STEVER, MARK 3913 4004 Volume XV Direct: 3913 Cross: 3947 Redirect: 4004 3913 18 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. HART: 19 Q Tell us your name please, sir. 20 A Mark Richard Stever. ... [Still direct examination] 1 Q Were you with Kyle at a time when he was driven 2 through Cape Colony? 3 A I think so. 4 Q You don't recall that? 5 A No, I don't. 6 Q Okay. I am going to ask you if you remember a -- an 7 incident that occurred around July 7th of 1989 where Kyle 8 drew a picture that he talked about it being Mr. Bob with a 9 balloon on his stomach; do you recall that? 10 A Yes, I do. 11 Q Tell us what you remember about that particular 12 incident. 13 A We were -- I was at home and I very rarely asked Kyle 14 any questions because Audrey was better at that than I was. 15 And that night I was asking a question because I wanted to 16 know what he told Michelle that day. And I was sitting on 17 the kitchen and I asked -- I was sitting right in front of 18 the kitchen sink on the floor with my back up against the 9 cabinets and I asked Kyle, "What did you tell Michelle 20 today?" Then that's when he started in on the story about 21 the magic key and Mr. Bob. And he said, "Mr. Bob picked up 22 that rug." And I said, "Kyle, what are you talking about 23 that Mr. Bob picked up this rug?" He said, "Dad, he picked 24 up the rug and shook it and said 'I hate all of the 5 children.'" By that time I think I was calling for Audrey 3932 1 because I didn't know what to say. And that's when Audrey 2 came in, and that's when he told Audrey and I about the key 3 -- getting in with the magic key. 4 Q And what did he say about the magic key that you 5 recall? 6 A That's when he said that -- and Audrey took over the 7 questioning from there, and he stated that he got the magic 8 key out of his pocket and went into the front door. And 9 Audrey asked him what did he do with the magic key. Then he 10 said, "Well, he put it back in his pocket." And we went 11 over and examined the door that night, and there were some 12 scratches on the side with the lock. Our door was a wooden, 13 red door and there were some scratches on the side. 14 Q Where were the scratches located? 15 A Near the lock. 16 Q Did you also at that time have some discussion with 17 him about the picture he had drawn of Mr. Bob with the 18 balloon? 9 A Yes, that's what I thought I was going to hear when I 20 asked Kyle, and then I went back and asked about the 21 balloon. He said that he had the balloon on his ding dong 22 and he was hurting Ms. Dawn. 23 Q Did he say how he was hurting Ms. Dawn? 24 A No, he didn't. 25 Q Do you recall a time in early September of 1989 after 3933 1 Scott Privott had been arrested and you showed a picture of 2 Scott Privott that was in the newspaper to Kyle? 3 A Yes, I did. 4 Q Tell us what you remember of that particular 5 incident. 6 A I thought that by me showing Kyle a picture of Scott 7 Privott in handcuffs that he would feel safe, and when I 8 showed him that picture Kyle just went berserk. And I got 9 disoriented. I didn't know what to do. I thought I was 10 doing something right and it I turned out to be something 11 wrong. 12 Q And what did he do? What was his reaction? 13 A He was saying the fat man was mean; he just started 14 crying hysterically. 15 Q Did, um, Kyle ever express any concerns to you about 16 his safety at the house? 17 A Yes, he did. 18 Q In what way? 9 A He wanted to change all the locks on the door. And 20 that's one thing we did after he came out with the story of 21 the magic key. Also from the time that he disclosed he used 22 to build forts. As a matter of fact, he still does. He 23 takes the couch cushions and places them in a rectangle or 24 square, and for a long time through January, February, and 25 March, I slept in that fort with him in our living room. 3934 .... CROSS EXAMINATION .. 18 Q You said when you were talking to Mr. Hart that you 19 did recall the incident where Kyle talked about Mr. Kelly 20 coming in your house with a magic key? 21 A That's correct. 22 Q Okay. And as I understand it that incident came up 23 because he had been telling you what had gone on with Ms. 24 Zimmerman that day? 25 A I was at home when they got home from therapy, and I 3981 1 asked Kyle what he told Michelle that day. 2 Q Okay. And it was in the course of that conversation 3 that he started telling you about, what, the kitchen rug? 4 A That's correct. 5 Q Okay. What happened from that point? 6 A When he told me about the kitchen rug we were -- I 7 was expecting maybe to hear something else. I had no idea. 8 I thought he was going to tell me about the balloon. And 9 what he did, he told me something out of the clear blue, and 10 that's when he said, well, Mr. Bob picked up that rug and 11 shook the rug and said "I hate the children." 12 Q What did you say to Kyle when he said that? 13 A And I said, "Kyle, Bob was never in this house 14 before," and he said, "yes, he was." I said, "You are not 15 kidding me, are you?" And he said, "No, I'm not," and 16 that's when he went into the magic key. 17 Q Okay. What did he say about the magic key at that 18 point? 19 A Just the fact -- at that point I was screaming for 20 Audrey to come in. 21 Q Okay. Did you talk with him any further then? 22 A That's when Audrey took over. 23 Q Okay. And what did she say to him when she came in 24 the room? 5 A I don't recall the specific conversation. I'm sure 3982 1 it's documented in her diary and things like that. It was 2 concerning -- about the magic key, the door, we went out -- 3 after that conversation we went out and looked at the 4 scratches in the door. 5 Q Okay. What did you see at that point? 6 A I saw about three or four scratches near the lock of 7 the door. 8 Q Okay. Did you check the lock to see if it had been 9 damaged in any way? 10 A Yes, I did. 11 Q And was the lock all right? 12 A Yes, it was. 13 Q Now, what type of a lock did you have on that door? 14 A Just the regular keys lock, a normal lock. 15 Q Where is the -- where is the -- which door to your 16 house was this? 17 A That was the front door. 18 Q The front door? 19 A (Nods head). 20 Q That faced out on the street? 21 A Yes, it did. 22 Q Did you at that point report that incident to the 23 police? 24 A Yes, we did. 25 Q Okay. Was that to Ms. Toppin? 3983 1 A Yes. 2 Q Okay. Did anybody come out and check your door, 3 anything like at that time? 4 A I'm pretty sure they did. 5 Q Do you recall who came? 6 A I wasn't there when they actually came and looked at 7 it. 8 Q Did you find on any occasion when you returned home 9 in the afternoon that the house had been disturbed in any 10 way? 11 A No. 12 Q Were you present later when Kyle talked about Mr. 13 Kelly having gone into another room in the house and said 14 something about breaking his toys? 15 A No, I wasn't; that was with his therapist. 16 Q Did he ever talk to you about that? 17 A Later on either he or Audrey brought that to my 18 attention. 19 Q Do you recall what your conversation with him about 20 it was? 21 A No, I do not. 22 Q Now, when the incident occurred with you showing Kyle 23 the picture of Mr. Privott in the paper in handcuffs, was 24 that at your home? 25 A Yes, it was.