SPOKANE, Wash. — The suspect accused of killing a man for practice in 2020 before murdering his ex-wife took the stand to give his testimony on Thursday afternoon.
Nathan Beal is facing a murder charge for the death of Andrew Bull, who was living on the streets of Spokane at the time of his death.
During Beal's testimony, chaos broke out in the courtroom. That’s because the prosecutor claims Beal lied when he asked him if he ever fired the gun, which was presented as evidence in the Bull case this week.
This is important because in this murder trial, attorneys cannot discuss the previous trial relating to the murder of Beal’s ex-wife, which he was convicted of. Court documents for both cases say Beal used the same gun to kill is ex-wife and allegedly kill Bull.
Beal maintained in his testimony he never owned the gun, only had it in his apartment. He admitted to giving his girlfriend the money to buy the gun for their safety. The gun was purchased in his girlfriend's name. Eventually, she left the gun in Beal's apartment when she moved out.
Beal's defense attorney Stephanie Cady asked Beal, "Did you shoot Andrew Bull?"
He replied, "no."
But, the prosecutor believes Beal later lied about whether he ever fired that gun. That’s because Beal was already convicted of shooting that gun to kill his ex-wife.
Here’s the line of questioning Beal had with Spokane county prosecutor Dale Nagy:
Nagy: "Sir, is it your testimony that you have never fired this gun?"
Beal: "I fired guns at Emily's--I did not fire that gun at Emily's, I don't believe."
Nagy: "So qualifier is Emily's. Have you ever fired that gun, yes or no?"
Beal: "I don't think so."
After this response, the prosecutor immediately asked the judge to go into break. That's when attorneys got heated. This is what they argued to the judge:
Nagy: "He was asked by the defense, 'did you shoot Mr. Bull?' And now they're objecting. I'm asking if he shot the gun. She opened the door. She is the one that said 'did you ever shoot Mr. Bull?' I should be able to ask, 'have you ever shot that gun?' The defense opened the door, your Honor."
Cady: "He can ask it. But, Mr. Beal said he didn't shoot the gun. The fact that he's been convicted by a jury doesn't mean he shot the gun. That means a jury determined he did it. But, that doesn't necessarily mean that's going to come back and somebody will find that didn't happen."
Nagy: "Your Honor, there's no longer a presumption of innocence. Mr. Beal had a jury of his peers. They found him guilty. He no longer gets to hide behind presumption of innocence. He is guilty of killing his wife. The defense asked about shooting the gun. I followed up."
Cady: "And that's fine. But, he says he didn't shoot the gun."
The judge spent about an hour looking over case law to determine how to go forward. She ultimately ruled the prosecutor could come back and ask Beal a very specific follow up question, one that was completely off the table until now.
That question being, "have you ever been convicted of a crime related to shooting that gun?” To which Beal answered, "yes."
The judge also said Beal didn’t have to say anymore beyond that. Including the fact that he was convicted of shooting that gun to murder his ex-wife.
To be clear, the jury has been kept unaware of Beal’s prior murder conviction. That’s because both trials had to be tried separately.
The defense rested its case after Beal's testimony. Attorneys are expected to give their closing arguments to the jury Monday morning. Then, the jury will begin deliberations.
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