Rundle’s broken arm focus of trial

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, May 16, 2003 | 9:50 a.m.

Prosecutors believe a broken arm for which William Rundle sought medical attention while a fugitive contradicts his claim that his wife attacked him.

Marc Ganty, an Orlando, Fla., police homicide detective who apprehended Rundle in an Orlando motel room Oct. 12, 2002, said Rundle complained about pain in his right arm moments after he surrendered to authorities.

Rundle, 56, told police he thought his arm was broken, Ganty said.

"He told us he'd been involved in a domestic altercation about a month prior," he said.

But Dr. Gary Marrone, a local orthopedic surgeon, testified that Rundle sought medical attention for a broken right arm on Sept. 8, 2002, in Seattle, where Rundle fled after his wife's killing.

Rundle's attorneys claim the slaying was sparked by an argument at the couple's home in the 4700 block of Poppywood Drive, in which Shirley Rundle hit him with a champagne bottle.

Rundle told the doctor he broke his arm when he tripped on the sidewalk and tried to catch himself, said Marrone, who had reviewed the doctor's notes as well as Rundle's X-rays.

"(Rundle) said he'd moved to Seattle a few weeks prior and that he had become a widower a month earlier," he said.

Marrone said blood visible in Rundle's joints proves the injury had to have happened within three to five days of his doctor's visit.

Under cross-examination by Deputy Public Defender Curtis Brown, Marrone said Rundle could not have sustained the injury by being hit with a champagne bottle.

"You can't get that injury by being struck," he said. "That area will not fracture from a side force. This is not a blocking injury. It's a compression injury."

Rundle is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of robbery. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.