OREGON STANDOFF FBI AGENT TRIAL:  OREGON COP CITES FBI EVASION,  BLOODY BUNDY WOUND PICTURE SHOWN TO JURY

Oregon State Police Detective Scott Hill was on the stand today (Thursday August 2nd) at the trial of FBI Hostage Rescue Team Agent W. Joseph Astarita.   Astarita is charged with three counts related to his lying about two shots fired moments before LaVoy Finicum was shot in the back and killed by an Oregon State Police trooper.

Hill said he had a calm interview with Astarita, a short unrecorded interview hours after the shooting at 11pm on January 26, 2016.   At that time Hill wasn't aware of unaccounted for shots fired at the scene.

After becoming aware of an unaccounted for shot that hit the roof of Finicum's truck, he wanted to speak with Astarita and another FBI Hostage Rescue Team member.

But their direct supervisor, only known by his initials "BM", insisted on a group interview that would include him and could not be recorded.

Detective Hill testified that it is against OSP policy to do unrecorded interviews and he found the FBI supervisor's request "very odd".

But he went ahead with the interview anyway because otherwise he would have gotten nothing from them.

The February 6, 2016 interview resulted in answers from the FBI agents that were vague with Astarita and BM unable to tell the Oregon State police detective what kind of ammunition the FBI agents used or to tell him their positions as LaVoy Finicum was exiting the truck around the time Astarita would have fired the two shots.

Hill also noted that Astarita's evasive February 6th answer as to his location was different from his specific January 26th answer that he was behind LaVoy Finicum's truck helping fellow HRT Agent John Neidert who jumped into the snow to avoid the truck as it went into the snowbank.

One of his bullets hit the roof of Finicum's truck according to the prosecution while the other hit Ryan Bundy in the shoulder.  A picture of the bloody injury caused to Bundy by a one-half inch wide entry wound into his shoulder was shown to the jury.

Later in the day Oregon State Police trooper Michael Mayer testified that when he and the medical examiner were handling the body of LaVoy Finicum they turned him over and found a pistol sticking out a pocket.  It was a Ruger pistol-9mm with one bullet in the chamber. LAVOY FINICUM'S WIDOW BELIEVES THE PISTOL WAS PLANTED ON HIM.   FOR THREE HOURS AFTER HIS DEATH THE SITE WAS LEFT UNSECURED UNTIL THE OREGON POLICE INVESTIGATION OF HIS DEATH BEGAN.

The only other person known to have carried a weapon in the two vehicles stopped by the FBI led operation of January 26 against the Oregon Standoff protesters was FBI informant Mark McConnell.

An FBI employee who trained new agents at its training facility at Quantico, Virginia also testified today.  Charles McGinnis was shown the video of Astarita and his fellow Hostage Rescue Team agents walking around the scene after the shooting stopped and arrests were made.   McGinnis was asked if their behavior of looking around searching the scene, looking under trucks etc. conformed with normal protocol.   He said:

"No, it did not" 

(NEXT POST ON BLOG TO COME LATE FRIDAY, EARLY SATURDAY AUGUST 3RD, 4TH)