not angry."

"I spoke to several friends of both men. Each one gave mean opinion of their personalities. One friend, David Caerbert, from Crescent City, knew Loftus better. He did say when Fred used meth, he would change significantly. Fred was usually friendly when he drank,unless he was pushed."

Cheri Keel, a longtime girlfriend of Kobak's, now a friend, said "Loftus could get drunk and become an asshole."

During redirect, Detective Harpham answered Ms. Barnes' question by saying Caerbert said, "When Kobak drank, he became a bully."

People's exhibit 1, Loftus' death certificate was admitted into evidence.