JARED SOARES The Roanoke Times

David Hall, a former co-worker of Wesley Earnest, said he was puzzled when Earnest replaced his truck's tires.

Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times

Wesley Earnest is charged with killing his estranged wife, Jocelyn Earnest, and allegedly faking a suicide note in December 2007.

Related

Previous coverage

• Trial, day five: Earnest's girlfriend: No phone call on night of killing
• Trial, day four: Evidence presented ruled out suicide in case of Jocelyn Earnest, prosecutors say
• Trial, day three: Earnest trial focuses on frame of mind
• Trial, day two: Defense tries to redirect suspicion in Earnest trial
• Trial, day one: Prosecution: 'Suicide' was badly staged by Earnest
• Trial primer: Bedford Co. murder trial set to begin
• Ruling on house fire won't be  speedy
• Former Bedford Co. school official's  trial delayed
• Police hope computer will yield clues  in Forest death
• New trial date picked in murder case  against ex-Chesapeake school official
• Bedford Co. murder suspect Earnest  gets bond
• Details come to light in Bedford  hearing
• Charges filed over '07 killing in  Forest

BEDFORD -- Prosecutors in the murder trial of former school administrator Wesley Earnest rested their case Tuesday after two forensic scientists testified that Earnest's fingerprints were on the suicide note supposedly written by his estranged wife.

Andrew Johnson and Ken Riding told jurors in Bedford County Circuit Court that they were sure beyond a reasonable doubt that the prints lifted from the typewritten note found near Jocelyn Earnest's body were Wesley Earnest's.

On cross-examination, Johnson and Riding acknowledged they did not know when the fingerprints were left on the piece of paper. The concession was important to defense attorney Joseph Sanzone, who suggested that whoever wrote the note could have simply picked up a piece of paper that Wesley Earnest once touched years before.

The testimony capped six days of evidence in which prosecutors attempted to prove that Earnest, 39, an assistant principal at Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake at the time, drove roughly 200 miles from work Dec. 19, 2007, to his estranged wife's home in Forest, where he shot her and left a fake suicide note before driving back. A .357-caliber revolver was found at Jocelyn Earnest's side. The Earnests were going through a messy divorce after 12 years of marriage and had not lived together for two years.

Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Wes Nance relied on circumstantial evidence as he sought to persuade jurors of Earnest's guilt. Among his evidence: The original box that held the revolver was found in the Campbell County home of Wesley Earnest's girlfriend, Shameka Wright. Wright also testified she could not reach Earnest on his cellphone during the evening of Dec. 19, 2007, which was unusual because the two typically talked every day after work, she said. Prosecutors contend Earnest turned off or left his cellphone in Chesapeake so his trip to Forest could not be tracked.

Sanzone said in his opening statement that Earnest was home Dec. 19, 2007. Nance cast doubt on that Tuesday when he called Jesse McCoy to the stand. McCoy, a car detailer in Chesapeake, said he spoke to Earnest on Dec. 17, 2007, about having his car cleaned. As they tried to pick a date, Earnest said Dec. 19 was no good.

Also on Tuesday, David Hall, who taught at Great Bridge, testified that Earnest borrowed his truck Dec. 17 and returned it Dec. 20, the day Jocelyn Earnest was found dead.

Hall said Earnest borrowed the truck again in January and returned it with new tires, which Hall said puzzled him because his tires were in good shape. He said Earnest told him he had driven over a board with nails and had punctured two tires. Prosecutors suggest Earnest drove the truck to Forest to kill his wife and bought the new tires in case he had left tire tracks near her home.

The manager of a Kramer Tire store in Chesapeake, Rick Keuhne, testified that on Jan. 10, 2008, a man bought four tires for Hall's truck under the alias Tom Dunbar of Roanoke, paying cash. He also said the tires on the truck were in great condition, so he did not understand why the man wanted to buy new ones. The tires on the truck were not punctured when the man drove it onto the store lot, Keuhne added. Investigator Gary Babb testified that he was told by Earnest that he bought four new tires for the truck, but Earnest said he had no recollection of using the name Dunbar.

On Monday, Great Bridge Principal Janet Andrejco testified she got a call from Earnest after 5 p.m. Dec. 21, and Earnest told her he was sitting in a parking lot waiting to speak to an investigator about his wife's death, which, Andrejco said, he described as a suicide over a failed relationship. The suicide note found near Jocelyn Earnest said she had found a "new love" who would "never leave the family." On Tuesday, investigator Mike Mayhew, the first to interview Wesley Earnest, said the contents of the suicide note had not been made public before the Dec. 21 interview.

The defense is expected to put on its case today. Sanzone said he has subpoenaed 20 witnesses. Whether Earnest will testify is unknown. Sanzone said he is "not afraid" to put Earnest on the witness stand, but was noncommittal about whether he will.