MOORPARK : Jurors Taken to View Blood-Stained Carpet

The Superior Court jury in the murder trial of a Moorpark man accused of killing his wife was ushered into the courthouse basement Thursday to view the blood-stained carpet on which the crime took place.

Four bailiffs escorted James M. Linkenauger, 38, to the dark basement garage, where a rust-colored carpet of about 120 square feet lay in an area usually reserved for judges’ parking.

“This demonstrates something about the extent of the beating,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy. “There’s so many different places where there was serious blood loss.”

For 10 minutes, jurors walked around the display, noting large red stains that prosecutors say are remnants of JoAnn Linkenauger’s blood. Hardy said the patchy spots of reddish brown are the result of Linkenauger’s attempt to cover the dried stains with bleach and brown spray paint.

The victim’s relatives and other members of the public were barred from the exhibit.

Photographs of the rooms taken the morning after the slaying were positioned on the rug to show jurors what the scene looked like when homicide investigators went to the small home along Flory Avenue.

JoAnn Linkenauger, a 39-year-old food service manager at Culver Studios, was killed Jan. 17 by her drunken and jealous husband, prosecutors say.

But defense attorney Louis B. Samonsky Jr. said he will show that the victim led a “secret life” that could have resulted in someone other than her husband killing her.

Samonsky declined Thursday to speculate on the impact Hardy’s garage display had on the jury.