Hahn stabbing scene 'stuck with' police officer
Jurors in the trial of a man accused in the fatal stabbing of his longtime friend and political colleague on Friday saw images of the bloody crime scene that was her home - something a longtime police officer described as among the worst he's ever experienced.
Posted — Updated"I've been to other murder crime scenes," Raleigh officer Roy Smith testified. "This is the one that has stuck with me the most."
Authorities say Jonathan Wayne Broyhill, 33, stabbed Jamie Kirk Hahn and her husband, Nation Hahn, inside their home at 1705 Tealwood Place in Raleigh on the afternoon of April 22, 2013, before turning the knife on himself.
Jamie Hahn died two days later.
Stacey Johnson, a crime scene analyst with the Wake City-County Bureau of Identification, showed the jury video and photos of the Hahns' home, pointing out blood on doors and carpet as well as three big pools of blood and a knife on the floor in the kitchen dining area.
She noted an overturned table chair that lay on top of a purse and also pointed out a backpack on a nearby table in the living room.
Wake County prosecutor Doug Faucette says Broyhill "selfishly murdered" Jamie Hahn and also stabbed Nation Hahn with an 8-inch-bladed kitchen knife he brought to the couple's home hidden in a backpack.
Defense attorneys don't dispute the attacks, but the sides disagree on the motive.
Faucette said Broyhill – a former employee of Hahn's political fundraising firm – embezzled more than $45,000 from a client's campaign bank account and lied about having cancer and other health problems to avoid having to talk to Jamie Hahn about the campaign finances.
But defense attorneys say Broyhill never intended to hurt the Hahns, that "something snapped" and that his only motive was to hurt himself.
Defense attorney Joseph Arbour stressed that point during a line of questioning with Smith, who had described riding with Broyhill – who had slit both his wrists and stabbed himself in the stomach – to a local hospital.
"At no point did you indicate in your report that Mr. Broyhill made any mention regarding the attack on Mrs. Hahn or Mr. Hahn?" Arbour asked.
"He never made any mention of attacking Mrs. Hahn," Smith replied.
"The only thing he ever talked about was wanting to take his own life?" Arbour asked.
"He made statements to Emergency Medical Services stating that he wanted to die and he wanted to take his own life, yes," Smith said.
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