BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Testimony in the fourth day of the West trial focused primarily on witness statements regarding the number of children seen in the California City home.
The realtor who helped the couple buy the Cal City home and an exterminator who visited the home shortly after they moved in were called to testify Monday, both asked about how many children they saw in the home. While both recalled seeing a number of children at the home, neither could remember exactly how many the saw.
Trezell and Jacqueline West are both charged with second-degree murder, among other charges, in the case of their missing adoptive sons Orrin, 4, and Orson, 3. While the missing boys bodies have never been found the prosecution alleges they were killed some time in September 2020, long before they were reported missing in December.
According to realtor Robert Dees, he began working with the Wests some time in May 2020. He said while the looked a few homes together over several months, the children would remain in the car so he never noted how many there were. Dees said after he sold the Wests their Cal City home, he went by on Sept. 11, 2020, the day they moved in, and noticed the kids on the back patio.
"I wasn't counting the children," he testified.
While he didn't note the exact number of kids, he said one detail that stood out to him was thee toddler sitting on the patio with an "upset" look on his face. He said he asked the couple about him but they brushed it off. When asked to identify the child he believes he saw, Dees identified Orson from a photo.
The other witness to testify to seeing children in the home was Antelope Valley Pest Control owner Joseph Karschamroon. He said he visited the home on Sept. 15, 2020 and noted seeing several children, but couldn't remember how many he saw. He said he asked the couple to take them outside while he worked in the house. He said he remembered a carseat and child carrier, and that the children were well-behaved inside the car.
While the prosecution alleges that the couple killed the two boys before they were reported missing, the defense holds that Orrin and Orson are still missing and investigators have not done enough to find them.
During cross examination, defense attorney's pointed out that Dees cannot recall which exact children he told police he saw, and that Karschamroon wasn't asked about his business at the home until he was called before the grand jury.
The trial is expected to last until June.
