The trial is underway in a bizarre 2021 case of pig’s blood (and a severed pig’s head!) being smeared on the home of a former Santa Rosa police officer who testified in favor of Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd trial.
Back when the George Floyd murder trial was underway, and just three days before the guilty verdict against Officer Derek Chauvin came in, we learned of a house in Santa Rosa being smeared with pig’s blood, with a severed pig’s head left at the house too, in an incident seemingly related to the Floyd trial that was happening thousands of miles away. The home in question had once been the home of Santa Rosa police officer Barry Brodd, who testified in defense of Chauvin’s use of force, though Brodd no longer lived at the house.
To make things even more outlandish, one of the vandalism suspects Amber Lucas would be profiled in a Chronicle writeup of “Instagram’s wine influencers” three weeks later, before it was known that Lucas was a suspect. The four suspects in this case are also accused of smearing the blood on a hand-shaped statue at the Santa Rosa Plaza on the same evening, and leaving behind a sign saying “oink oink.”
Now KGO reports the pig’s blood vandalism trial is underway at the Sonoma County Superior Courthouse. The woman who currently lives at the home has declined to be identified, and is being referred to as Jane Doe — but it seems she is Brodd's ex-wife, and she is a retired Santa Rosa police officer herself. Doe testified that she still sleeps with her cellphone in her hand, and with a Glock by the side of her bed, to this day, following the fears she felt during that time.
Her attorney Richard Freeman told KGO that on the night of the incident, April 17, 2021, Jane Doe "got the front door open and could see the pig's head sitting on the front porch and the blood splattered from one end of the house to the other, it started to sink in a little bit."
The “wine influencer” Lucas and another suspect Kristen Aumoithe are accused of smearing the blood on the hand statue, while two other suspects Colin Metcalfe and Christina Henry are accused of the deed at Jane Doe’s home. But the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports that the four are suspected of organizing the acts together via group chats, which is leading to some unusual defense arguments.
"Yes, Ms. Aumoithe bought the blood," the defendant's attorney told KGO. "But she didn't agree to vandalize a home. She just basically passed it off without really knowing the extent of what they were going to do."
All four stand accused of felony conspiracy and vandalism. The trial continued on Wednesday.
