Uploaded: Wednesday, July 25, 2001, 5:20 p.m.

Fitzhugh hypnosis 'recall' disclosed
Jury hears of how blood-spattered items got into Kenneth Fitzhugh's SUV

by Bill D'Agostino and Adam Levermore-Rich

Kenneth Fitzhugh today (Wednesday) told the jury how a blood-stained shirt, shoes and paper towel ended up in his Chevrolet Suburban after the death of his wife, Kristine, in May, 2000.

Fitzhugh, in his second day of testimony in the murder trial against him, recounted how hypnosis helped him remember the sequence of events following the discovery of his wife's death. He originally told investigators that he didn't know how the three pieces of evidence found in his vehicle -- which ultimately led police to arrest him -- got there.

Fitzhugh said that for 11 months he had been trying to remember how those three items wound up in his truck. Then in January, 2000 he read an article about the U.S.S. Greeneville, a U.S. submarine that collided with a Japanese fishing boat. Some of the sailors had large gaps in their memory from the time of the accident. Fitzhugh said he asked one of his attorneys if she thought a similar thing might have happened to him. The attorney later suggested the possibility of hypnosis.

Fitzhugh said the 50-minute hypnosis session was "a lot like looking at a movie." He said he remembered many details he hadn't recalled before, including where Kristine's friend Carolyn Piraino had been standing after they discovered her body.

Fitzhugh testified that he, Piraino and another family friend, Gaelyn Mason, found his wife dead shortly before 2 p.m. on May 5. He said and Piraino performed CPR on her, and described in vivid detail his resuscitation efforts.

"It was a horrible, horrible scene, but I had to do what I had to do."

Fitzhugh said he went into "emergency mode." Emergency personnel at the scene who described Fitzhugh as "detached."

Fitzhugh then testified that he grabbed what he thought was a rag at the bottom of the stairs, and tucked it under his arm as he went back up to the kitchen. The rag turned out to be the green flannel shirt which later ended up in the Fitzhughs' Suburban. Witnesses later said they did not see anything in Fitzhugh's hands as he climbed the stairs.

After reaching the kitchen, Fitzhugh said he washed his hands, which had his wife's blood on them, and used the shirt to dry them off. He sat down in the kitchen, with his head between his legs, feeling faint and nauseous. Fitzhugh testified that while he sat in the kitchen, several thoughts ran through his head, including how to tell his sons about what had happened, and whether, in his haste to get into the house he had forgotten to close the doors of the Suburban, possibly letting the Fitzhughs' two dogs escape.

Fitzhugh said he got up to check on the dogs, and seeing he still had blood on him, got a paper towel from the kitchen. He said as he walked by the front door, he picked up a pair of tennis shoes he used for walking the dogs. According to Fitzhugh, Raina, the family's Pomeranian, grabbed the paper towel and jumped into the back of the truck. He said he dropped the shoes on the floor and put the shirt under the seat. He said he patted the other dog on the head and went back into the house.

After Fitzhugh recounted the rest of the day's events under direct examination, Deputy District Attorney Michael Fletcher began his cross-examination. Fletcher, normally a very calm and subdued presence in the courtroom, seemed to come alive, throwing a wink to his mother sitting in the front row before laying into Fitzhugh's story.

Fletcher attacked the credibility of Fitzhugh's hypnosis memories. He asked Fitzhugh why it took him 11 months to figure out how the three most incriminating pieces of evidence got into his SUV. Referring to "this hypnosis thing" and waving arms in the air in dirision, Fletcher asked Fitzhugh why after his breakthroughs on other memories he was still unable to remember two police officers who had responded to the Fitzhugh home that afternoon.

Fletcher also tried to show inconsistencies in Fitzhugh's alibi. On Tuesday, May 2, Fitzhugh called a piano tuner to reschedule an appointment for that Friday -- the day of the murder -- saying he didn't want the tuner there while he was away from the house. But earlier testimony showed that Fitzhugh didn't have a reason to be at a golf center in San Bruno -- where he claimed he was at the time of his wife's death -- until Thursday.

On Thursday, cross-examination of Fitzhugh will continue, and his defense team is scheduled to call Dr. David Spiegel, a Stanford professor and expert on hypnosis. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin on Monday.