Woman denies abusing adoptive son in murder trial

By Jaclyn O'Malley

jomalley@rgj.com

Defendant Catherine Wyman told jurors Wednesday she "absolutely" did not abuse her adopted 3-year-old son, whose 1974 death in Sparks was ruled an accident.

The only discipline she ever gave James "J.W." Wyman was spankings or groundings at the Sparks home, she said.

And when police in 2006 told her a forensic pathologist reviewed the evidence and determined J.W. — covered head to toe in bruises — died of child abuse, she said she did not know how it happened or why. No one in 1974 explained his injuries, the former stay-at-home mother said.

The only thing she knew for sure, she said, was that on the morning of Aug. 10, 1974, J.W. fell off a lawn chair while he watched his sister's softball game with her. About an hour later he complained of thirst and a stomach ache. His tummy was big, according to testimony.

Hours later, she took him to the emergency room, where he died.

Wyman, 67, of Arizona, has been on trial since June 18 on a charge of murdering the developmentally disabled boy.

The case was reopened in 2005 after her estranged daughter told police Wyman abused the boy on a daily basis, furiously kicking him in the stomach while wearing blue wooden Dr. Scholls sandals. Witnesses have testified that she was disgusted by his special needs and problems with toilet training.

Julie Bader Dunn said guilt and the death of her father, who said he was once a suspect in the boy's death, prompted her to come forward to get justice for her brother.

Testimony revealed untrained medical and police officials in 1974 let a "classic case" of child abuse slip through the cracks. Prosecution witnesses said the injuries Bader Dunn recalled her mother inflicting on the boy more than 30 years ago matched those documented in his autopsy, including split intestines consistent with blunt force trauma.

Bader Dunn testified that the morning her brother died, she had seen her mother in the backyard of their Sparks home, kicking him in the stomach. He was on the ground, reeling in pain, she said.

Sometimes, her mother could kick him up to 23 times in one beating, Bader Dunn said.

But a medical expert for the defense, Dr. Janice Ophoven, said there was no evidence that the boy suffered the chronic abuse Bader Dunn reported. She also said he did not receive his fatal injury the day he died; rather it occurred about 24 hours earlier.

Ophoven also said she did not think the injury resulted from blunt force trauma and that the toddler's intestines were not healthy, making them susceptible to splitting.

Wyman denied her daughter's recollections that she slammed toilet seats on his genitals, found to be bruised, tried to drown him three times, rammed his head into a fence post, held his hands in hot water and beat him with a belt buckle.

Her testimony continues today and the defense is expect to rest its case.

In other remarks, Wyman claimed that J.W. had made progress while living with her family for 18 months following bad treatment in foster care. The family included Wyman's daughters Julie, 15, and Tammi, 10, and her husband, Larry, a Reno firefighter.

She said J.W. had trouble speaking, had a deformed foot, had vision problems and was not socially trained. The boy was not used to eating with utensils, was not toilet trained and had never had a hamburger until he arrived at the Bader home. Wyman said J.W. had a very loving relationship with her husband and daughters, especially Julie, who was with him constantly and took care of him.

But Larry Bader's relatives testified that they saw the boy avoid Wyman and cry if she came around him.

Wyman, trying to explain why J.W. was covered in bruises when he died, said he was a clumsy boy who fell a lot and got bruised crashing his play cars and tricycles.

"He did what little boys do," she said.

Wyman said in 1974 she was active in the local parent-teacher association and volunteered at her church. She said she loved J.W. very much and was proud he was her adopted son. Wyman also testified her husband, now deceased, was a violent alcoholic who beat her at least 10 times during their 28-year-marriage.

When police interviewed Wyman last year, she had nothing to say about her daughter's allegations. She added that jurors would think she was a "bad person" when they saw the autopsy photos of her son.

Bader Dunn testified her mother made her keep the boy's abuse a secret under the threat that her father would kill Wyman. His incarceration would then cause the family to split and their dog to be put to sleep.

Sometimes, she said, Wyman would pull her out of school after beating J.W. severely. She said her mother would then blame her for the boy's injuries, which would cause her father to punish her.