RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Several hours after he killed his wife with a samurai sword, Michael Burton was rushed to a local hospital for treatment for his apparently self-inflicted injuries.
During Burton’s murder trial this morning in West Valley Superior Court, a prosecutor called the doctor who treated Burton to the witness stand.
Burton, a former Pasadena firefighter, is accused of repeatedly stabbing his wife with a samurai sword, then slashing and stabbing himself following her death.
Burton and his wife of 13 years, 35-year-old Otilia Burton, were in the midst of a bitter divorce at the time of the July 16, 2006 incident at the couple’s Rancho Cucamonga home.
The only witness to testify today was Jason Chiriano, one of the doctors who treated Michael Burton at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton the morning of the incident.
Burton, 48, was in shock when arrived to the hospital at about 7:30 a.m., Chiriano testified, and was in surgery for three to three-and-a-half hours.
Burton’s injuries, which the doctor said were life-threatening, included a severed artery from Burton’s self-inflicted slash to his left wrist, and more superficial cuts to his neck and chest, Chiriano testified.
Under cross-examination, Chiriano elaborated on Burton’s injury to his left wrist, acknowledging under questioning that severed wrist tendons — which were among Burton’s injuries — might prevent a person from making a fist or gripping an object.
In an interview following Chriano’s testimony, Burton’s defense attorney, Winston McKesson, seized on that element of the doctor’s testimony, claiming that it’s consistent with his opinion that Burton’s chest wound was not self-inflicted.
McKesson claims Otilia Burton first attacked her husband, stabbing him in the chest with a knife. Michael Burton responded by defending himself with a samurai sword, McKesson said.
Burton stabbed his wife at least 11 times with the sword, the medical examiner who performed Otilia Burton’s autopsy testified Wednesday.
One of Burton’s sons told police following the incident that he saw a stab wound on his father’s chest — several hours before SWAT officers say they saw Burton lying on the floor stabbing himself in the chest with a knife he held with both hands, McKesson said.
McKesson said he believes the deputies concocted the story to discredit potential claims from Burton that he was acting in self-defense when he repeatedly stabbed his wife.
“They’re lying,” McKesson said.
With Burton’s self-inflicted injury to his wrist, which included severed tendons, he would have been unable to grip a knife with his left hand — contrary to SWAT officers’ claims that he did, McKesson said.
McKesson also seized on an apparent error in one of the police reports generated for the case.
A SWAT member said in his written report that Burton held the knife “at” his chest in the kitchen.
In his testimony Wednesday, the deputy said that Burton held the knife “to” his chest, with the tip of the blade penetrating Burton’s skin.
McKesson said he believes the discrepancy supports his claim that Burton did not stab himself in the chest.
Testimony in the case is set to resume Monday morning. Deputy District Attorney Michele Daly said she expects to rest her case Monday, giving McKesson an opportunity to call witnesses in Burton’s defense.
McKesson said Burton will testify. He said he will also call a defense medical expert and Burton’s sons to testify.
