According to the motion to suppress, defendant Josh Pendleton, 37, was denied his constitutional rights when law enforcement obtained his statements in violation of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

Pendleton is accused of killing Henderson in the parking lot of St. Paul Lutheran Church on the evening of Oct. 2, 2019.

The motion aims to throw out statements Pendleton made to then-Det. Evan Thompson, Det. Larry Hedlund and then-Webster County Jailer Sgt. Josh Pyle.

According to the defense, when Pendleton was first approached by law enforcement near his residence on Fourth Avenue South shortly after Henderson’s body had been found and Pendleton had been identified as a suspect, Thompson, now a police sergeant, told Pendleton he was being detained and then proceeded to ask him questions without advising him of his Miranda rights.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert Sgt. Evan Thompson, of the Fort Dodge Police Department, testifies during a suppression hearing regarding statements that murder suspect Josh Pendleton made to law enforcement on Friday morning.

All defendants in criminal cases must be properly advised of their Miranda Rights, including the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney and that anything they say during interviews with law enforcement can be used against them.

The motion to suppress states that Hedlund had “disingenuously told the defendant he wasn’t under arrest, but a reasonable person in the defendant’s situation would believe that he was not free to go.”

The motion further alleges that when Hedlund did advise Pendleton of his Miranda rights and Pendleton waived the rights, he did not necessarily do so fully understanding what the waiver meant.

“The defendant’s long history of schizophrenia impaired his mental capacity to the point where it would be impossible to say that ‘his capacity for self-determination [was not] critically impaired,'” the motion said.

Thompson and Pyle both testified during the hearing on Friday.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Michelle Wolf asked Thompson what kind of mental health training he had and if he was qualified to say whether or not Pendleton was undergoing a mental health issue when he interviewed him on Oct. 2, 2019.

Thompson said that the Fort Dodge Police Department receives departmental training in mental health and he is not qualified to say whether or not Pendleton was experiencing any mental health crises that night. However, with further questioning from Wolf, Thompson did concede that Pendleton was already known throughout the law enforcement community as someone with mental health issues.

Thompson said Pendleton appeared to be coherent and understand the questions asked of him and responded accordingly. However in a report made by Thompson, Pendleton was speaking with different accents while talking with police.

“Did you make any attempt to contact a mental health professional during the course of Mr. Pendleton’s interactions with law enforcement?” Wolf asked Thompson.

“No, ma’am,” was his response.

Continuing with her questioning, Wolf asked if Thompson believed Pendleton behaved “completely normally” during the course of the interrogation.

“I don’t think that he behaved normally,” Thompson said. “I think he violated social norms, such as speaking in an accent.”

When Wolf asked what he meant by “violated social norms,” he said like acting strange.

“Are you phrasing it that way because you’re hesitant to say it seemed like he was undergoing a mental health episode?” Wolf asked.

Thompson said no, that was how he observed the interactions with Pendleton that night.

When Pendleton was transported to the Law Enforcement Center, he was interviewed by Hedlund, who Wolf said should not have ever been in the room with Pendleton as he had a close, personal relationship with the victim. Henderson had been the chaplain for the Fort Dodge Police Department, Webster County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Dodge Fire Department and Iowa State Patrol Post 7.

According to the prosecution, even after Pendleton was read his Miranda rights, he continued to “volunteer” statements to law enforcement prior to the arrival of any defense attorney.

One key statement the defense wants suppressed is a response Pendleton had for Pyle when Pyle was booking Pendleton into the Webster County Jail. As part of the booking process, Pyle said, the jailer had asked if Pendleton wanted to take a shower, to which Pendleton indicated he had already taken a shower at that point. According to his testimony on Friday, Pyle asked the shower question as a routine part of the booking process, but jailers are not required to ask every inmate if they want a shower when they are initially booked.

In addition to the testimony from Thompson and Pyle, the state submitted depositions from Hedlund and Capt. Dennis Quinn. Wolf objected to both depositions being included in the resistance to the motion as the burden of proof is on the state.

In the closing arguments, Iowa State Assistant Attorney General Douglas Hammerand noted that Miranda rights generally do not apply to on-the-scene questioning as to the facts surrounding a crime. He also said the statements made by Pendleton after he was Mirandized at the LEC are admissible in court because Pendleton kept reinitiating the interview, even after Hedlund told him to stop talking.

Wolf argued that Pendleton should have been Mirandized when he was initially detained by law enforcement at his apartment.

“Just because the officer uses the word ‘detained,’ does not mean he was not in custody for Miranda purposes,” she said. “He’s searched, he’s told he can’t leave, he’s put in handcuffs and placed in the back of a patrol car and taken to the police station.”

She also argued that it was “beyond clear” that Pendleton was suffering from a mental health episode, and was “clearly” suffering from delusions the night of the incident.

District Court Judge Gina Badding said she would make her ruling on the suppression motion by the end of next week.

The jury trial for Pendleton’s first-degree murder and robbery charges is scheduled to commence April 19 at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport.

The venue for the trial was moved to Scott County by order of the court in July after the defense attorneys raised the concern of extensive pretrial media coverage possibly impeding the impartiality of the jury pool.