The attorney representing a Cooperstown man convicted of the murder of an NDSU researcher says there was not enough evidence to find his client guilty.
Daniel Wacht was sentenced to life without parole for the death of Kurt Johnson. Johnson’s severed head was found in Wacht’s basement – but the rest of the body has not been found.
Attorney Steven Mottinger told the North Dakota Supreme Court – there are too many unanswered questions about what happened after Johnson and Wacht left a Cooperstown bar on New Year’s Even 2010. Justice Dale Sandstrom questioned Mottinger.
":You're saying there's not sufficient evidence, when the deceased was last seen in your client's vehicle, and the deceased's head was found in your client's basement?" asked Sandstrom.
"It does not necessarily mean Mr. Wacht was the individual that committed the murder," said Mottinger. "You have a shell casing with unidentified DNA on it."
"So what?" said Sandstrom.
"And in one of Mr. Wacht's boots, there is unidentified DNA," said Mottinger. "So it at least allows us to draw the inference that someone else was there."
Mottinger also says the first and second search warrants contained erroneuous information – and should be thrown out.
Assistant Griggs County States Attorney Marina Spahr told the Court there is plenty of evidence to convict Wacht.
The High Court has taken the case under advisement.
