Newton, IA: Testimony begins in Mack trial; defendant admits to shooting victim in 911 call

By Mike Mendenhall/Daily News

Witness testimony began today in the first-degree murder trial of Newton resident Jay Dee Mack at the Jasper County Courthouse.

Lead prosecutor and Jasper County Attorney Mike Jacobsen entered into evidence the 911 call made by Mack on Oct. 9, 2010, when Mack admitted to shooting his girlfriend, Angie Ancer, 43.

In the tape, Mack admitted to Jasper County dispatcher Craig Kith that he had shot his girlfriend with a .357. It was stated in Jacobsen's opening statement that the weapon was a single action revolver.

During the 40-45 second phone call, Kith asked Mack what caused the argument between the defendant and Ancer, and Mack said, "I don't know? I've had enough."

Also entered into evidence were photographs taken at the crime scene by Newton police investigators, including bloody photos of Ancer lying on the kitchen floor after she had been shot. Newton paramedic and firefighter Joe Coen testified that they tried to resuscitate Ancer, but an emergency tracheotomy wasn't possible due to a bullet entrance wound in her neck.

Jacobsen also told jurors that they would hear testimony that Ancer suffered three gunshot wounds from various distances, the other two in the buttocks and pelvis.

In her opening statement, attorney Jill Eimermann, who is assisting public defender Steven Addington in the trial, stated that Mack's defense is not arguing that the alleged murderer did not pull the trigger on Oct. 9.

"'It's just a blur of rage. Everything's a blur, and then I was laying on the sidewalk,'" she said quoting Mack. "The evidence that you will hear, ladies and gentleman, is evidence that Jay shot Angie. At no time will we try to convince you that he didn't ... It was the sudden result of this abuse, and not just this day, but the culmination of all of it, and he snapped. In a blur of rage, he snapped."

The defense told jurors that they will argue throughout the trial that Mack's action were not premeditated and do not warrant is a first-degree murder conviction.

"Jay Mack is guilty, and you should hold him responsible," Eimermann said. "But we'll ask you to hold him responsible only for the crime the evidence supports, and we believe that after you have the opportunity to hear all the evidence you'll find that it simply does not support the verdict of first-degree murder."