Page 104 of After Anna


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“Yes.”

“Anna would later claim that you touched her inappropriately on the thigh during that driving lesson, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.” Noah realized that Linda was taking him methodically through the most damning facts of his case. She was simply dismantling him, the way a butcher breaks apart a chicken carcass, piece by piece, wedging back the legs and wings until the joints break, then tearing the limbs off.

“About a week after that driving lesson, on May 6, you and your wife held a barbecue at your home, and after the barbecue, Anna claimed that you kissed her and tried to touch her breast, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.”

“And on Monday after the barbecue, on May 8, Anna filed a Petition for a Protection From Abuse Order, signed by both Anna and your wife, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.”

“But before Judge Hamilton could reach her decision, you reached a settlement whereby Anna agreed to withdraw the Petition and you agreed to leave the home, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.”

“You moved out of your home, and only two days after that, on Wednesday, May 10, a text was sent from your phone to Anna’s phone, asking her to come to your house, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Anna was strangled to death that very night on your front porch at about that time, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.”

“You called 911 from the scene, did you not?”

“Yes.”

“And you spoke to the dispatcher for a little over a minute?”

“Yes.”

“And one minute after you hung up with 911, you called your lawyer, with whom you spoke for twelve minutes, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Dr. Alderman, you’re aware that your DNA, hair, and threads from your clothes were found on Anna’s body, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.”

“You are also aware that Anna’s DNA, hair, threads from her clothes were found on your clothes, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Your wife didn’t visit you in prison while you were incarcerated, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.” Noah assumed Linda had checked the prison’s visitor logs.

“Your wife didn’t testify in your defense at the PFA hearing, did she?”

“No.”

“And she didn’t testify in your defense at this trial, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Dr. Alderman, given all of these facts, which are undisputed, how do you expect anybody on this jury to believe that you are anything but guilty of Anna’s murder?”