The man who accompanied Dr. Kirk Alan Turner to his Davie County house the night his estranged wife, Jennifer Jean Wittwer Turner, was found dead said he hardly remembers anything from that night except trying to save her life.
"I don't remember what I did," Greg Smithson, a longtime friend of the Turners', testified yesterday in Davie Superior Court. "All I remember was getting to the phone, dialing 911 and trying to help her."
Kirk Turner, whose dental practice is in Clemmons, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jennifer Turner, 54.
Deputies with the Davie County Sheriff's Office found her body on Sept. 12, 2007, in the shop building at the couple's house at 627 Jack Booe Road. She had filed for divorce in 2006 and the couple had been separated for more than a year before her death.
Prosecutors have alleged that Kirk Turner, 52, was so rattled by the divorce and the lawsuit his wife filed against his girlfriend, Tondja Woods Colvin, that he brutally killed his wife. Defense attorneys have said that Turner was defending himself from his estranged wife, who they say stabbed him with a 7-foot-long spear with a 16-inch blade.
Smithson, 44, said that the Turners had kept some furniture and other items for him while he was going through a divorce several years ago. He had gone to the house on Sept. 12, 2007, to pick up those items. Kirk Turner had gone with him in a separate car.
Smithson said he had called Jennifer Turner about a week before and told her he would be coming by the house. That night, he knocked on the door and let her know he was there and that Kirk Turner was with him.
They loaded several items and Smithson testified that he never saw Kirk and Jennifer Turner arguing.
The last thing Smithson had to get was his welder, and he wheeled it out of the shop building, Smithson testified. He was at his truck about two minutes later when he heard Kirk Turner scream.
He turned around and saw Kirk Turner on the ground outside the shop building, with blood around his stomach and his leg. He told Smithson that his wife had attacked him, Smithson testified.
Smithson said he never saw Jennifer Turner attack Kirk Turner and he never saw what led to Jennifer Turner's death.
Smithson frequently grabbed tissues to wipe his eyes, and twice, Judge W. Erwin Spainhour called for a brief recess because Smithson became so emotional.
Kirk Turner also cried during Smithson's testimony, and the couple's daughter, Gwendolyn Elizabeth Turner, walked out as Smithson testified. She broke down when a 911 tape was played, on which Smithson could be heard desperately trying to figure out how to save Jennifer Turner's life.
Under cross-examination, Smithson said he loved Jennifer Turner.
"Jennifer was just a wonderful person," he said. "She treated me good."
He testified under direct examination that he ran back and forth between the phone and Jennifer Turner and tried to perform CPR on her until paramedics arrived.
He said it didn't matter to the Turners that he was poor and they were wealthy.
"I'm just a working-class stiff," he said under cross-examination. "They never acted like they were better than anyone else."
Cross-examination of Smithson is expected to continue this morning.
■ Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com.
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