Officers recall first encounter with double-murder suspect

It was nearing 1 a.m. on Aug. 21, 2014, as a Columbus police officer sat and stared for about 10 minutes at Brandon Conner’s blue 2001 BMW, which was illegally parked more than a foot from the curb on Cedar Avenue near Davis Broadcasting.

The officer was suspicious because business burglaries had been reported in the area, so an occupied car illegally parked was worth checking out.

Jason Swails, then a police officer who later joined the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, finally decided to question the driver. Conner told Swails and a second officer that he had just left work at Davis Broadcasting, where he was a programmer. The officers knew that wasn’t true.

Conner would not give them permission to search his car, but what they saw inside and found in his pockets alarmed them. Conner appeared to have blood on his face, and in his pocket was a rubber glove that looked like blood was on it, too, they said. He also had a long lighter made for igniting fireplaces and grills, and a shorter, regular cigarette lighter.

The officers thought they saw some bleach in the car, and some clothes stuffed in plastic bags.

They arrested Conner for giving them false information. Though they knew a house fire had been reported at 12:35 a.m. at 1324 Winifred Lane, they did not know — though they soon would learn — that in the burned home firefighters found two bodies, later to be identified as Conner’s 32-year-old girlfriend Rosella “Mandy” Mitchell and their 6-month-old son, Dylan Conner.

Officers testified to this initial encounter with Conner this week during pretrial hearings in Columbus’ only pending death penalty case. Conner’s charges include murder, aggravated battery and first-degree arson.

His defense team of attorneys, J. Mark Shelnutt and William Kendrick, have challenged whether police violated Conner’s rights during his initial questioning.

Now 37, Conner is accused of stabbing his girlfriend multiple times in the throat and torso and of killing the infant, whose injuries have not been specified. Authorities found the charred bodies in a rear bedroom.

Gasoline was used to start the fire, investigators testified during a hearing Wednesday.

The patrol officers who detained Conner on Cedar Avenue summoned detectives, who had him brought to police headquarters for questioning and impounded the BMW, having a tow truck haul it in.

Police Sgt. Mike Dahnke obtained a search warrant for the car about 9 a.m. Inside the vehicle, officers found bloodstained clothes and a large serrated knife, they said.

At police headquarters, Cpl. Patrick Knight had Conner read his Miranda rights and sign a form indicating he understood them. Conner also signed a consent-to-search form for his cellphone, which he said he had left at Davis Broadcasting, Knight testified. Another detective was sent to retrieve the phone.

Knight said Conner also consented to submit to a saliva swab for a DNA sample, and to clippings and scrapings of his fingernails. Conner did not ask for an attorney nor invoke his right to remain silent, officers testified.

Part of Friday’s pretrial hearing was devoted to courtroom security measures that would be in place during Conner’s trial. Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve McDowell demonstrated an electronic device defendants wear under their shirt sleeves to shock them if they become hostile.

The hidden device negates any need for handcuffs or shackles, which are considered prejudicial in the presence of jurors, who could interpret such restraints as evidence the defendant is dangerous and probably guilty.

McDowell said the device operates by remote control: If a deputy depresses the trigger button for half a second, the device beeps a warning. If the deputy continues to press the button, the device delivers 50 volts of electricity for eight seconds.

“It causes pain and muscle contractions,” McDowell said, adding the transmitter works from up to 150 feet away. To his knowledge, the gadget has never been triggered during a trial, he said.

Attorneys dealt with 14 different trial motions this week, and additional arguments have been set for 10 a.m. Wednesday. Judge William Rumer has asked lawyers from each side to present proposed court orders by May 25 for him to sign.

Attorneys may appeal Rumer’s orders to the Georgia Supreme Court, which handles all state death penalty cases.

So far no trial date has been set.

Conner faces two counts of malice murder, two of felony murder, and one each of aggravated battery, using a knife to commit a crime and first-degree arson.

His malice murder charges allege he deliberately killed his girlfriend and child, and his felony murder counts accuse him of killing the mother and infant while committing the felony offense of aggravated assault.

This story was originally published April 29, 2016 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Officers recall first encounter with double-murder suspect."