Matthew Tornquist
Testimony resumed today in Rapid City in the murder trial of 28-year old Matthew Tornquist of Hot Springs, accused of killing his mother Catherine, who disappeared nearly 3 years ago. The trial is scheduled to run at least 8 days with the state listing 55 potential witnesses.
According to the Rapid City Journal and KOTA Territory News, lead prosecutor and South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley told the jury of 6 men and 8 women…including alternates…in his opening arguments that while Catherine Tornquist’s body has not been found, forensic evidence would prove that her son killed her for $10,000 she taken out of the bank to buy an RV.
The scenario laid out by Jackley is that Matt Tornquist shot his mother in his bed on the night of Oct 4, 2011, dragged her body through her home on a sheet of plywood that left a bloody trail, loaded the body into the trunk of his car, and disposed of it…most likely on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Catherine Tornquist
Jackley said a .22-caliber shell casing was found near Catherine Tornquist’s bed with 2 spent bullets found in her mattress and a third in the trunk of the car…all with traces of hair consistent with hers.
He also emphasized that the unemployed Matthew Tornquist had only $3,000 in cash and a bank balance under $50 on the day his mother disappeared, but spent about $10,000…including $3,000 lost gambling and $2,000 for a new rifle…over the next few days.
Defense attorneys Matt Stephens and Betsey Harris countered by telling the jurors that the state Division of Criminal Investigation botched the investigation, leaving a weak case. They urged the jury to “look for the pieces of the state’s case that don’t fit.”
Witnesses testifying on Tuesday included a rancher whose stolen rifle…which disappeared after a visit by Tornquist…is believed to be the murder weapon. It was found hidden in the ceiling of Tornquist’s rented room at National American University in Rapid City.
Other witnesses included investigators who said Catherine Tornquist’s purse and its contents were found on a gravel road northeast of Buffalo Gap on a gravel road heading on to the Pine Ridge Reservation, and that a blood-splattered sheet of plywood and burned cellphone were found on the Tornquist property.
Matthew Tornquist is being tried on charges of Grand Theft and alternative counts of 1st-degree murder, which requires premeditation, and 2nd-degree murder, which does not. Jackley is not seeking the death penalty, so Tornquist faces a maximum of life without parole if convicted on either murder charge.