'Shoe detective' may testify at trial
KEITH KINNAIRD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years, 2 months AGO
SANDPOINT — A Nike footwear expert who testified in the murder trial of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez appears to be a potential witness in a Tennessee man’s cold-case murder trial.
Defense counsel for Stephen Mathew Lott requested the curriculum vitae — a summary of a person’s experience and particular skills — of Herbert Hedges from the prosecution, according to discovery materials filed in 1st District Court. Hedges is referred to the “shoe detective” in the discovery materials.
Hedges, according to Nike, retired from the company in 2014, but continues to work with law enforcement.
Hedges testified in the 2015 trial of the former New England Patriots tight end, telling the jury that Hernandez was wearing Nike Air Jordan 11 Lows, according to a New England Cable News report. Prosecutors argued that footprint at the scene matches that kind of shoe, although the defense countered that Nike made millions of shoes with the same sole pattern, the NECN report said.
Hernandez was convicted of the first-degree murder of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd in 2013. Hernandez died by suicide in a Massachusetts prison in 2017 while serving a life sentence.
Stephen Lott, 48, is accused of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Christine, who disappeared in Bonner County in 2004. She was considered a missing person for more than a decade, although her family members expressed doubt that she would abandon her three children. The remains of Christine Lott were discovered in a remote area east of Coeur d’Alene in 2016.
A Bonner County grand jury indicted Stephen Lott on the murder charge and another charge of failing to notify the coroner of her death earlier this year.
Stephen Lott is accused of killing his wife with premeditation on March 24, 2004. Her cause of death is undetermined.
Lott relocated after the alleged murder, eventually winding up in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where he was living with his current wife, Laura. Discovery in the case indicates the home they shared was searched by authorities in Tennessee. They were also interviewed by detectives from Tennessee and Idaho, in addition to a special agent from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Stephen Lott is being held at the Bonner County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. He is scheduled to stand trial in January 2019.
Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.
ARTICLES BY KEITH KINNAIRD
Revett seeks clarity on Rock Creek mine status
A status conference is pending in federal court to determine if developers of the proposed Rock Creek mine can initiate development of the project.
Former pastor imprisoned for touching young girl
SANDPOINT, Idaho — A district judge declined to go along with a plea agreement which proposed a limited jail sentence for a former pastor who pleaded guilty to fondling a Priest Lake girl several years ago.
Judge orders life sentence in Bristow murder
Acosta ordered to serve life in prison for Bristow killing