Twenty-year-old Martin Brown's shirt was blood-soaked when officers found him dying near Jenison Field House on March 11, 1973.
The MSU junior told then-MSU police Cpl. George Plummer Jr. that the numerous puncture wounds on his side and chest made it difficult for him to breathe.
Brown was attacked while walking from a party in Campbell Hall to his room in Armstrong Hall. Gary Mason, 52, and Kumbi Salim, 55 and then an MSU student known as Stanley Price, are charged with the murder. Mason's trial is being held at Lansing's 30th Judicial Circuit Court under Judge James Giddings, where the testimony of people involved with the incident is being heard.
Salim will go to trial in April.
Ted Glynn, who was a sergeant for the MSU police and now is a police chief in Rochester, was one of the first officers on the scene. He said he was interviewing bystanders when he noticed a light-colored Volkswagen Beetle parked in front of Jenison Field House.
"It seemed odd that it would be parked there that late at night," Glynn said. "I kept an eye on it. … I had a feeling that it might have something to do with the case."
Glynn also found a pool of blood that was approximately 1 foot in diameter near the field house. A trail of "occasional blood drops" showed the path Brown walked before collapsing at the Sparty statue around 1:30 a.m. that night.
Plummer described the initial scene for the jury Friday.
"He was bleeding profusely … from the chest area," Plummer said. "I asked him if he knew the people who attacked him.
"He said no. … He said the subjects were wearing green army fatigues and army boots."
Brown was transported to Lansing's Sparrow Hospital by Bill Wardwell, then an MSU patrolman, who is now an inspector with the department.
Wardwell stayed with Brown while his injuries were treated at the hospital.
"He stated he had a few beers, so it didn't hurt much," Wardwell said. "He died shortly after saying 'I'm going to kill those bastards.'"
Wardwell said he left the hospital at about 2:45 a.m., after Brown's body was taken to the morgue. From there, he went back to the scene of the crime to protect the area until daylight, when investigators could search it.
During Wardwell's watch, the Volkswagen Beetle that was illegally parked near the murder scene drove away after 3 a.m., Wardwell said. He didn't notice who was driving, but radioed Plummer about the vehicle. Plummer then stopped the vehicle near Williams Hall on Michigan Avenue.
Salim was driving it.
"He was belligerent — verbally abusive," Plummer said. "He was questioning why I stopped him."
Plummer said he had Salim step out of the car so he could see what he was wearing. Salim wore army fatigues and combat boots, but Plummer said there was no blood on his clothes.
He asked Salim to sit in the back of his patrol car to wait until assistance from other officers arrived.
Salim was later arrested on unrelated charges.
He was subsequently charged with Brown's murder, but the case was thrown out after a judge ruled that his Miranda rights had been violated.
The trial will resume at 8:30 a.m. today.
