Jurors viewed footage of the vehicle a rural Freeborn County man was found dead in at Myre-Big Island State Park Friday during the trial of a Brownsdale man charged in his death.

Squad video of Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office Deputy David Gilmore showed him pull behind the station wagon shortly after Spencer Daniel Brown’s death.

The footage came in the trial of David Michael Easter, 27, who was charged with second-degree murder in Brown’s death. Brown was found dead in a locked 2001 Audi station wagon the night of Aug. 23, 2016, in a parking lot near the Big Island pavilion.

Pictures were shown of Brown slumped over in the driver’s seat of the station wagon with what appeared to be a golf club near his body. Brown’s family was in the courtroom when the pictures were shown. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Photos were also shown of the pavilion to the north of the parking area, of the outside of the vehicle and of tire tracks of the station wagon. According to Gilmore, the vehicle made a left turn into the spot.

Audio footage of Gilmore on his way to the state park was presented to the jury.

“The RP (David Michael Easter) is scared that there might be other people, as well,” a dispatcher said while he was heading to the scene.

The dispatcher was heard saying that Easter reported that Brown approached him with a bat before the shooting, and he had shot him in self-defense.

While on scene, first responders were heard declaring Brown dead.

“They called it,” one person said.

According to Gilmore, he was not sure what the scene was going to look like when he arrived.

“We were all responding,” he said. “We didn’t know what we had.”

Gilmore, who checked the right side of the vehicle, moved his squad car in back of Brown’s station wagon — which was in reverse when Brown was shot — to prevent it from retreating.

Sheriff’s Office Deputy Ron Wacholz broke the driver’s side window to render first aid to Brown.

Officers said reverse and brake lights on Brown’s vehicle were on when they arrived and there was a substantial amount of blood in the vehicle.

“It wasn’t a good sight,” said Albert Lea Officer Sy Vanthavong.

“I saw a white male slumped over, and there was a lot of blood,” Wacholz said.

He found one shell casing at the scene, and he placed a makeshift tent over the top of the vehicle to prevent evidence from washing away during torrential rain that night.

Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Matt Ramer described what he saw when he arrived at the station wagon.

“There was someone in the driver’s seat, slumped over,” he said. According to Ramer, he saw two bullet holes on the driver’s side window, and a picture of his depiction of where the two bullets entered the vehicle was shown to the jury.

Ramer was asked by Freeborn County Sheriff Kurt Freitag in March to conduct a forensic investigation on a Blackberry phone in connection with the case, but he said he did not recover anything.

In separate testimony, more than one officer said though they told Freeborn County Attorney David Walker in late February that headlights on the station wagon were on when they arrived on scene, that actually was not the case.

Officers discuss golf club found near body

In cross-examination, public defender Michael Ryan questioned Gilmore about the golf club found near Brown’s body. Responding to a question from Ryan about why the golf club was included in a picture, but not in a report, Gilmore responded: “We can’t add everything we see.”

“There was no indication that we were looking for a golf club,” he said.

According to Gilmore, logging crime scene evidence through pictures alleviates the need to include every item in a written report.

“I don’t believe his hand was grasping the golf club,” he said.

Vanthavong said he did note the golf club in his report. He said the golf club was in the passenger seat, with the handle extending toward Brown but not in his hand.

“The victim’s left hand was slightly extended over his lap,” he said.

According to Vanthavong, the presence of the golf club was evident.

“We were all looking in the vehicle at the same time … it was more of an obvious observation,” he said.

According to Vanthavong, the golf club could have been mistaken for the bat Easter claimed Brown approached him with or could have been viewed as a threat because of the lighting of the park.

Ramer said the golf club was important enough for him to include it in his report of the shooting.

Albert Lea Lt. Darin Palmer said the head of the golf club was on the floor of the passenger side of the vehicle, angled toward Brown. According to Palmer, though the golf club was near Brown’s hand, his fingers were loose, meaning he was not hanging on to the club at the time of his death.

When asked by public defender Adrianne McMahon whether Brown had held the golf club prior to his death, Palmer said “it was possible.”

Jury views Easter’s arrest after shooting

Squad car footage of Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Adam McKane showed him arriving first on scene after the shooting.

“RP (David Michael Easter) is the shooter,” a dispatcher was heard saying. “He said it was in self-defense.” The dispatcher stated Easter was a concealed carry permit holder. Easter had a valid concealed carry permit in Nebraska, but not in Minnesota.

In addition to the murder charge, he is charged with one count of carrying or possessing a pistol without a permit in a public place — a gross misdemeanor.

“We just took it as likely a shooting and responded accordingly,” McKane said.

Video showed Easter had his hands up when McKane arrived on scene. Easter was shown walking backward with his hands up, then kneeling and being handcuffed.

His wife, Karla Easter, was later told to exit the truck and walk backward with her hands up.

Jurors were given transcripts of the 15-minute video and other footage shown Friday.

Squad car footage of Officer Daniel Schmitt showed Easter being taken into custody by police minutes after the shooting was reported. Easter was seen putting his hands up and complying with officer orders.

David and Karla Easter were at the park with their 4-week-old daughter the night of the shooting.

A .45-caliber pistol allegedly used in the shooting was not loaded when officers arrived. A magazine that held the ammunition in the gun was found on the driver’s side dashboard of Easter’s truck, a Ford F-150.

“After we cleared the vehicle, (Officer) (David) Miller and I stayed on the side for assistance,” Schmitt said.

According to Schmitt, he did not know what the scene was going to look like when he arrived.

Miller also testified of his recollection of the incident on Friday.

“When I arrived, I took position at the front gates with two other officers,” he said.

“We responded, knowing that guns were going to be involved.”