Defense Witnesses in the Noor Salman Case

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 After the prosecution rested its case, the defense had a day in which they presented witnesses in the N case. The first witness was Omar Mateen‘s friend Nemo. I did a rather good sketch of him but unfortunately Judge Byron insisted that the sketch must not be published to protect the witnesses identity. Omar would use Nemo as an excuse when he went out to meet older women with whom he had affairs. On June 11, 2016, the evening of the attack, Omar’s mom became concerned since her son had promised to stop by her house and he never showed up. Noor texted Omar that he should use the excuse that he was with Nemo. Omar’s mom however ended up meeting Nemo’s mom at the mosque that night and the mom explained that her son Nemo was away at a medical college in the Caribbean. Omar’s mom kept trying to reach her son on the night of the attack. Nemo would work out with Omar at the gym where Omar would brag about the affairs he was having.

Two women took the stand in short order. I sketched both but later had to surrender the sketches to a U.S. Marshal. The first woman knew Omar for a year and a half. She said she didn’t know Omar was married but did know that he had a child. When asked if she had a romantic relationship with him she paused. The defense showed her Internet messages between herself and Omar and she then admitted that she did make out with him once in her car near his guard booth.The second woman met Omar on the dating site, Plenty of Fish. She invited Omar to her apartment and seemed more open about the fact that she had a relationship with him. The relationship ended when Omar told her that he could not be with her because she was Jewish. His family would not approve. There was high tension in the courtroom because the women had to admit their romantic affairs right in from of Noor who was seated about five yards away.

Dali Achmed started to cry when she saw her friend Noor at the defense table. She wore a hijab. She talked to Noor on June 11, 2016 on the phone. Noor was excited about her planned trip to California. She would always talk about her child. The two women grown up together but had grown apart as they grew older. Of course loving on opposite coasts made staying close harder.

Laurie Jaber was a friend of Noor’s. She had been a brides maid at her wedding to Omar Mateen. They last spoke on June 8, 2016 the day that Noor was approved to get her Florida drivers license. She spoke about how Noor took a job at a grocery store as a cashier. She didn’t like having to deal with the constant math of handing back change so she asked for a transfer. She started working on the docks with inventory working much harder for less pay.

Officer Steve Brown was considered by Omar to be a mentor and a bit of a brother figure. He knew Omar to be a rather conservative in his ways, but was a member of the Democratic party because Democrats could accept his religion. Omar joked around that he liked the homosexual community because they were like pit bulls who stood up for themselves. Defense attorney Charles Swift began asking questions bout Steve’s own views about homosexuals. He towed the line, but then Charles produced Internet messages between Steve and Omar. The officer read the messages and didn’t remember making those statement but they were right there on paper. It was clear that his comments were derogatory. The testimony was probably intended to show that Omar didn’t not attach the Pulse nightclub because he hated homosexuals. Knowing that officers were joking with a mass murderer before the massacre isn’t very reassuring. Attacking the homophobic officer didn’t really help the case, but it was quite dramatic.

Local media seemed to deliver a single homologous caricatured view of the proceedings from inside the courtroom. After the Casey Anthony case they banded together to settle on a single viewpoint when a case gets big. This single mindedness has the obvious drawback of limiting options when covering a story. A very conservative blogger sat next to me for a few minutes in the media room and was escorted out of the building by a US Marshal. The day before she harassed relative of Noor as they walked back to their cars. Judge Byron wrote a media release stating that she could not return to the courthouse. She came back the next day anyway and had to be escorted from the building. Since I was not permitted in the courtroom, I identified with her Facebook Live broadcasts in which she claimed her first amendment rights were being violated. However I needed to stick to every demand of the court so I  could best document the case from as close as I could get. Even closed doors can be a creative challenge.

A Day Without a Jury or Defendant in the Noor Salman Trail

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 One day of the trial had no jury or defendant. Noor Salman had the day off. The courtroom 4B rules were relaxed and I was permitted to sit inside courtroom 4B as a member of the public. I was issued a blue slip and told to sit on the court right general public spectator benches.  The day was spent going over a laundry list of what the jury must consider when coming to a verdict. The jury would have to be  unanimous on the charge that Noor aided and abetted her husband Omar Mateen in the mass murder committed at Pulse Nightclub. The prosecution went over a list of what items would be considered aiding and abetting.

1. Noor texted Omar on the night of the attack and told him to tell his mom that he is out with Nemo. This cover story made it seem like Noor was covering for her husband’s actions.

2. The “casing” activities at City Place in West Palm Beach  on June 4-5, 2016. The timeline for this activity was later debunked with cell phone data. There was not enough time for the casing to have occurred. It was still a strange trip to take very late at night with their son Zac who usually went to bed by 9 PM.

3. A May 31, 2016 purchase of ammunition for Omar’s work firearm at Walmart Supercenter. Noor and her son Zac were on that shopping trip. The prosecution wanted to imply that she encouraged the purchase. Omar’s work firearm was not used in the Pulse Nightclub attack.

4. The fact that Noor knew about the new rifle gun case in the family car, because she didn’t want it in the car when she took her driving test. The prosecution claimed that she was getting a Florida driver’s license for the first time because she knew Omar would not be around to drive after the Pulse attack, and the defense said she wanted to be able to drive to bring her son to school.

5. On June 8, 2016, four days before the attack, Noor got her license, shopped at bass Pro shop where Omar got Ammo, went to the Florida Mall where Omar bought her some very expensive jewelry. The woman who sold them the ring noticed a tear in Noor’s eye. Was she happy or sad? The purchase of the over $7000 ring was considered an enticement to lie or
at least not tip off authorities to what Omar was about to do.They then went to Disney Springs, an Arab Restaurant and a mosque. It was on this night that the prosecutors though Noor and Omar went to Pulse but there wasn’t enough time to drive around for 20 minutes.

6. The excessive spending in the month of June leading up to the attack.

7. Omar made Noor a beneficiary of his savings and checking accounts in the event of his death.

The prosecution would have to prove to the jury that Noor knew of Omar’s intent to mass murder innocent civilians with his act of Jihad. They wanted to stress that she was at a repeated series of very important junctures leading up to the attack.  Going to the gun range was a red flag for prosecutors. She told no one about the purchase of the rifle.

The defense countered that the prosecution provided no evidence that Noor knew what “the Act” was going to be. There is no evidence that she supports ISIS. During the course of the trial holes were poked in each of Noor’s six statements written by FBI agent and signed by her. Since she and Omar never went to Pulse before, it seemed to imply that FBI agents had planted information in her testimony.

The afternoon was spent going over the instructions for the jury. Each paragraph was meticulously picked apart to be sure both prosecutors and the defense were satisfied with the wording.

Noor did not plan to testify and the jury would be instructed not to consider this as a presumption of guilt. The jurors would have to weigh the testimony from each witness. They would have to consider the circumstances and weather the witness was credible or reliable. They would need to consider the witnesses age, and training.

Omar provided material support to the Islamic state. Did Noor intend to aid in the material support of ISIS? The prosecution wanted to point out that aiding and abetting can be done with a happy heart, or a sense of foreboding. Did she intend to bring about the crime? On the count of Obstruction of justice, did Noor mislead FBI agents with the statement she made on the morning after the Pulse Nightclub attack. Dis she knowingly leave things out of her statements? Once someone chooses to testify, they must do so truthfully. The venue for the obstruction of justice charge was Central Florida. Since Noor lived in Fort Pierce, the prosecutors needed to prove that her statement were intended to mislead investigators in Central Florida.

The instructions acted as a framework for the jury’s deliberations.

The last 3 Prosecution Witnesses.

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 FBI Special Agent Richard Fennern used cell phone tower data to track Omar Mateen and Noor Salman‘s locations on the days leading up to the Pulse Nightclub Massacre. In a stunning turn of events he had to conceded that neither hone had been anywhere near Pulse Prior to the evening of the attack. The couple had gone to Disney Springs with their son, after shopping Omar went with his son to a mosque and Noor went to King O’ Falafel. Given the locations of the cell phones and the times, it became clear that the couple never actually had time to drive around Pulse for 20 minutes as Noor claimed.

Judge Paul G. Byron stopped the proceedings to find out when the prosecution had known this fact. The judge had overruled a possible bail for Noor leading up to the trial largely because the prosecution kept hammering away at Noor’s testimony which stated that she and Omar has driven around Pulse with the windows down for 20 minutes in the weeks before the attack. The prosecution confessed that they knew that the testimony was false only a week after the attack. They even used the false confession in the trial itself.

The defense asked that Noor be released on bail considering that the prosecution had with held evidence. They might have taken a different form of defense had they known that the phone data confirmed that neither Noor or Omar had ever been to Pulse prior to June 2, 2016. Another bomb shell was the revelation that Omar’s dad was an FBI informant, and that he is now under investigation for sending money to Afghanistan and Turkey presumably to help in attacks on Pakistan. Suddenly  Seddique Mateen seems a more likely co-conspirator in the Pulse attack. The request by the defense was denied.

Most of the day’s testimony from Fenner went over Omar’s many ISIS searches on the Internet and the spending spree in the week before the attack. Cross examination showed that Omar’s parents were on the Disney Springs trip. Noor texted Omar when she wanted to buy sun glasses. Since Omar was the family provider, he didn’t have to ask when he purchased ammo, a rifle and a Glock handgun. Noor did know the rifle was in back of the family car since she wanted the gun removed before she took her driving test. Video was shown of Omar Mateen purchasing the SIG Sauer MCX assault riffle. Menacingly he looked down the length of the rifle multiple times perhaps imagining his future targets.

Michael McFarlan was an FBI electronics engineer for the last 6.5 years. He looked dapper in his blue bow tie. He holds a BA in computer engineering and computer science. He looked over all the text message information and analyzed the Facebook information. If data had been removed from the devices, the information would not immediately be overwritten. During his testimony a photo was shown of Noor at a bank machine withdrawing money.

Steve McCabe went over the couples finances and tax information. Between June 1 and 13, 2016 the couple spent $26,632.22 on their credit cards. Expenses included…

Saint Lucie Gun Sales  $1837.29

Kay Jewelers  $7,552.49

Kay Jewelers $1,165.49

Take out food $1,002.56

Gun Range $3,749.32

In previous years he had spent about $231 at the gun range.

The average expenses between 2010 and 2015 were about $1,556.60 per month. The June 2016 expenses were 26,532,22. In June $7,206.70 was withdrawn from the PNC bank account.

Noor’s name was not on the credit card. She had no access to the PNC bank account although she was made a beneficiary should Omar die. She did not get $32,000 on June 11, 2016. She would likely be deeply in debt if she were not behind bars. Her son Zac is with her grand parents during the trail.

Omar and Noor’s Web of Finances

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 In the morning, Nemo‘s mother took the stand. She could not be sketched. FBI agent Jeff Etter is a computer forensic examiner. He graduated from Troy University and works out of the Miami Fort Lauderdale area. He analyzed the computers inside the home of Omar Mateen and Noor Salman. Both computers showed activity of a program called Sea Cleaner which removes data. Even if data had been removed there would still be artifacts until the data was overwritten by something new. Another way data could be hidden is via Chrome Incognito Mode. Omar’s password was Ocean1986.

Etter testified the date on one of the
computers was modified to reflect all of its context were dated a day
behind. It was established that much of the Internet browsing was
done in “incognito mode,” so that the Internet history wasn’t recorded,
but many visits to radical websites were recorded. If Omar was trying to hide his tracks, he was lazy about it. The endless searched to Jihadi web sites were conducted late at night by Mateen.

Exhibit 14 was submitted into evidence. It was a photo of Omar Mateen and Noor Salman  smiling together at a shooting range. The photograph was recovered from the couples apartment.

Shelly M. Morgan was a witness who was the assistant bracnch manager at PNC Bank on the day Omar Mateen and Noor Salman went in to put her as the beneficiary of his checking and savings account in case of his death. She described her meeting with the couple. There was some discussion of having Noor as the joint account holder, but her outstanding college loans would have put the account in jeopardy. This action by the couple implied that there was a premeditated attempt to take care of Noor after Omar committed his violent act of Jihad in Orlando.

Rose Von Brezel a Kay Jewelers manager, helped sell Omar and Noor an engagement ring and a diamond wedding band for $8,623 on June 6, 2016 just 6 days before the deadly shooting. Rose remembered seeing tears in Noor’s eyes. She couldn’t tell if this was sadness or happiness. Salman seemed focused on buying just the right ring in the style she likes while Mateen seemed agitated. A store surveillance video showed the couple at the counter and their son Zac took a step back and then another step back as they discussed the purchase. He then ran off into the mall and Omar had to chase him down. Despite the serious nature of the testimony it was hard not to laugh at their son’s antics.

Later in the trial a photo was shown of Noor from Facebook showing that she already had a diamond wedding ring. These purchases therefor seemed to further support the idea that Omar was arranging items that Noor could later sell to help survive after he was killed in his act of Jihad.

T.J. Sypniewski was the Special Agent who assisted Ricardo Enriques in the interrogation of Noor Salman. He has been with the FBI for 22 years and does polygraph interrogations. About 8:45 AM on June 12, 2016 he started his interview with Noor Salman at the FBI headquarters. He didn’t notice Noor sleeping on the floor which had been noticed by FBI agent Enriquez. T.J. introduced himself and decided that he would break the news that Noor’s Husband Omar Mateen was dead. She looked away and didn’t say anything. She didn’t ask questions.

He began asking questions. She had attended  college, but didn’t graduate. She brought up religion saying that she and Mateen were not extremist but somewhere in the middle. he noted that she was actively listening understanding what he was saying what he said. Her son was getting restless so the agent suggested that she have a relative pick him up.Mustafa picked up her son and she remained to answer questions.

Noor explained that her husband could not have died in a violent act because he had just paid the bills. he also had just purchased air plane tickets to San Francisco. She could not have known what he was going to do because she had just bought him a fathers day present. She denied going to a shooting range, but when told that the FBI would be going to all the shooting ranges in the area, she lowered her head and admitted that she had gone once. She also indicated that she was never physically abused by her husband.

Three statements were read, and Salman said they were true. “I brought ammunition with my husband one time for the handgun.” she said. The interview ended at 10:15AM on June 12, 2016. She did not ask to go home according to the agent. At 10:30 Am Noor signed the consent forms which stated her Miranda rights. The defense wanted to imply that agent Enriquez had been interviewing Noor for two hours before she was given Miranda forms to sign. The fact that the interviews were not recorded was covered by the defense. The agent stated that it was common practice to only record interviews after someone has been arrested. Since Noor was not under arrest, they could not record the interview. He has never recorded an interview outside of arrest. It isn’t the FBI’s policy to do so.

Agent T.J. Sypniewski was not a case agent in the Pulse Nightclub massacre. After this day, he had no other involvement. It was established that Noor was eating lunch, Jimmy Johns between the two interviews.

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Duel Valentine has worked in the Counter Terrorism unit for 7 years. He sat in with Special Agent Getz and Noor Salman of a short time on the morning of June 12, 2016. He was just there to sit with them. Noor approached him and wanted to get her husbands death certificate. With the certificate she felt she could get certain debts waved. She said she tried to stop him. She was concerned that she couldn’t get a job after the attack and that she would have to raise her son alone. She didn’t know what to tell her son about what his father had done.

Agent Ricardo Enriquez testified about early interviews with Noor Salman

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 Ricardo Enriquez is a polygraph expert for the FBI. He never actually did a polygraph on Noor Salman although she had agreed to have one done. The defense argued that since the polygraph wasn’t done, the testimony would be irrelevant. They felt that just the prejudicial effect would be enormous on the jury but Judge Byron allowed the testimony.

Special Agent Mayo said that Noor wanted to go home at one point, but her home was being searched. At 11 AM on June 12, 2016 Noor was found sleeping on the floor of the FBI interrogation room. She didn’t say that she wanted to go anywhere else. Her uncle came to pick up her son Zack. When the uncle asked if she could come home, he was told that there were additional questions that the FBI wanted to ask her. She agreed to stay. She asked agent Enriquez, “What will happen to my son?” He said, “It isn’t up to me.” Enriquez asked Noor questions and then memorialized her responses by writing what she said and then having her read what he write an then initial the start end end of each sentence. By doing this each sentence would be confirmed as being true and it would not be possible to add anything to the statements since they were initialed. She would dictate and he would write. She said that she was too nervous to write the statements herself.

Omar asked Noor, “Where would the next terrorist attack make a big splash?” What I find odd is that no one asked Noor what her response was to her husbands outlandish statements. “Omar bought a gun 4 days ago and put it in the trunk of the car. He said it was for work.” She made quite a few statements about Omar’s spending, to summarize, in the last days he spent a lot of money for instance buying her a $7000 wedding ring although she already had a ring. He spent $300 on clothing and brought a lot of toys for their son. He also spent money on take out and restaurant food in the final weeks. He sent $80 on ammo in Vero Beach. He withdrew $1000 from his PNC Bank account and gave it to her. Omar also made her a beneficiary on his checking and savings account. Because of this she thought he was considering a violent act. “I often worry he was going to commit an act of violence or terrorism.” she said.

Driving around City Place, he said, “How bad would it be if City Place got attacked?” Later testimony from a digital forensic expert however indicated that there was no time for this “Staking” of City Place. Omar Mateen asked her, “What would make people more upset, an attack on Disney, or an attack on a club?” “I knew.” she said. For the last 2 years Omar had talked about doing Jihad. He said if he did jihad, everybody would know who he is. “How upset are people going to be when it gets attacked?” She mentioned driving around Pulse for 20 minutes with the windows down, but again digital forensics proved that this staking of Pulse was not possible in the time allotted. Agents interviewing Noor claimed that she had not been told about Pulse or prompted in any way. But this shifting story indicated she might have been fed statements by agents.

Noor said that on June 10, 2016 late at night, Omar was looking at a website for the Pulse Nightclub and when she saw what he was looking at he said, “This is my target.” She knew that the time of the

attack on the cub was close. Digital forensic disproved that this exchange about viewing the Pulse website actually happened. On Saturday June 11, 2016 before Omar left their apartment he asked her if he looked Spanish. He was pumped up. He had his ammunition backpack and gun. She asked the agent an odd question at the end of their interview. She said, “When do I get my money?”

The defense pointed out that on June 12, 2016 at about 1:30PM the Sentinel reported that Omar Mateen was a terrorist. It is possible that the FBI agents saw this report on they morning they interviewed Noor. The defense asked what time Agent Ricardo got up that morning. He could not remember the exact time but they narrowed it down to between 8 AM and 9 AM. That morning he looked at the news on his computer perhaps Fox News or ABC. Then her drove to the FBI headquarters to interview Noor. No one asked if she approved of the purchase of a rifle. She dis complain that she didn’t want it in the back of the family car when she took her driving test.

She said in a written statement that Omar Mateen was driving to City Place and got there around 1 AM. She was a passenger. They drove around with the windows down for about 45 minutes. He was driving around slowly looking at the clubs at City Place. While driving, he said, “How bad would it be if a club got attacked?” Defense attorney Charles Swift asked the impotent question, “What was her response?” Why didn’t agents ask if she agreed or disagreed with the statement by her husband? So many of her written comments were confessions of knowledge of her husbands long standing extremist views but they were not confessions of participation. Did she encourage her husbands actions that resulted in 49 lives lost in Orlando? This is what the jury will ultimately have to decide.

Noor decided to hand write a statement on her own at the end of the long night of questioning. She wrote, “I’m sorry for not truthful in the start about what Omar was planning.” The grammar and diction of this written statement is very different that what agents wrote for her. It is standard FBI practice that interviews are not recorded unless the person has been charged with a crime. So the agents were not authorized to record Noor’s statements

Noor Salman Talks to Detectives

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 This was Lieutenant William Hall‘s second time in the witness stand in the Noor Salman Trial. He had testified back in December during the evidence suppression hearings. Hall was the the officer who went to Noor Salman’s apartment on the evening of the Pulse Nightclub massacre. He carried his long gun to the apartment. He recounted some things that Noor said that night which he found odd.

Noor came to the door in her pajamas. Hall gave his rifle to another officer and then approached her to speak. Her son was asleep inside. Hall allowed her to go in her bedroom to change. When she came out she checked her cell phone which surprised Hall who suddenly realized he had made a tactical mistake, the phone could have been used to set off a bomb. She did not set off a bomb but instead cooperated. When asked if she would come to the FBI office to answer a few questions, she said, “Are you taking me to Disney World?”

Photos of the conference room where FBI Agent Christopher Mayo interviewed Noor were shown to the jury. She also offered FBI agent Christoper Mayo a defense for her husband saying, “He likes everyone, including homosexuals.” She had not been informed that the shooting had happened at a gay nightclub. When asked if she ever noticed Omar carrying a gun in public, for instance, might she notice it if she put her arm around his waist, she said, “She doesn’t put her arms around him in public.” She claimed she didn’t know where he was going that night. At first Noor denied a search of her apartment but later she changed her mind. A report from the medical administration college Noor went to showed that she is actually rather smart, having a 3.0 grade point average. She is no simple and dumb girl as painted by her defense.

Omar was interviewed in 2013 because he made inflammatory comments to co-workers at his security company. Noor learned to drive in 2016 for the first time. When asked about how she learned, she said, “God rest his… my father taught me.” Another agent T.J. Sypniewski then informed her that her husband was dead. She cried for 5 minutes but not hysterically. Her son also in the room did not understand, he kept playing.

Noor met Omar Mateen on ArabLounge.com. She described their religious beliefs to be “in the middle.” She went on to defend her husband saying he couldn’t have committed the violent act since he had just paid the bills. She could  not have known about the attack because she had just brought him a fathers day present. His hand gun was for work, and he needed to practice shooting. She said she had never been to a gun range but when she was told that the FBI would check all area gun ranges looking for video and receipts, she lowered her head and then said she had gone to a gun range once. She said that she never shot a long gun. Her mother in law called at 4 AM on June 12, 2016 looking for her son Omar. When asked about Omar’s friend Nemo, she said she had never met him. Again officer Sypniewski said they have ways to find out, and then she admitted that she did meet Nemo who she described as going to a medical school in the Caribbean and he was  ugly. When asked if Omar was violent, she said that he never hit her.

On cross examination it was established that Noor Salman had been kept up all night with questioning. She was found asleep on the floor by one FBI agent. There was video of every moment of the Pulse Nightclub attack and the police response, but there was a 10 hour gap in which there was no audio or video of Noor Salman’s interview by the FBI.

Charles Swift Cross-examines a Witness

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Defense attorney Charles Swift spent plenty of time cross-examining witnesses from the State in the Noor Salman trial. She is accused of aiding and abetting her husband Omar Mateen in the mass murder of 49 Orlando citizens at Pulse. He would stop and linger, taking time to ask questions that might raise doubt in the jury’s mind. The jury consists of 12 woman and 6 men. 12 are on the actual jury and 6 are alternates. None of them has been informed if they are the alternates in order to guarantee that they all pay close attention to the details of the case.

FBI evidence collection expert Lauren Regucci took the stand to describe the steps taken to document the evidence collected from the van that Omar Mateen parked near the Pulse Nightclub. Agents are trained to draw maps that help clarify where items were found along with photos, where items were found. The vehicle was parked under a carport near a boat. The windows had been blown out by a bomb-seeking robot. A 38 revolver pistol was found near the vehicle along with items known as speed loaders. Speed loaders allow all the bullets to be loaded at once saving time when you want to kill fast.

Also found near the vehicle were a green rifle bag and a long gun rifle case. A child’s stroller was also on the ground on its side. It was a strange combination of the domestic mixed with the murderous. Lauren held up a pistol box along with each item found so that the jury could see. The SIG Sauer MCX assault rifle was found next to the gunman‘s dead body inside the club bathroom, so it was not among the items found outside.

Tampa FBI Special Agent Lynn Billings was in charge of collecting evidence inside the club. She showed the jury a photo of Omar Mateen’s cell phone that was found submerged in a pool of blood.     Each item in the club was assigned a yellow marker and the distances between items was noted. She held up the the rifle purchased on June 4, 2016 by Omar Mateen and verified that the serial number on the gun matched the serial number on the receipt from Saint Lucie Gun Sales. The gun was submitted into evidence. There was a knife found next to Omar Mateen’s body along with the Glock handgun that he had also purchased in the weeks leading up the the massacre. The gun holster was found on the gunman’s body. Thirty-seven other bodies were found in the club. “There were cellphones ringing,” she said. “People were constantly calling cellphones that were
scattered throughout the club.”

The FBI spent nine days collecting evidence. They measured distances between objects and figured out the shooting trajectories of shots whenever possible. They then proceeded to tear out the drywall to collect any other bullets that had penetrated the walls. Tape on the walls marked places where bullets had entered. Furniture as well was dissected for evidence collection. Besides collecting near Omar’s rental van and inside the club, a map was also set up that was used to make sure any evidence in the blocks around the club was collected. Every imaginable area was searched before Orange Avenue could be once again opened up to traffic.

The Robot Strips Omar Marteen

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National media interest in the Noor Salman trial dwindled drastically on day two of witness testimonies. The national media might consider this case to be a consolation prize since the gunman Omar Marteen was killed at the club and thus can not be convicted. The prosecution entered the courtroom carrying long yellow boxes full of evidence. I wondered if the boxes were full of guns.

Special Agent Paul Castillo took the stand. He is a bomb technician who operated the robots that entered the club on the evening of the Pulse Nightclub Massacre. Mateen had made claims to a negotiator by phone that he had bombs, so special care had to be taken when clearing the club. The robot with a camera saw wires coming from under Omar’s body. The many bodies on the floor made navigating the robots through the club difficult. It was determined that the wires were from an exit sign that had fallen to the floor when the swat team blew a hole in the bathroom wall to breach the club and kill Mateen, not from a bomb within his pants.

Pictures from the robot showed Omar’s lifeless body with his face contorted in a grimace of pain. The robot manipulated the body and removed the gunman’s blood soaked pants. A Glock handgun was found near the body along with a knife. A robot was also used to check Omar’s rental van that was parked near Pulse. The gunman had claimed that the he had bombs and if the van was full of explosives it could have caused damage and devastation to several city blocks. The van was cleared by 10:30 AM.

The Orange County medical examiner Dr. Joshua Stephany‘s testimony was short and concise. He testified about collecting the 37 bodies from inside the club, one body from the club patio, along with two bodies in the parking lot behind Einstein Bagels. 9 victims arrived at Orlando Regional Medical Center dead or died shortly there after. All the victims were taken to the medical examiner’s office at Michigan and Bumby. The autopsy reports describe every gunshot would in terms of how the bullets entered the body and how they exited the body.

Officer Brett Chabot described his recovery of four receipts from a dumpster outside the home of Omar Mateen and Noor Salman. A dumpster is public property, so a warrant isn’t needed to do the search. Brett executed the dumpster diving.

He responded to Mateen’s home and was with
the team in charge of searching Mateen’s vehicle. He talked about receipts that were found
which where for hundreds of dollars worth of ammo, jewelry, and clothes just
days before the shooting. Just the fact that the receipts were being discarded tends to be incriminating, as if the couple were trying to get rid of evidence.

Omar was supplying assets for Salman since
she had no money of her own. The defense attorney arguing they were just
gifts since Mateen was getting a better job as a police officer. There was a heavy police presence in the Fort Pierce
area surrounding their apartment for the entire day. I saw video footage that the apartment had been broken into and foreign journalists wandered through the apartment taking pictures.

Noor Salman Testimony Continues

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 There is some sensitive content and disturbing details included
within. If you feel you may be affected, please do not read this post.

William Braniff took the stand in the Noor Salman case as a terrorist expert. He is the Executive Director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and a Professor of the Practice at the University of Maryland. In general he took the stand to outline Omar Mateen‘s obsession with ISIS and to describe the violent online videos that call for violence in the west during Ramadan. On cross examination Charles Swift portrayed Omar Mateen as a lone wolf and he said that a partner would never offer aid unless they were converted to the ideological extremist views of their partner. William disagreed. In research papers it has been found that love can be a reason that a couple might work together for an extremist cause. The example was brought up of the Boston Bombers. One brother was the extremist and the other simply followed to stay close to his brothers views. Mateen had researched the Boston Bombers and he considered them comrades-in-arms.

Nelson Rodriguez took the stand to describe his night at the Pulse Nightclub. On June 11, 2016, he was a Florida highway patrolman who went to Pulse with friend Christopher SanFeliz to celebrate his graduation from
police academy and connected with other friends, including Shane Tomlinson. Another friend Amanda showed up late that night. Immediately after
last call, he heard shots ring out and the friends got separated. “It was dark,” he
testified, “and I thought I was going to die that night. I just thank
the heavenly father.”  Nelson dropped to the floor and crawled for cover.

The gunman paused his shooting and Nelson realized that he was reloading. it was time to move or die. He crawled towards the front entrance, but the gunman was blocking the exit. he changed his tack and crawled instead to the patio where people escaped over a fence. 

Once clear of the club, he called 911 and offered a description of the gunman to police. He got a call from his friend Amanda who was trapped inside the bathroom with the gunman during the three hour siege. After the gunman was shot Nelson began calling hospitals looking for Amanda. She had been shot multiple times, but survived. He could find no news of Christopher Sanfeliz or Shane Tomlinson and later learned that they had both died.

Officer Tyler Olson was an Orlando Police
Department officer working extra duty the night of the Pulse shooting. He took the stand to further clarify the police response after the shooting by Omar Mateen at the Pulse Nightclub.

When Tyler arrived at the scene, he said he tried to enter the back of the club, but
there was no entrance.

When he went around to enter from the front, he described that there
were a large amount of people on the ground and said he didn’t know the
number of shooters at that point.

Police body camera video showed Olson carrying a victim to his truck. The woman screamed in agony when lifted into the truck and then screamed even louder when she had to be removed from the truck, presumably at the hospital. He got choked up describing the scene. This happened with nearly every officer that took the stand.

Outside the courtroom Christine Leinonen the mother of Drew Leinonen shouted her blame into a microphone for officers who testified. Their tears offer no comfort. Instead she blamed them for not saving her son that night.

First State Witness Officer Adam T. Gruler

Posted on by Thor

 There is some sensitive content and disturbing details included
within. If you feel you may be affected, please do not read this post.

Adam T. Gruler testified in the Noor Slaman case at the Orlando Federal Courthouse. He is currently a Special Agent with Orlando Police stationed in the canine unit at
the Orlando Airport. At the time of Pulse he was a Special Agent in the Traffic Homicide and Motors Unit. Before coming to Orlando Police Department he was in the military police for 5 years and so has 22 years in total of being a police officer. His shift started at 11 pm on June 11, 2016 and was supposed to end at 3 am on June 12 at Pulse Nightclub as an off-duty officer in full uniform.

Exhibit 119 was brought in to evidence – a map of the block Pulse Nightclub is on with Pulse shaded in green and block drawn with the location of Omar Mateen’s rented van. Gruler pointed out where his vehicle was parked, on the grass curb in front of the front doors of Pulse across the street from Dunkin’ Donuts on Esther Street. At 2:02 AM he heard gunfire from inside the nightclub and immediately called, “Shots fired, shots fired” over his CB.

Exhibits 105 and 105A were CD recordings of the audio recordings and transcript as an accurate depiction of his radio activity that evening. It was played for everyone before the prosecution broke it down into pieces to ask questions. “Shots fired, multiple down.” Gruler explained the series of three tones as being an alert for Signal 43 which serves to notify others that immediate assistance is needed by an officer.

Gruler was expecting a typical nighttime night club shooting in which a specific individual is being targeted. From 22 years as an officer, he knew that the weapon being used was a long-barreled assault rifle and he only had his regular handgun on him, he was out gunned and alone. He quickly called for a perimeter, assuming the assailant would take off and try to flee. Then, “Go ahead and get chase up.” a call for the helicopter and then a street canine to assist them in apprehending the shooter.

Gruler than saw the shooter from outside, he took cover behind cars outside. The south side double doors flung open and two men came running out and were gunned down. One immediately and one after he had made it a bit. Gruler fired at the gunman. The shooter retreated into the club and went towards the north. Gruler took up a position to get to the doors. Government Exhibit 108 accepted into evidence – Dash camera video of responding officer that shows Gruler. He engaged the suspect a second time and attempted to shoot him.

Additional officers began to arrive and they worked to formulate a plan. Planned to approach and make entry through the patio, some officers went that way, though Gruler ultimately did not. He went through the front large window. He stated he was unclear about what time it was at that point. He could see that multiple people were down, some alive, some very obviously not. There was blood everywhere and they had to step over the bodies as they tried to check for signs of life, trying to rescue people while also trying to find and contain the shooter. They weren’t sure where the gunman was as he had retreated back to a bathroom by the back bar.

The triage area was set up on the South East corner of Orange and Kaley by Einstein Bagels and that is where they were directing people to go. Victims were being put into law enforcement vehicles, specifically a black truck, and being transported to the hospital just up the street. There were no ambulances as fire and rescue protocol states that those individuals wait until police give the go ahead and have the shooter contained, as they are no good to anybody if they are dead. Multiple reports were coming in, reports that their might be more than one shooter. Gruler was brought back to command at 2:45 AM to begin providing his report.

The defense began examining Gruler. Exhibit 119 brought back up (a map of the block Pulse is on) and Gruler again pointed out where his unmarked Dodge Journey police car was parked. Stated he has worked at multiple clubs in Orlando but for the past 18 months to 2 years he had worked at Pulse and was usually the only one on duty. Reiterated that he was parked on the grass curb area. When he arrived for his shift the club promoter had told him he knew there was an under 18 individual who had gotten in with a fake ID. Gruler brought him out and began to talk to him, the individual ran off and taunted him from across the street. Gruler got in his car and drove around about 20 minutes or so attempting to find him, but didn’t. When he returned he placed his car in the same location it had been. Defense asked a lot of questions about whether or not the officer could see Omar Mateen’s vehicle from where he was located, whether he had or had not seen Mateen enter or exit the club. He stated he had not to all of the above. Court adjourned for lunch.