Comment on Lead detective in Sanborn murder trial questioned about possible suspects, trial testimony

Attorneys for convicted murderer Anthony H. Sanborn Jr. continued questioning a Portland Police detective about whether officials at the time pursued another suspect during their investigation into the murder of 16-year-old Jessica L. Briggs in 1989. Retired police detective James Daniels returned to the witness stand Wednesday. Daniels, now a private investigator, was the lead detective on Briggs’ homicide. Sanborn’s attorney, Amy Fairfield, asked Daniels whether police turned over documents about whether they pursued another suspect. Daniels testified that he interviewed a man named Karl Gee, who said he spoke with another person named David who told him he witnessed the murder. The person named David told Gee that he saw Briggs’ murder and that he knew who did it — someone who goes by “Butch,” according to testimony Wednesday. Daniels said investigators were aware of someone who went by “Butch,” a man named Morris King.