OGDEN -- Spirited cross-examination made for a longer than usual preliminary hearing Tuesday for Robert McCullar, who is charged with murder in a December stabbing death.
In fact, the hearing will spill over into Friday after going past the scheduled time Tuesday before 2nd District Judge W. Brent West.
McCullar, 49, is charged with murder and felony possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person in the Dec. 22 death of Filiberto Robles Bedolla, 49, at 2560 Adams Ave.
Bedolla was found with a cut throat and a total of 14 stab wounds, according to medical testimony Tuesday.
A number of the prosecution's witnesses have criminal records themselves, leading to aggressive questioning by McCullar's public defender, Jim Retallick.
"How many different lies did Donna Major tell you?" he asked Ogden Detective Tim Scott, lead investigator in the case.
Major is a key witness who reportedly coaxed McCullar into talking about the killing on tape. Major is to take the stand Friday, when the tape is expected to be played.
Scott said Major initially told police she was outside Bedolla's apartment when McCullar came out covered with blood the day of the killing.
Her story did not hold up, Scott said, but she cooperated in the investigation by twice arranging to meet with McCullar while wearing a wire.
At first they were to meet at the Ben Lomond Hotel in downtown Ogden, but McCullar didn't show.
Major had just been let out of Weber Count Jail on drug charges, Scott said, which at first left her ostracized on the street, suspected as a potential snitch.
But McCullar did show up for a later meeting with her at a Motel 6.
According to the allegations, McCullar made admissions to Major about slashing Bedolla with a piece of glass after he said Bedolla used a racial slur and spit in his face. McCullar is black.
Retallick suggested during cross-examination that a Dawna Finch is a suspect.
However, Scott said Finch's alibi was checked and found to be solid -- despite the fact, Retallick pointed out, that Finch attacked Bedolla last year, threatening to stab him with a pair of scissors in a dispute over money, according to police records.
Finch is expected to take the stand Friday in handcuffs, as she is currently in custody on unrelated charges.
Bedolla was previously reported in media coverage of the slaying as going by the name Gilberto Jesus Robles and other aliases.
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