Rundle’s statements to police will be allowed in murder trial

Erica D. Johnson

Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2003 | 9:23 a.m.

A jury will hear incriminating statements William Rundle gave police upon his arrest, despite his attorneys' protests that he was under mental and physical stress when the statements were obtained.

In a hearing Tuesday, District Judge Kathy Hardcastle denied defense attorneys' motion to suppress statements Rundle made to police Oct. 11 in Orlando, Fla.

Rundle faces one count of murder with the use of a deadly weapon and one count of robbery with the use of a deadly weapon in the death of his wife Shirley Rundle, whose body was found off a remote California highway.

The statements, in which Rundle admitted he killed his wife by hitting her over the head several times with a baseball bat, will be entered as evidence in the trial, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 10.

The hearing marked the first time Rundle took the stand.

Rundle said he was denied prescribed medicine for his heart condition and high blood pressure for several days following his arrest.

He said he complained to detectives of shortness of breath and an inability to breathe and asked them for his prescribed nasal spray, but they denied it.

"I told them I hadn't had any of my prescription medication and that the FBI had it all," Rundle said. "I didn't feel well. I couldn't breathe at all. I felt bad in the tightness in my chest and my ability to breathe."

Under cross-examination by Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owens, Rundle said he asked for his nasal spray and not his heart medicine or high blood pressure medicine because he wanted to get the interview over with.

"I felt the faster the interview was over and I completed the statement, I could get back on my medicine," he testified.

Rundle said police detectives said if he told them where his mother's body was located, prosecutors would not seek the death penalty in the case.

"I explained to them that I didn't have the information they were looking for," he said.

Chief Deputy Public Defender Curtis Brown said Rundle was under stress when the interview began because he knew he hadn't had his heart medication.

Defense attorneys also argued that Rundle was not properly read his Miranda rights before giving his statement.

Brown argued that Detective Sheila Huggins left out pertinent sections when she read Rundle his Miranda rights and Rundle did not read the card.

Rundle was under the impression that he would not be able to consult with an attorney until he got back to Las Vegas, Brown said.

"The point of Miranda is to have a lawyer before you incriminate yourself," Brown said. "That's why we have lawyers."

Hardcastle called Huggins' reading of Rundle's Miranda rights "not perfect but adequate."

"He wanted to tell his side of the story," she said. "There are no magic words in a Miranda warning that have to be given every time."

Hardcastle also denied defense attorneys' motion to suppress evidence obtained in a search of Rundle's home. The attorneys argued that Metro Detective Thomas Marin entered the home without a search warrant.