Gilley testifies in father's murder trial

Wanda Myers Gilley testified Tuesday afternoon that Wendell "Butch" Kirch physically abused her, could not hold a regular job, went heavily armed and had a bad temper. Gilley, however, also said "I loved him with all my heart...it didn't matter."

Such was some of the testimony in day two of the second-degree murder trial of Gilly's father, Bobby Myers, in the murder of Kirch.

Gilley was the prosecution's star witness, and she was very emotional throught her two-hour testimony. She said that she and Kirch had "a very aggressive altercation" on March 19, 2007, with Kirch throwing an axe at her, stomping on her and causing other physical injuries. She said that was a fairly common occurance throughout their four-year relationship.

Gilley described Kirch as having a bad temper. He did not keep a regular job (which was what she said propted the altercation on March 19), and he was known to carry firearms and sometimes several knives at a time. "We'd go to the Wal-Mart and he would have a gun in the back of his pants," she said.

 Gilley said that Kirch came back and forth that weekend after she threw him out and after they went to Hartford, AL to shop on March 23 she left him at the house working on a dog pen. When she returned from work at about 9 p.m. she arrived at the same time Myers arrived at her house. Gilley said that Myers said nothing as he approached Kirch, who squatted down and said, "Mr. Myers, I'm sorry. I'll never touch her again, I promise this will never happen again."

Gilley saw her father holding a handgun to his side. "I can't say he pulled the trigger because I didn't see it go off," Gilley said. Gilley also said, however, that she hit the gun as it went off.

She found Kirch lying on the ground and as she had no phone at her house she helped Kirch into her Jeep Cherokee and went to a neighbor's house to call 911. Kirch later died of his neck wound.

In the transcript of Gilley's original testimony the night of the crime, she said that "Daddy shot Butch." There was also a question of how Gilley disposed of Kirch's firearm that night, which was in a holster on his side and she said she cut off with a pocket knife.

In his interview the night of the shooting, Myers told investigators that he heard that Kirch had beaten up his daughter and that he went to Gilley's home to find out what happened. "He sort of got hostile and it just got worser from there," Myers said in the transcript of that interview.

Myers said Kirch gave him "smart" answers when he asked about the reported beating. He said he fired his .38 once, and left and took the gun to another person.

The prosecution has rested its case, and Defense Attorney Roy Lake will begin his arguments at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.