Video expert testifies in Molly Conley murder trial

EVERETT — A home surveillance camera likely captured Molly Conley minutes before she was shot to death along a rural Lake Stevens road in 2013.

Prosecutors also allege that same camera recorded Erick Walker driving by minutes later and blocks away from where Molly, 15, was struck by a single bullet and tumbled down a small embankment on S. Lake Stevens Road. The Seattle girl died at the scene.

A Snohomish County jury Thursday watched a video taken from a camera mounted on a house located on S. Davies Road. At least four people are seen walking south on S. Davies Road away from Wyatt Park. Minutes later a car is seen driving northbound toward the park and then making a U-turn and then heading back the way it came.

Molly was shot a few blocks away on S. Lake Stevens Road as she walked with a group of friends. The girls were celebrating Molly’s 15th birthday and staying with one of the girls’ father in Lake Stevens.

The jurors heard from a forensic video analyst who testified that the car seen in the June 1 video is consistent with Walker’s car.

Jurors learned that Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives were allowed to drive Walker’s Pontiac G6 to the scene two months after the homicide. Detectives drove the car by the surveillance camera around the same time of night. Molly was shot just after 11 p.m.

Grant Fredericks, a former police officer and video analyst instructor at the FBI Academy, testified how he compared headlight and brake light shapes and placement on the car seen in the June 1 video to Walker’s vehicle in the police reenactment.

The cars are consistent, Fredericks said.

He also analyzed other vehicles seen on the surveillance camera that night. Fredericks showed jurors how he could distinguish characteristics of headlights and brake lights and whether a vehicle was light-colored or dark.

He also went through a list of vehicles he was asked to compare against the car seen in the June 1 video.

“Every one is different and can be eliminated,” Fredericks said.

On cross examination, he admitted that the quality of the video from the night of Molly’s shooting doesn’t allow for him to clearly identify the group of people seen walking by the house, or who was driving the car. The video doesn’t show the car’s license plate and doesn’t show where it goes after passing the camera.

Walker has admitted that he was in Lake Stevens the night of the shooting. He has denied killing Molly or firing at several houses between Lake Stevens and Marysville hours later.

Jurors on Friday are expected to hear from a team of detectives who recreated the shooting scene. The murder trial is expected to continue for several more days.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.