Third day of preliminary hearing for accused killer Pierre Haobsh

Friday marked the third day of a preliminary hearing for accused killer Pierre Haobsh. Explosive details about the murder of Dr. Henry Han, wife Jennie Yu, and 5-year-old Emily Han have were revealed in three days of testimony.

Cameras and other recording devices were banned by Judge Brian Hill who is presiding over the hearing. Judge Hill has to decide whether or not this case deserves a jury trial.

On Friday morning, the court went over autopsy photographs for Emily with Dr. Many Montez, a forensic pathologist for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Office, taking the stand.

The following bullet point notes were taken Friday morning before a short recess which occurred just before 10:30 a.m.

Montez said 10% of the autopsies he conducts involve firearms. Autopsy results and photographs of the body shown to the court. Emily was shot eight times. She received multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The first gunshot wound was the fatal shot. It was done to the middle of her forehead. The fatal forehead shot was described as a “tight contact gunshot wound” with the “gun tip touching the forehead.” It was an “execution-style gunshot wound.” Montez believes the shooter placed the tip of the gun with a suppressor/silencer on Emily’s forehead. Gunshots No. 2-8 were done at a farther distance but Montez said all gunshots here were “fatal” or “potentially fatal”.

Haobsh, at times, looking uncomfortable and occasionally whispering something to his attorneys, remained quiet while avoiding looking at the photos of Emily’s body.

After a brief recess, the court brought up Han and Jennie’s autopsy photos and began discussing the results. The following bullet point notes coming from that discussion.

Jennie had three gunshot wounds to the head. Two shots were considered fatal and bullets were lodged in her head. One bullet created an exit wound. Jennie had contusions in her eyes due to skull fracture. The gun was not held against the skin and was at a farther range than Emily. Dr. Han suffered three gunshot wounds.

David Barber, who conducted criminal analysis at the Department of Justice Crime Lab on the weapons used/seized in the search of Haobsh’s car, took the stand.

Confirmed that some used shell casings had the same letter “C” stamped as the .22 caliber cartridge case. Barber confirmed there were “silencers” on the weapons found in Haobsh’s car.

After a lunch recess, Detective Travis Henderson was called to the stand once again.

Detective Henderson testified that he looked through Haobsh’s phone and fount text messages, bank, and internet search history. A $100,000 transfer from Henry Han’s Wells Fargo account to a Chase bank account was done on March 25–two days after the bodies of the Han family were discovered. A $5,000 Chase QuickPay transfer was paid from Henry Han’s account to “Pierre”–Haobsh shares this account with his father. Someone tried to transfer $70,000 out of Han’s account but was unsuccessful. Text messages revealed that Dr. Han invited Haobsh to stay over on March 19. A day later, Han texts Haobsh to say “sorry Jennie ate his food.” Haobsh asks Henry to register a business on BizFile, according to testimony. Internet searches on Haobsh’s phone revealed that on March 24 there were searches on how to disable OnStar, can a car get tracked by satellite radio, car search in Tijuana, and crime scene analysis.

Another court date was tentatively set for June 23, 2017.