SAGINAW, MI — One January afternoon, a Saginaw man called 911 to say his house had just been broken into. Within a half-hour of the call, the man was run over and fatally injured near his house and a woman he had named as the burglar of his residence is now charged with murder in his death.
The preliminary examination of 42-year-old Gerri Conic, also known by the surname Evans, was held Friday, Nov. 20 at the Dow event center. Footage of the hearing was streamed live on YouTube, though the initial half-hour or so featured no audio.
Conic is charged with open murder stemming from the Jan. 30 death of Gary D. Hunt Jr., 54.
During the hearing, Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Drew K. Sauer played recordings of calls placed to Saginaw County Central Dispatch on Jan. 30. The first, placed at 1:47 p.m., featured Hunt calling to say Conic and her son had broken into his house, though he said he was not present at the time and did not personally see them commit the alleged break-in.
Another call, placed at 1:59 p.m., featured chaotic shouting between Conic and Hunt, with the dispatcher attempting to calm the speakers and get them to say what happened. At one point during the call, Conic said Hunt “put his hands” on her.
At some point that day, Conic had called 911 another time regarding a dispute at the location.
Saginaw Police Lt. Nathaniel Voelker testified he was the first officer on the scene in the 2300 block of Parkwood Avenue. He arrived to see Conic’s maroon 1998 Lincoln Town Car with its engine still running, stopped on a sidewalk and front yard.
Hunt was pinned under the Lincoln upon his arrival, Voelker testified.
Conic was seated inside the Lincoln and bore a strong odor of intoxicants, Voelker said. Voelker detained Conic but did not take a statement from her, he said.
Voelker added he looked through a window of the Lincoln and saw an empty liquor bottle inside and that Conic appeared to have urinated in her pants.
Voelker said a tow truck lifted the Lincoln’s front two tires and officers managed to pull Hunt from under the car.
Saginaw Police Officer Jordan Engelhart said he checked Hunt’s pulse while he was still under the vehicle and did not find one. Once Hunt was removed from under the Lincoln, Engelhart administered life-saving efforts, he said.
Hunt was taken to an area hospital and died on Feb. 17 after his family decided to remove him from life support.
Engelhart said he and a partner drove Conic to a hospital where a phlebotomist took a sample of her blood at 4:07 p.m.
Questioned by defense attorney James F. Piazza, Engelhart said he noted injuries on Conic’s face.
“She had injuries on her face that she wanted documented,” Engelhart said while reviewing photos of Conic. “It looks like there’s some slight discoloration around the neck that I observed.”
The case’s lead investigator, Detective Patrick Busch, testified he saw acceleration marks in the yard’s snow. He said he separately interviewed two witnesses to the collision.
Assistant Prosecutor Sauter asked Busch if he had a better understanding of the case after interviewing the witnesses and if he believed the ordeal wasn’t a simple accident.
“I was concerned this could have been an intentional act,” Busch replied.
Later in the day of the crash, the detective interviewed Conic and read her her Miranda rights, which she agreed to waive, Busch said. Conic had bruising injuries to her face, Busch said.
Sauer asked Busch how Conic described her relationship with Hunt.
“They were in a long-term dating relationship, but described it as off and on,” Busch said, adding Conic was married to another man at the time. Conic also said she had lived with Hunt at his Parkwood Avenue home and that Hunt had twice evicted her, something she thought was illegal, Busch said.
Conic told Busch she had visited Hunt’s house earlier on Jan. 30 to collect some items, arriving there to find all her property in Hunt’s driveway, the detective testified. Conic left upon collecting her items with her son but returned later in the day and got into an argument with Hunt, Busch said.
“(Conic) stated what when Gary Hunt got out of the vehicle, he was aggressive towards her,” Busch said. “He grabbed her throat and escalated the situation there. Sounds like there was verbal argument between the two of them.”
Another woman showed up and got into a brief scuffle with Conic, she told Busch. Conic then got in her car, she told Busch.
“She told me she wanted to get out of there,” Busch said. Conic ended up striking Hunt while he was in a yard, Busch said.
Conic had said she had pulled into the driveway with the front of the car facing the house, but other evidence indicated she had backed into the driveway, Busch said.
“She stated several times that she was in fear for her life,” Busch said.
Busch went on to ask Conic if she had intentionally struck Hunt; she maintained the collision was accidental, the detective said. Regarding her facial injuries, Conic said she believed the other woman she had scuffled with caused them, Busch said.
Busch also testified that Conic’s blood sample had been analyzed at the Michigan State Police Crime Lab and yielded a blood alcohol level of 0.135 percent, Busch said. In Michigan, a person is legally intoxicated when their blood alcohol level hits 0.08 percent.
Cross-examined by Piazza, Busch said Conic also indicated Hunt had put his hands around her neck. Conic also said she did not see Hunt in the vehicle’s path before she struck him, Busch said.
Questioned again by Sauer, Busch said Conic made no mention of weapons being used against her.
After Busch ended his testimony, Sauer asked Saginaw County District Judge David D. Hoffman to bind Conic’s case over to Circuit Court for trial. Piazza objected, saying civilian witnesses testified Hunt either slipped in front of Conic’s car or that they had not seen how the crash occurred. He added the prosecution did not show any evidence that Conic had any intent to kill Hunt to would support the open murder charge, saying his client should at worst be facing a charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death.
Hoffman bound Conic over to circuit court to stand trial.
Read more:
Saginaw woman charged with murder in death of man police say she intentionally ran over
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Saginaw man dies weeks after police say he was ‘intentionally run over’
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