Evidence file

Prosecutors say Cody Posey is a cold-blooded killer who took the lives of his family because they were strict with him. But Cody's lawyers say he is a polite, kind and intelligent young man who finally reached his breaking point after a lifetime of abuse, which became worse after his father, Paul Posey, married his third wife, Tryone, who became a willing participant.

In his videotaped confession, Cody described an alleged instance in which his father hit him so hard that he knocked him off a chair and left a bruise on his face. He said Paul told him to tell friends that he accidentally hit him while the two were playing wall ball, and threatened to come after him if he
reported him to authorities.

Lincoln County Sheriff Robert Shepperd took this picture of welts on Cody's shoulder. The teen claimed his father administered the burns with a welding iron the night before the shootings, when Cody refused his parents' demands to have sex with his stepmother.

The Posey family lived and worked on the livestock ranch near Hondo, New Mexico, owned by journalist Sam Donaldson, who hired Paul Posey in 2001 as foreman.

The Poseys lived in a modest home on Donaldson's sprawling ranch, where he raised cattle and horses.

When asked to identify this undated picture of Marilea Posey, who was dressed up for a town festival, Sam Donaldson did not recognize the girl, whom he described as a "sparkler".

Cody confessed to shooting his family in their home and dragging the bodies outside to bury them.

The state's firearm examiner gave jurors a close-up view of the .38-caliber gun belonging to Marilea Posey, which Cody used to kill his family.

Several jurors recoiled as they saw this photo of congealed blood next to the refrigerator where Cody shot Paul Posey in the head.

Investigators pulled the refrigerator away to reveal blood spatter from Paul Posey that landed on the wall behind the unit.

Cody said he shot Tryone first, as she sat on the living room sofa, then his father and his stepsister as they came running into the home.

Crime scene investigator Norman Rhoades pointed out two trails of blood on the back porch of the Posey home, which marked the path of the bodies as Cody dragged them to the John Deere backhoe.

As Cody dragged the bodies outside, a nail protruding from the porch caught Marilea's shirt and went through her clothing to scratch her skin.

Cody admitted to loading the bodies into the bucket of this John Deere backhoe and hauling them to a plot of land, where he attempted to bury them. When he was unable to scratch the surface of the hardened earth, he brought the bodies to a nearby pile of manure and buried them in a shallow grave.

After Cody disposed of the bodies of his father, stepmother and stepsister in a shallow grave of manure using a backhoe, he returned it to its original place with the rest of the equipment.

Cody hauled the bodies near this ravine, where he dumped piles of manure on them.

Forensic anthropologists sift through the manure pile where Cody buried the bodies in a shallow grave.

Investigators found this box of Remington .38 caliber shells in Paul Posey's pickup, in which Cody fled the Donaldson property after disposing the bodies.

These work gloves were also found in the pickup.

Investigators also found this assortment of tools in Paul Posey's pickup truck, which Cody used to leave the ranch after the killings.

After Cody disposed the bodies and returned the backhoe to its original parking spot, he changed his dirty clothes and left them in his bedroom closet.

Before he left the property, Cody shattered the glass in the porch door in an attempt to stage a break-in.

 CourtTV.com