As defendant and Bothell resident Alan Smith sat with his eyes patiently closed, seemingly deep in thought, Wendell Morris took the witness stand.
The pivotal and emotional testimony took place today at the Snohomish County Court House in Everett. It is a key part of the murder trial for Alan Smith, who stands accused of killing his estranged wife in their Bothell home in February 2012.
Morris, who had been a part of a Bible study group and member of City Church, was willing to help Alan Smith, even though he knew in what Alan was possibly involved.
After having been warned off by members of the church from both Alan and Alan’s then-girlfriend Love Thai, Morris still tried to help Alan find God and, through that, the truth.
“I definitely knew who he was by the time he came up,” said Morris from the witness stand.
Even though leaders and members of the church had informed Morris of disturbing details, he still had hope for Alan. Both Thai and Alan Smith were distraught, according to testimony, about being told they could not return to services at the City Church location in downtown Seattle near Belltown.
“Thai had reached out and wanted to meet up. We were also looking forward to get some clarity to what was going on. Specifically with Alan, I had been told he had received Christ,” Morris said in court. “Not every conversion is authentic… in turning over to the Lord.”
Morris and his wife, Amanda, planned to meet with the two at a Starbucks in South Lake Union. While Morris desired truth, his goal was really to solidify the relationship between Smith and Jesus.
“We just realized the best thing we could do was give them the word of God, give them hope through the word of God, for stability in their future,” Morris stated. “This was not going to be us coming in like superheroes.”
Instead it was supposed to be about listening, prayer and scriptures, though that’s not how the conversation ended that day in June.
With the meeting set, Wendell and Amanda Morris went to the aid of the distraught Thai and Smith.
About 20-30 minutes after arriving at the Starbucks in South Lake Union, Thai came to the door and motioned for Morris to approach. She told him Alan was still in the car and that he was not having a good day. Morris went back to the table for his Bible before he went out to the car as Thai went and sat with Amanda inside the Starbucks.
“I walked out to the car, he was emotional, he was crying, he said now is not a good time – letting me know now is not a good time – so I let him know that the Bible was the main reason for him being there,” Wendell told the courtroom. “I really wanted him to know that this isn’t Wendell coming to help, but Wendell pointing him to God.”
At first, Morris and Smith spoke about his relationship with Thai, about her issues, and how Alan didn’t know how to help her as she helped him.
There was “lots of listening at first,” according to Morris’s testimony. “…just definitely letting him know that I was there, more so to point him to the true solution [of God].”
However, before Morris would continue to the scripture he’d planned to minister, there was one thing he had to get straight from Smith: The truth.
Morris told Smith, “I need you to be truthful with me 100 percent of the time.”
“I didn’t feel it would be wise to continue to go to the scripture while he may be holding onto this stuff,” Morris told the court.
“[Alan] paused for a couple seconds, looked around in the car, and said ‘Well, I don’t know how safe it is to have that conversation here, maybe we could take a walk.’”
“In fact, that was the first time in my heart I believed he had done it,” Morris told the court. “I believe he did it at that point.”
They both exited the car and started to walk along the waterfront of Lake Union, being mindful of what they spoke about due to the environment around them.
As they were walking, Alan allegedly confessed to Morris.
“And he was talking a little bit and he said ‘you know, about what we were talking about earlier,’ [Alan] said ‘about that, I want you to know I did it I did it to her,’” Morris stated. “When he said that I was taken aback, but immediately he became emotional. I told him I was proud of him, but he became emotional.”
According to Morris’ testimony, Alan had stated, “I just kind of feel like I’m walking off the ledge,” so Morris reminded him of the scripture.
Morris was proud that Alan had finally admitted it to himself and to the Lord, but was hopeful that Alan would then go and turn himself into the authorities. Wanting to keep close until that happened, Morris planned to meet back up with Alan for a baptism later that night.
The baptism occurred at Alki Beach in the middle of the night.
During the next several days, Morris attempted to reach Alan and help Alan reach the authorities, but that proved difficult until the last day before Morris took matters into his own hands.
“All of a sudden it was a lot more challenging to get ahold of him, he was busy, I want to say, with martial arts or something, writing,” Morris stated. “As the day proceeded, I’d had more trouble getting ahold of him.”
Morris was finally able to reach Alan on the phone and spoke to him about how a Bible study leader had embraced Jesus prior to entering jail and had come out with an enlightening Christian experience, hoping that Alan would do the same – embrace Jesus, confess to authorities and complete his sentence “with God by his side.”
“I told him ‘it’s time, you need to do this,’” Morris said. “[Then] the conversation just kind of ended, he said ‘I’ll take it into consideration’ and that’s about it.”
It was at that point when Morris went to the authorities, calling 911 and being transferred to the lead detective on the case in the Bothell PD.
“Are you telling the truth?” Snohomish County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Craig Matheson asked at the end of the testimony and cross examination.
“Yes, absolutely,” Morris stated.
Alan Smith’s trial for the murder of his wife, Susann Smith, in Feb. 2012 is set to hear closing statements by Friday or early next week with a verdict by judge coming shortly thereafter.
