1 1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 FOR THE DISTRICT OF WYOMING 3 _______________________________________________________ 4 THE ESTATES OF DEBORAH MARIE TOBIN 5 and ALYSSA ANN TOBIN, Deceased, by TIMOTHY JOHN TOBIN, Personal 6 Representative; and THE ESTATES OF DONALD JACK SCHELL and RITA CHARLOTTE 7 SCHELL, Deceased, by NEVA KAY HARDY, Personal Representative, 8 Plaintiffs, 9 vs. Civil No. 00_CV_025D 10 SMITHKLINE BEECHAM PHARMACEUTICALS, 11 Defendant. 12 _______________________________________________________ 13 DEPOSITION OF KEVIN NELSON 14 Taken in behalf of Defendant 1:00 p.m., Tuesday 15 February 13, 2001 16 17 PURSUANT TO NOTICE, the deposition of KEVIN 18 NELSON was taken in accordance with the applicable 19 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure at 500 S. Gillette 20 Avenue, Gillette, Wyoming, before Vonni R. Bray, 21 Registered Professional Reporter and Notary Public of 22 the State of Wyoming. 23 24 25 2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 2 For the Plaintiffs: MR. JAMES E. FITZGERALD (By telephone) 3 Attorney at Law FITZGERALD LAW FIRM 4 2108 Warren Avenue Cheyenne, WY 82001 5 (307) 634_4000 6 For the Defendant: MS. MISHA E. WESTBY Attorney at Law 7 HIRST & APPLEGATE 1720 Carey Avenue, Ste. 200 8 P.O. Box 1083 Cheyenne, WY 82003_1083 9 (307) 632_0541 10 11 I N D E X 12 DEPOSITION OF KEVIN NELSON: Page 13 Direct Examination By Ms. Westby 3 14 Cross_Examination By Mr. Fitzgerald 31 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 (Deposition proceedings commenced 3 at 1:00 p.m., February 13, 2001.) 4 (Witness sworn.) 5 KEVIN NELSON, 6 called for examination by the Defendant, being first 7 duly sworn, on his oath testified as follows: 8 DIRECT EXAMINATION 9 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) For the record, please state 10 your name and address. 11 A. It's Kevin Dean Nelson. And address that I 12 use is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. And my physical 13 address is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. 14 Q. How long have you lived in xxxxxxxxxx, 15 Mr. Nelson? 16 A. Right at 20 years. 17 Q. Where did you live previously? 18 A. In xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. 19 Q. Have you always lived in xxxxxxxxx? 20 A. Yes, I have. 21 Q. Are you currently married? 22 A. Yes, I am. 23 Q. How long have you been married? 24 A. 21 years. 25 Q. Do you have any children? 4 1 A. No. 2 Q. Briefly, what's your educational background? 3 A. Graduated from high school, and I've had some 4 college classes that I've taken in computers mostly, and 5 some in electrical. 6 Q. Do you have a degree of any kind? 7 A. No, I don't. 8 Q. Tell me about your work history. 9 A. Work history: Okay, started out in high 10 school as __ for the Highland Hanover Canal District. 11 Q. And what is that? 12 A. Well, we called it a moss puller. You would 13 work at a big pumping station, where you would use big 14 rakes to pull moss off of the grates to keep them from 15 going into the pumps. And then I was a school bus 16 driver when I was a junior in high school, and I also 17 worked for my dad at Worland Computer Service. 18 Q. Okay. 19 A. And then worked at 345. That's a survey 20 company here in Gillette. 21 Q. When did you move to Gillette? 22 A. Moved here in '79 for a year, and then moved 23 back to Worland for a year, and then moved back to 24 Gillette in '82. And I went to work for Western Crude 25 Oil, Incorporated. And it was bought out by Getty Oil, 5 1 which was bought out by Texaco. And I worked for them 2 for 15 years. 3 Q. And where did you go from there? 4 A. While I was working at Texaco, I worked 5 part_time for five years for Jordan Production. 6 Q. Okay. 7 A. And then I went to work for them full_time 8 when I got laid off for the three years. And then 9 presently I'm working for Barrett Resources. 10 Q. And what is that? 11 A. It's an oil and gas company. 12 Q. And what are your job duties currently? 13 A. I'm a lease operator. I pump coal bed methane 14 wells. 15 Q. Have your job duties changed over the years, 16 or have they basically stayed the same? 17 A. Well, when Western Crude Oil __ I worked for a 18 purchasing company as a gauger. We bought oil from 19 various oil companies. And then I went from a gauger to 20 a dispatcher in the office dispatching trucks to haul 21 crude oil. And we took phone calls from the pumpers 22 calling in loads of oil to be hauled. And I dispatched 23 trucks to haul the oil. 24 Q. What did you do following that job? 25 A. That's when I went to work for Jordan 6 1 Production. 2 Q. And what were you doing for Jordan Production? 3 A. Official title was vice president. 4 Q. And what were your job duties? 5 A. Basically I pump oil wells and supervise some 6 of the other pumpers and work scheduling. 7 Q. Do you have any documents related to Donald 8 Schell, like maybe an invoice or any agreement between 9 the two of you about working for him? Do you have any 10 written documents that would pertain to him? 11 A. No, I don't. 12 Q. Okay. 13 A. Oh, we relieved for him a couple different 14 times. And he'd just call you up, and basically I'd 15 just go pump the wells. Any of the invoicing that was 16 done was done through Jordan Production. 17 Q. Tell me how long you have known Donald 18 Schell. 19 A. I guess I first met him right around 1982, '83 20 when I was gauging oil for Western Crude Oil. 21 Q. How did you meet him? 22 A. If I recall right, he was working for Cities 23 Service down by Savageton, Hartzog Draw, and I met him, 24 because we used to check some of the oil wells and haul 25 it. And plus also right in that area, that Savageton, 7 1 there's a Savageton Bar where a lot of people come in 2 and have lunch. And their office was within __ I 3 believe it was five miles of there. 4 Q. So did Don Schell go to that bar for lunch 5 often that you know of? 6 A. Well, I was going to say about everybody in 7 there went in there. But I couldn't tell you really how 8 often. Because it just depends on what time I was in 9 there. 10 Q. How often did you see Don Schell during the 11 time that you worked for Western Crude and he was 12 working for Cities Service? 13 A. Oh, not very often. Maybe once a month, if I 14 seen him down at Savageton. 15 Q. And would you talk to him when you saw him? 16 A. Just say about hi. That's about it. I mean, 17 I knew who he was. 18 Q. How long did that kind of relationship last 19 where you saw him maybe once a month and talked to him 20 when you saw him at the restaurant in Savageton? 21 A. Well, I was going to say basically only a 22 couple years. I talked to him on the phone more than 23 anything. 24 Q. What would you talk to him on the phone about? 25 A. He would call loads of oil in to be hauled. 8 1 Q. Would you discuss anything else other than the 2 business that was being done during those phone calls? 3 A. No, we wouldn't. 4 Q. Did you ever see him socially during that time 5 frame? 6 A. No, I have not. 7 Q. Have you ever seen him socially or spent time 8 with him outside of work? 9 A. No, I haven't. 10 Q. Did there ever come a time after 1982 when you 11 had more frequent contact with him because of any jobs 12 you were working on or any other contacts you may have 13 had? 14 A. No. I was going to say, most of it I was 15 talking to him when I was dispatcher in the office. And 16 that started in about '85. And when they called in 17 their loads of oil, I'd talk to, well, about every 18 pumper that had oil that was calling them in to be 19 hauled. 20 Q. Okay. Did you ever talk to Don about anything 21 unrelated to work? Sports? Weather? Anything like 22 that? 23 A. Not until just a couple days before the 24 incident happened. 25 Q. Okay. So up until that point, every 9 1 conversation you had was strictly work_related; is that 2 true? 3 A. Yeah, pretty much. As far as, you know, 4 hauling the oil, what the roads were like, things like 5 that when they would call the oil in to be hauled. And 6 that's about it. 7 Q. Okay. Did you know Rita Schell? 8 A. No. I probably seen her with him a couple 9 times when they were driving down the street. But I 10 don't think I've ever talked to her. 11 Q. Do you know if Don Schell was right_ or 12 left_handed? 13 A. I could not tell you. 14 Q. Did you ever notice if he wore a wedding 15 ring? 16 A. My wife gives me a bad time about not being 17 very observant, so I could not tell you. 18 Q. Okay. Did you __ had you ever been to Don 19 Schell's house prior to a couple days before his death? 20 A. I've never been inside of it. I might have 21 stopped there one other time to pick up the books from 22 him when I relieved pumping before. 23 Q. Before the time that you stopped at his house 24 a couple days before his death, can you describe 25 generally his nature to me? 10 1 MR. FITZGERALD: The question is 2 overbroad and vague. 3 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) And you can go ahead and 4 answer. He's going to make objections periodically, but 5 you can answer. 6 A. I was going to say, he's always been, you 7 know, talkative and, you know, friendly. I've never __ 8 I was going to say I've never seen him upset or anything 9 like that. But I've never seen __ you know, no more 10 than I've talked to him. 11 Q. But you've never seen him upset before this 12 time that you can remember? 13 A. Not while I've ever __ 14 MR. FITZGERALD: The question is vague. 15 I don't know what this time means. 16 MS. WESTBY: I mean a couple days before 17 his death. 18 MR. FITZGERALD: Assumes facts not in 19 evidence. 20 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Go ahead and answer. 21 A. I was going to say the only time I ever talked 22 to him is when he called in oil. 23 Q. Looking back on it after this happened, do you 24 ever recall a time prior to the last time that you saw 25 him when he seemed unusual to you, when something didn't 11 1 seem quite the same as it had been before? 2 MR. FITZGERALD: The question is 3 compound, vague, overbroad, and assumes facts not in 4 evidence. 5 A. All I really remember is just when I talked to 6 him when I picked up the books. 7 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) And you're talking about the 8 last time you saw him when __ 9 A. The last time I saw him. And then I talked to 10 him on the phone the following day because he forgot to 11 tell me about some __ I don't remember if it was a 12 problem with the well or something. He wanted to let me 13 know about one of the wells. 14 Q. And although __ I'll get back to those two 15 times and ask about that in more detail, too. When did 16 you first become aware that Don was suffering from __ 17 what was your __ 18 (Telephone interruption.) 19 MS. WESTBY: Can we go off the record 20 for just a minute, Jim? 21 MR. FITZGERALD: Yes. 22 (Discussion held off the record.) 23 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) What was your understanding 24 of __ why were you covering for Donald Schell this last 25 time right before his death? 12 1 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 2 A. I had received a phone call asking if we could 3 relief pump his wells for a few days. 4 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) And what was your 5 understanding of why you needed to do that or why you 6 needed to relieve him? 7 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 8 A. Well, basically whenever they would call for 9 relief, if they need to go out of town or take a week 10 off for vacation, they would call. And we'd go take 11 care of it. We'd pump the wells. 12 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Okay. Was it your 13 understanding that something was wrong with Donald 14 Schell? 15 MR. FITZGERALD: Leading, lacks 16 foundation. 17 A. Well, just from when I talked to him, he said 18 that __ well, he wanted us to pump it a couple days. 19 And when I talked to him at his house, he said he didn't 20 know if he could make it into town. That he thought 21 he'd have to get his wife to pick him up and drive him 22 back to town. 23 Q. Did he tell you why he felt like that? 24 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 25 A. He really didn't say what was wrong. I know 13 1 that there was __ oh, it was basically hearsay. When __ 2 that he had had a nervous breakdown before. And that 3 was probably three years prior to that. 4 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Okay. And where did you hear 5 that? Or how did you understand that to be true? 6 MR. FITZGERALD: Assumes facts not in 7 evidence, lack of foundation. 8 A. Well, it was from Phil Jordan, Jordan 9 Production. Because he had pumped his wells. It was 10 either a month or two when he first went to contract 11 pumping, when Don Schell first went to contract 12 pumping. 13 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) So that was Phil Jordan's 14 understanding of why he was covering for Don Schell? 15 A. That's what __ 16 MR. FITZGERALD: Speculation. 17 A. That's what I was told. 18 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Okay. Let's talk 19 specifically about the last time that you saw him. I 20 think you told me a couple of minutes ago that you got a 21 call from Wellstar or from the company saying that 22 somebody needed to cover for Don Schell; is that 23 correct? 24 A. No. I had got a call from Don Schell himself 25 asking if we could relief pump his wells. 14 1 Q. And do you know what day that occurred? 2 A. If I recall, it was on a Monday. 3 Q. Do you know what time he called? Did he call 4 you directly, or did he __ 5 A. He called me directly. He could not get ahold 6 of Phil Jordan. 7 Q. And what did he say to you? 8 A. He basically asked if we could pump his wells 9 for a few days. 10 Q. Did he give you a specific amount of time or 11 just said a few days? 12 A. He said a few days. There was no exact amount 13 of time. 14 Q. Do you remember what time of day that was? 15 A. It was in the afternoon. 16 Q. Did he give you any other information on the 17 phone? 18 A. No, he didn't. 19 Q. Did he set up a meeting with you at that 20 time? 21 A. Basically he told me to stop by the house and 22 pick up the books. 23 Q. Did he ask you to do that at any certain 24 time? 25 A. Just when I got done working. It was in the 15 1 evening when I stopped by. 2 Q. And would that have been the same evening that 3 he called you? 4 A. Yeah, just basically to stop by and pick up 5 the books and start pumping. 6 Q. So that would have been Monday evening to the 7 best of your recollection? 8 A. Yeah, Monday or Tuesday. I don't really 9 remember the day. 10 Q. And do you remember what time you got to the 11 Schells' residence? 12 A. I believe it was somewhere around 5:00, 6:00, 13 somewhere in there. 14 Q. Do you know if Rita Schell was at home at that 15 time? 16 A. I have no idea. 17 Q. What did Donald Schell sound like to you on 18 the phone when he called that afternoon? 19 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 20 A. Sounded normal to me. 21 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Okay. What did you do when 22 you got to the house at 5:00 or 6:00 that night? 23 A. I pulled up to the house, and the house looked 24 pretty dark. And he had opened the garage door and came 25 out through the garage. 16 1 Q. Did you knock on the door, or did he just do 2 that when he heard your car pull up? 3 A. I don't recall. 4 Q. And what happened after he opened the garage 5 door? 6 A. He had the books with him, the production 7 reports. 8 Q. How was his appearance? What was his 9 appearance like? 10 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 11 A. He was a little pale, and he was a little 12 shaky. 13 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Did that seem unusual to you 14 for him? 15 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 16 A. He looked different than he normally had 17 previously. 18 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) How did you notice that he 19 was shaky? 20 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 21 A. Just a little bit of hand movements. I mean, 22 it's.... 23 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Had you ever noticed __ 24 MR. FITZGERALD: What was the last 25 answer? 17 1 MS. WESTBY: Just a little bit of hand 2 movements. 3 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Had you ever noticed his 4 hands shaking before? 5 A. No, I haven't. 6 Q. What about his voice? How did his voice 7 sound? 8 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 9 A. I could guess. I never really paid a whole 10 lot of attention. I mean, it sounded like something was 11 bothering him, like something was wrong. 12 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Was his voice shaky? 13 MR. FITZGERALD: Leading, lack of 14 foundation. 15 A. I really don't think so. 16 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Okay. What was he wearing 17 when you saw him; do you remember? 18 A. No, I don't. 19 Q. And what did he say to you that night? 20 A. Well, he had told me that __ he had made the 21 comment that he didn't know if he could have made it in, 22 that he thought he was going to have to get his wife to 23 come out and pick him up and drive him to town. 24 Q. And by saying he didn't know if he'd make it 25 in, do you mean back to Gillette? 18 1 A. Right, back to Gillette from down by Savageton 2 to where __ to drive back to town. The oil field that 3 he took care of was right behind Pumpkin Buttes, which 4 you had to turn at Savageton to get to it. 5 Q. How far would it have been for him to get back 6 to Gillette? 7 A. From the field, about 45 to 50 miles. 8 Q. Did he say why he thought he might have to 9 have Rita come get him? 10 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 11 A. I __ he didn't really say. 12 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Did you have an understanding 13 of what the problem was? 14 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation, 15 vague. 16 A. Well, he had said he was on a medication, 17 because I did talk to him about that. 18 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Did he specify what type of 19 medication? 20 A. No, he didn't. 21 Q. How did that come up? How did that 22 conversation about medication come up? 23 A. It's hard to remember. 24 Q. Yeah. 25 A. I remember talking to him about one of the 19 1 people I used to work with, the other dispatcher. His 2 name was Dennis Henry. I had mentioned to him that he 3 was on medication for a chemical imbalance to even out 4 his moods. And I had talked to him about that, and he 5 had told me that he had an appointment the next day to 6 go to the doctor to get a different medication. 7 Q. Okay. So all of those conversations took 8 place on this night, the conversation about your 9 coworker or about Dennis? 10 A. Dennis Henry. That happened right in his 11 driveway. 12 Q. And did he __ why did the conversation of a 13 chemical imbalance come up? Do you remember what the 14 context was that that came up? 15 MR. FITZGERALD: The question is 16 compound. 17 A. It was just part of __ it was part of the 18 conversation as far as, you know, his wife having to 19 come out and get him. 20 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Did he use any specific term 21 to describe what he was suffering from? 22 A. No, he didn't. 23 Q. Did he ever use the word depression? 24 A. No, I don't recall it. 25 Q. Okay, what about anxiety or __ 20 1 MR. FITZGERALD: Excuse me, is the 2 question did he use the word anxiety? 3 MS. WESTBY: Yes. 4 A. No, he didn't. 5 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Okay. What about __ did he 6 say that he was emotionally upset or anything having to 7 do with his psychological state? 8 A. No, he didn't. 9 Q. So it was just some understanding that you got 10 from your past knowledge and what he said about not 11 being able to get in from work? 12 A. That's correct. 13 Q. What was his reaction to you when you told him 14 about Dennis Henry? 15 A. He was kind of surprised. I mean, as far as 16 Dennis Henry, you talked to him on the phone, he was 17 always friendly, and he gave everybody a bad time and 18 picked on them. 19 Q. This Dennis Henry did that? 20 A. Right. But he could get very mean, and it's 21 more verbally than anything. 22 Q. Okay. 23 MR. FITZGERALD: Still speaking of 24 Dennis Henry? 25 THE WITNESS: Yes. 21 1 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Did you ever notice any 2 similarities between Dennis Henry and Don Schell with __ 3 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation, 4 calls for speculation. 5 A. No, basically because I wasn't around Don 6 Schell that much. 7 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Okay. It was in relationship 8 to the conversation about Dennis Henry and the chemical 9 imbalance that Don mentioned to you that he was 10 currently taking a medication? 11 A. Yeah, and that he was going to get __ he was 12 going to the doctor, and that was probably going to 13 change it. 14 Q. Okay. Did he mention the name of the 15 medication or what type of medication it was? 16 A. No, he didn't. 17 Q. Did he mention which doctor he was going to 18 see? 19 A. No, he didn't. 20 Q. What else did he tell you during this 21 conversation? 22 A. That was pretty much it, other than just some 23 of the little things that was going on with the wells. 24 Q. Did he mention anything to you about his wife 25 or family? 22 1 A. No, he didn't. 2 Q. Any concerns that he had about work? 3 A. No, just __ most of it just some of the 4 separate wells, some of the characteristics. Like I 5 say, there was an electric motor that had a real bad 6 growl to it. He said just let it go, it keeps running. 7 Don't worry about it. 8 Q. How long did that conversation last, if you 9 remember? 10 A. Oh, probably only 15 minutes. 11 Q. Did you talk to him again that night at any 12 time? 13 A. No, I didn't. 14 Q. Did you talk to him the next day? 15 A. Yes, I did. 16 Q. And that was in person or on the telephone? 17 A. It was on the telephone. 18 Q. Do you recall what time that conversation took 19 place? 20 A. It was around 10:00 probably, somewhere right 21 around there. It was just information on something he 22 forgot to tell me about the wells. 23 Q. How did he sound to you on the phone the next 24 day? 25 A. He sounded fine. 23 1 Q. Did he mention anything other than information 2 about the wells? 3 A. No, he didn't. 4 Q. Did he give you any indication of how long he 5 was going to be gone? 6 A. No, he did not. 7 Q. Did you notice anything at all unusual during 8 that phone call, either what he said to you or how he 9 sounded? 10 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 11 A. No, there wasn't anything unusual. I mean, it 12 just.... 13 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Okay. After you saw him on 14 the __ on Monday night and noticed some of those things 15 about him, did you tell anybody else about your 16 conversation or about how __ or about his appearance? 17 A. Not until after I talked to the police 18 department a couple days later. 19 Q. And who did you talk to then? 20 A. It was a detective, but I don't recall what 21 his name is. 22 Q. Okay. And this was following their deaths? 23 A. That's correct. There was one other comment I 24 did talk to him about, Don Schell. Was he made the 25 comment that the wells that he had contract on, he had 24 1 talked about giving the wells to Jordan Production. And 2 then he wanted to go to work for Jordan Production just 3 as a regular pumper and not a contract pumper. 4 Q. Now, did this conversation take place while 5 you were in his driveway, too, or did this conversation 6 take place at another point? 7 A. I believe it was while we were in the 8 driveway. 9 Q. Did he tell you why he wanted to make that 10 change? 11 A. He basically just wanted to work for a 12 company. Where contract pumping, you're on your own, 13 you work seven days a week. And the only relief you 14 have is basically when you call someone to take care of 15 the wells if you're going to take any time off. 16 Q. Okay. And so that was the reason he gave you 17 for wanting to do that, or that's just what you __ 18 A. No, that's actually what he said. He just 19 wanted to work for a company. 20 Q. Okay. Did that strike you as unusual or 21 strange in any way? 22 A. No, it didn't. 23 Q. Anything else that you remember about that 24 conversation? 25 A. No, there really isn't. 25 1 Q. Okay. I think that you told the police when 2 you talked to them that when Don Schell called you to 3 cover his wells, he said that he needed that done ASAP. 4 Do you recall him saying that or qualifying that 5 statement that way? 6 A. Basically he said, can you start tomorrow? 7 Because he had already been out and checked the wells 8 that day. 9 Q. Okay. 10 A. To actually check the wells, it only takes 11 four or five hours to drive from town to go out there 12 and come back to town. It's not that long. 13 Q. Did he express any urgency or that it needed 14 to be done right away or anything like that? 15 A. No. He just asked if we can start pumping 16 them tomorrow. And I said sure. Because I worked out 17 in the area, and I was the one who was going to have to 18 take care of them. 19 Q. Had you ever covered for him before? 20 A. One other time when I was working for Jordan 21 Production when I was working part_time. It was 22 probably for a weekend. Or it __ I was going to say 23 it's kind of hard to recall. I could have pumped them 24 for a week at a previous time. There could have been 25 more times. I had only worked out in that area for like 26 1 a year and a half down around Savageton. So the pumper 2 in that area could have covered the wells more often 3 that I would not know about. 4 Q. Were you aware of any other time that you 5 covered for him when he was having the same kind of 6 problem that he was having before __ right before he 7 died? 8 MR. FITZGERALD: Lacks foundation. 9 A. Not for this type of problem or anything. It 10 was just __ I don't remember if there was a death in the 11 family that we had to cover a couple days for, you know, 12 previously or whether they were going out of town or 13 going somewhere. 14 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Okay. And other than the 15 time when Phil Jordan had covered for him for what Phil 16 Jordan believed was a nervous breakdown, are you aware 17 of any other times when anybody had to cover for him for 18 some kind of illness or problem like that? 19 MR. FITZGERALD: The question is vague, 20 overbroad, lacks foundation, assumes facts not in 21 evidence. 22 A. I'm not aware of any other time. 23 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) When you were talking to Don 24 that night in his driveway or garage, did you notice 25 anything unusual in the driveway or garage or with the 27 1 cars? 2 MR. FITZGERALD: It's overbroad and 3 vague. 4 A. I didn't notice anything that was unusual. 5 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) What was the condition of the 6 garage? Was it neat, or were there lots of things lying 7 around? 8 A. I thought it looked neat compared to my 9 garage. 10 Q. Did you hear any noise or see any activity in 11 the house? 12 A. I did not see any activity. I thought the 13 house looked dark. But there wasn't a whole lot of 14 lights on in the house. 15 Q. Did Don seem at all startled or shaken up, 16 anything like that when he opened up the garage door 17 when you were there? 18 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation and 19 compound. 20 A. No, there wasn't any reaction. 21 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Were you aware at any time, 22 either prior to the deaths or following the deaths, of 23 any problems Don may have had with his family or his 24 wife? 25 A. I have no idea. 28 1 Q. Did you ever hear about any problems that __ 2 A. No, I never heard of anything. 3 Q. How did you first hear about the deaths? 4 A. I heard about the deaths on the radio. But 5 there was no names. 6 Q. Did you think __ did you know who it was or 7 have any suspicion? 8 A. I had no idea. 9 Q. When did you find out that it was actually the 10 Schells? 11 A. I had received a call. I don't remember who 12 it was from. I don't remember if it was Phil or whether 13 it was just at the coffee shop. I don't remember. 14 Q. Do you know how many days after the deaths 15 that would have been? 16 A. I want to say the following day. 17 Q. Okay. What was your reaction to the news? 18 A. I was surprised, kind of surprised and 19 shocked. 20 Q. Did you have any idea about why or how that 21 had happened? 22 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 23 A. I had no idea. Don't know __ hadn't heard how 24 or why or anything. 25 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Do you remember when the 29 1 police called you? 2 A. The police did not call me. I had stopped by 3 and talked to a police officer that was sitting outside 4 of the Schell house. 5 Q. And why did you go to the Schell house? 6 A. Because I had talked to him previously, and I 7 was pumping his wells. 8 Q. So just to give them information about when 9 you had seen him? 10 A. Right. 11 Q. Was that the same time you gave them a 12 statement, or did you subsequently __ 13 A. No, that was the same time. Because after I 14 talked to the police officer, I went down to the police 15 station. 16 Q. Did you ever go to the Schell house any time 17 between the time you stopped to get the books and when 18 you went and talked to the police officer stationed 19 outside the home? 20 A. No, I did not. 21 Q. Did you go into the house when you went and 22 talked to the police officer stationed outside the 23 home? 24 A. No. I was across the street from the house. 25 Q. Had you ever seen Don Schell act similarly to 30 1 how he acted the night that you came to get the books 2 for him right before he died? 3 MR. FITZGERALD: Lack of foundation. 4 A. No, I have not. 5 Q. (BY MS. WESTBY) Had you ever known or heard 6 of Don being violent or talking about being violent? 7 A. No, I have not. 8 Q. Did you ever hear __ or did anyone ever tell 9 you that Don had talked about suicide? 10 A. No. 11 Q. Were you aware that Don owned guns? 12 A. I did not have any idea he owned guns. 13 Q. Okay. Did the police officer ask you about 14 Don owning guns? 15 A. No, he did not. 16 Q. Did you ever see Don angry or upset? 17 A. No, I have not. 18 Q. After this happened, then, after you were made 19 aware of the events that took place with regard to the 20 deaths of the Schells, did anything come to mind that 21 maybe you hadn't thought of before but seemed 22 significant after this happened? 23 MR. FITZGERALD: The question is vague. 24 A. No, there wasn't anything. 25 MS. WESTBY: Okay. I think that's all 31 1 the questions that I have for you. Mr. Fitzgerald may 2 have some, and then I may have some following his 3 questions. 4 CROSS_EXAMINATION 5 Q. (BY MR. FITZGERALD) Mr. Nelson, the trial of 6 this case starts May 21 for three weeks after that. Are 7 you going to be in Gillette at that time? 8 A. Yes, I am. 9 Q. I need a couple of questions answered about 10 just your business. You said that you stopped by to 11 pick up the books. Did those books consist of 12 production reports, right? 13 A. That's correct. 14 Q. Whenever you took over Don or anybody else's 15 wells and pumped them for them, you had to get the 16 production books in order to keep accurate records, 17 right? 18 A. Some of the production books were kept out at 19 the doghouse out there as far as monthly or weekly 20 reports. Some of them have their own type of book that 21 they keep that has the previous gauges in it from, like, 22 say the day before or for that month. 23 Q. Okay. What I'm trying to get at is that 24 there's nothing unusual about picking up the books. You 25 got to do that to do the job you've been asked to do in 32 1 this case, right? 2 A. Yeah, that's correct. 3 Q. Also, when you're asked, you know, can you 4 start tomorrow, I have a question about that. As I 5 understand your business, somebody has got to check 6 these wells every day, right? 7 A. Well, they should. There has been times where 8 if it's only one day that you don't worry about checking 9 them for one day, but you will get them the following 10 day. 11 Q. Yeah, but it's not abnormal to be asked, you 12 know, can you start tomorrow, right? 13 A. No, it's not abnormal. 14 Q. Okay. That's all I got. Thank you.