Citizens get inside peek at Smith murder trial

It was one of the most prominent criminal cases in Lake County in 2004, and it was five years in the making.

The Swan Smith murder trial provided the perfect backdrop for Lake County Sheriff's detectives and chief deputy county attorney Mitch Young last week, as they outlined the painstaking process they went through in collecting evidence that would ultimately lead to Smith's conviction in the murder of Raymond Dunnwebber a year ago last week.

Young and detectives Jay Doyle and Dan Yonkin took Citizen's Academy attendees from start to finish as they gave a behind-the-scenes account of the mounting case — and shortfalls — against Smith, which all began the day Dunnwebber's wife, Wanda, walked into the Sheriff's office to file a missing person report in April, 1999.

Almost immediately, detectives had to confront the fact that Dunnwebber did not lead the most stable lifestyle, and details of who he was last seen with were hard to come by, Doyle told the audience.

Eventually detectives tracked down Mary Ann Bird, Smith's girlfriend at the time, who proved to be a key witness. However, Bird's fear of Smith's temper — she would later testify he threatened to hurt her son if she told anyone — caused her to initially lie to detectives about whether Dunnwebber was last seen with Smith and Bird.

She told detectives they were partying with Dunnwebber the day he disappeared, but that they dropped him off at the Ronan Town Pump later that night and hadn't heard from him since. Part of her story was true, it was just trying to figure out which parts, Doyle said.

"Some of Mary Ann's story was true, but other parts had holes in it," Doyle, the Sheriff's head of detectives, told attendees.

A woman later came forward claiming she had been partying with Smith and Dunnwebber in the Ninepipes area, and that Smith had shot Dunnwebber and dragged his body into a bonfire to destroy the evidence. Cadaver dogs "hit" on the bonfire area, and detectives discovered human bones, but establishing that it was Dunnwebber proved impossible.

Young's office decided to charge Smith with tampering with evidence — the best they could do until more evidence could tie him to Dunnwebber's murder.

(Sheriff Bill Barron told attendees that he suspected the bones found in the fire pit were those of a California drug dealer who was probably shot for his drugs and money and his body burned. That theory was based on information from various sources, but to this day, the human bones found in the fire pit have not been identified.)

Weeks later, their case appeared to fall apart when a woman called Sanders County dispatch saying she was watching Dunnwebber sit at a bar. A Sanders County deputy arrived within 12 minutes, but didn't find Dunnwebber.

Doyle played a copy of the call to the class. The caller had seemed sincere, starting off her call with, "I can't be dead positive…"

All of which left detectives wondering — was Dunnwebber still alive?

Faced with the fact that no body had been recovered, detectives had no choice but to release Smith from jail.

"From a prosecution point of view, it was back to the waiting game," Young said.

The caller was later identified as an employee in the Smith's grocery store chain, owned by Swan Smith's father. Whether the call was a sincere attempt to help detectives or muddy the case against Smith remains unknown. Doyle noted there was no "bar noise" in the background, as one would expect to hear given the location of the pay phone inside the bar.

As news about Dunnwebber's disappearance spread throughout the county, many people came forward with tips — some of dubious merit and others given in a genuine effort to help. Suddenly, every animal bone found by a hiker or hunter resulted in a phone call.

A call came in about a dog who found a human hand, which later turned out to be the bones of a bear's paw. Dozens of calls poured in over the next three years as the public attempted to help detectives, as they examined cow, deer, dog and the bones of every other conceivable animal.

"We wanted to find Raymond. We wanted to find him alive or dead, but we wanted to find him," Yonkin said. "Everyone wanted to help."

Even the criminals. In an attempt to gain favor with the Sheriff's office — or to send detectives on a wild goose chase — many of the prisoners and criminals detectives were routinely in contact with came forward with tips.

By now, more than two years had gone by. An Arlee woman claimed to have been in the car with Smith when he said he had to stop "to throw a dead man's clothes out," Doyle said.

Young said they got wind that Smith was also joining in the foray, knowing that every lead that didn't turn out could actually help weaken the case against him. They began to suspect he was feeding false information to friends and social acquaintances and playing up rumors in order to cast doubt on all aspects of the case.

"Smith began to play on this. He had a reputation for being tough, which he played up," Young said.

Meanwhile, detectives were sending down bone collections to the Missoula DNA crime lab, which due to an increasing case load throughout the state, saw their turnaround time increase from four to nine months, hampering the investigation.

"They asked us to limit what we sent down there to five items," unless there were special circumstances, Yonkin explained.

Then a couple discovered a bloody sheet in the woods. It turned out to be human blood, but not Dunnwebber's, and detectives speculated that it was simply the result of a home birth or miscarriage that someone didn't want to be made public.

"Again, another lead that just didn't pan out," Yonkin said.

Detectives were even fielding reports of bad smells — anything to get a break in the case. Inevitably, they'd find a dead cat or possum under someone's porch, but no body.

And then suddenly, they got the break they needed. Detective Andy Cannon, who led the investigation, got a phone call from dispatch on May 2, 2003. A hiker had discovered a human skull near St. Mary's Lake southeast of St. Ignatius.

The man's dog had brought the skull to him, and initially he thought it was the top of a large mushroom, but after closer inspection, there was no doubt what he'd found — human remains.

Cannon met the man at 8 a.m. the next morning, and after inspecting the area, detectives were reasonably confident that, after four years, Dunnwebber had been found.

Among the items his wife Wanda listed on the missing person report were four rings, custom made in Mexico. Also, Dunnwebber, a smoker, had a souvenir Camel pocket knife and a key ring, which were found at the scene.

Detectives then located Smith, who had moved several times since the investigation started. The arrested him on May 5, 2003 — four years to the day when he was first arrested as a suspect in the case.

"That was the coolest moment I've had in a long time," Doyle said of seeing the expression on Smith's face when they told him they'd found Dunnwebber's remains.

But the case was far from closed. After his arrest, Smith gave certain "admissions," acknowledging having a fight with Dunnwebber but claiming he acted in self defense.

Detectives met with Bird again, and once she knew Smith was behind bars where he couldn't hurt her, the rest of the story came out. She had seen Smith stomping on Dunnwebber that day in April, after Bird and Smith had binged on methamphetamine for six days straight.

After realizing he was dead, they tried to get in the car and leave the scene, only to discover the battery was dead. Smith repeatedly threatened Bird and her son if she told anyone, Bird testified.

During the trial, Young also found out the defense's main witness, a Washington forensic specialist, had been fired for stealing drugs off dead bodies bought to the morgue. When officers showed up at his house with a search warrant, they discovered he was growing marijuana.

In a complete shock to the prosecution, the doctor testified at trial that the marks on the skull appeared to be the result of "homicidal violence," Young said.

"What we had was a story (Bird's) that matched up pretty well with the skull," Young said.

After six hours of deliberation, the jury found Smith guilty of deliberate homicide, and tampering with evidence and witnesses. Smith, who will turn 35 on April 25, must serve 34 more years of a life sentence before he is eligible for parole, Young said.

District Court Judge Kim Christopher and Justice Court Judge Chuck Wall will be the featured speakers next week.