Murder suspect wants statements thrown out

Murder suspect Joshua Blow is asking a Burlington judge to toss out statements he made during a police interview before his arrest — which include multiple stories as to how a two-year-old toddler received his fatal injuries in July 2014.

Blow's motion was the subject of a two-day hearing in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington Monday and Tuesday. If the court rules in his favor, the stories will be inadmissible as testimony or evidence during trial.

Blow sat in a Burlington courtroom for most of the day Monday and part of Tuesday, watching a video of his interview with a police investigator from July 2014.

In the video, Blow, 28, of Burlington is sobbing and trying to explain to police how the toddler Aiden Haskins was injured and became unresponsive while under his care. Aiden later died. Blow has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the case.

Chittenden County Deputy State's Attorney Susan Hardin has said Blow told police at least five stories about the morning of Aiden's injury, each time acknowledging he was somehow involved. Blow and his lawyers say that the murder suspect should have been read his Miranda Rights and that police used tactics to coerce Blow's statements.

At the beginning of the second day of testimony, Judge Gregory Rainville said he was still questioning whether Blow made the statements volunatrily, but agreed that Blow should have been read his Miranda Rights.

"That line was crossed," Rainville said.

Officers who interviewed Blow say they confirmed several times that Blow was speaking to them voluntarily.

Blow was depicted in the video telling South Burlington police Cpl. Dave MacDonough and Essex police Detective Morgan Lawton several stories, including that he tripped over a cat and fell on Aiden and that he tripped down the stairs and fell on the child while going to get his marijuana pipe. Both officers who interviewed Blow work for the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations, which investigates cases of child deaths and neglect in addition to sex crimes.

Blow maintained in the video that the injury was an accident.

MacDonough testified Tuesday that he attempted to establish rapport with Blow during the more-than four-hour interview, including by telling the suspect a true story about his own grief over the death of his father. Several times, MacDonough implored Blow to tell the truth and not to "make him out to be a fool."

"The only friend you've got right now is me," MacDonough told Blow during the interview.

At one point, MacDonough added that Blow was helping the police build a case against him by continuing to lie.

Lawton took on a more assertive role in the interview. Several times, Lawton told Blow that she didn't believe his stories and that they did not match autopsy results from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

"The bottom line is this is not what happened," Lawton said. She later added, "If we don't get the truth, people are going to think the worst of you. They're going to think that you're some monster who woke up that morning intending to hurt Aiden. You know that may not be true, but you know how people are and you know how the news is. ... People are going to think you're a baby murderer."

At the end of the interview, Blow is placed under arrest.

Blow was the only person home with Aiden when he was injured, police have said.

Aiden died from blunt force trauma to the head and neck, Dr. Steven Shapiro, Vermont's chief medical examiner, said. Shapiro ruled the death a homicide.

Officers and medical experts initially thought Aiden's injuries all occurred the morning of his death. Shapiro later said that Aiden's fatal injuries may not have happened all during one event, and that some of his injuries possibly occurred "days to weeks" prior to the toddler's death, according to court papers.

The revelation has caused the defense to question the strength of the state's case.

Aiden's parents, who are separated, and grandparents attended the hearing both Monday and Tuesday. They said they were upset with what they heard Blow say during the police interview and believe the stories he told investigators about Aiden's injuries were false.

"We're here to get answers as to how this happened," said Aiden's father Noah Haskins. "He needs to be brought to justice."

Blow is jailed without bail at the Northeast State Correctional Facility in St. Johnsbury.

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.