Mock trial Witness-Kris Seeley

How long have you been a police officer for the city of New Haven

Since 2018-7 years

what areas of new haven do you mainly patrol

Casa Amor Island

What type of situations do you respond to

Domestic disturbances to homicides-everything

Where did you grow up

New haven

have you always wanted to work in law enforcement?

yes

where did you go for your associates degree

Gateway Community College

what type of associates degree did you get

Criminology-2 years

what did you do after this; what year

I entered the CT law enforcement academy in 2005

what did you do during this time

took law classes, skills courses and driving courses

what happened after this

a dispatcher job opened up in NH PD and i was hired

did your experience during this time change your mind about a career

a little, I met a lot of first responders and paramedics and decided i would rather do that than be a cop

how did you try to be a first responder

i got trained and completed the Yale- New haven paramedic course in 2013. I am now a certified emergency medical technician 

what did you do after completing EMT training

i worked as a part-time dispatcher and on-call EMT

what happened after this

i found myself drawn back toward police work and was hired full time by NH PD in 2018, while also working part-time as an EMT

how do you maintain your EMT certification and Peace officers license

throught regular mandatory classes

what do these classes include

Crime Scene processing and Narcotics investigation

where are the homes of Huda and Niki VanSteenburg located

Casa Amore Island section of NH

How did your day on July 5th 2024 start

it was 11:43. i was working the day shift and was walking to legal grounds coffee shop

what happened after this

I was dispatched to investigate a report of an unresponsive 48 yr hold person with and ambulance already dispatched

who is often the first person on the scene relating to crime, death or disturbance

a patrol officer

did you recognize the address

yes, i recognized it belonged to Huda Mustiffa 

Did you know Ms Mustiffa

Yes, she was a prominent accountant and served on the chamber of commerce-very well liked among her community

how did you feel going into the scene

anxious, as an “unresponsive call” usually means “found dead”

who met you upon you arrival

Hudas spouse-Sac

what was zacs recollection of events

he said he had gone home ot check on Huda when she didnt show up for work- seemed very distressed

where was Huda found

in her living room, on the couch

how did the room look

normal at first glance. the room showed no signs of struggle but there were many empty beer bottles around the room

how did Huda look on the couch

she was face up, fully clothed. However, she had a cone of white, fine bubbly foam on the face which is usually a tell-tale sign of an opiod overdose

What else was abnormal about her look

She was ashen grey, cold to the touch, with the odor of beer surrounding her 

What did you do after this

I immediately radioed in for assistance from EMS and the meidcal examiner

what did you do after radioing the EMS and emedical examiner

I began my own personal attempts at resuscitation even though I was pretty sure she was deceased

What did you do after the attempted resuscitation

I took a few pictures with my police department issued phone for evidence

Why did you attempt resuscitation even though it was clear to you she was deceased

It is a NH PD procedure requirement. after that I waited for the ambulance crew and as soon as they came, i began to survey the scene 

what did you find while surveying

I found a plastic sandwich baggie with over adozen pills. I counted 5 beer bottles. documents from the Wayfarer recovery residence. this was all in the living room. In the upstairs bedroom i found an organge perscription bottle with no label, cap off and one red pill on the shelf next to it. 

what was interesting about the sandwich baggie

it had some sort of tape with numbering. After the scene was COMPLETELY photographed and surveyed, i flipped the baggie over so i could read it. the numbering read 3689. the pills inside were tested and they came back as oxycodone tablets

was was interesting about the 2 documents from the Wayfarer recovery

one was called an exit form and the other a critical incident form. I collected both and placed them into evidence 

what was interesting about the unlabeled, uncapped orange bottle

the one red pill next to it was tested by the CT forensic lab and it came back as percocet, a type of oxycodone. I photographed the bottle, pills and baggie and sent it into evidence

*IMPORTANT CROSS* what was interesting about exhibit 8 

exhibit 8 is the evidence i submitted that contains the unlabeled, orange prescription bottle. While the bottle was opened during the investigation, it appears the bottle may have been closed at some time before i took the picture. I do not think I personally put the cap back on. 

what did you do after this

I got an evidence bag, put on gloves to preserve the scene and collected each piece of evidence. After, i separately photographed the tablets.

what happened to the baggies

they were sent into the CT forensic Lab for fingerprint and drug testing analysis

what did the drug testing analysis reveal

well first i learned they were oxycodone in a dosage of 40 MG per pill, I also learned that there were no usable prints found on the baggie which isnt a huge surprise

why is that not a huge surprise

Well based on my training, I understand that identifiable fingerprints are often not found on surfaces, even if someone touched that surface. To me it was still worth it to test even if that meant not finding anything

did you identify the type of pill found in the upstairs bathroom shelf

yes i did, they were identified as 60 mg oxycodone and 5 mg acetaminophen, meaning they were likely the medication known as percocet. this was later confirmed by the state forensic lab

where was this pill sourced from

the Holcombs family pharmacy in boulder colorado which struck me as odd

did you investigate this odd finding

yes i did, i called the regional drug tast force and asked waht ot make of it. They told me that addicts who doctor shop often go to colorado for prescriptions because the pharmacies are not tied in with the CT opiate perscription database

did you investigate further regarding Niki VanSteenburg

yes, i found out that there had been a party at their house the night before Hudas death and there had been some confirmation that painkillers had been discussed

did you ever investigate nikis house

yes, after clearing the death scene i went to their house. 

How did Nicki react to you going to their house

Their allowed me into the home and agreed i could search the house and their computer. I did inform Nicki that they could refuse my request and i would get a search warrant instead. despite this information, they invited me in

what did your search reveal

i found a box of fresh, new sandwich baggies that matched the type of baggie found in Hudas home that contained the oxycodone, a google search about “Oxy Overdose” within minutes of Zach dialing 911 that was then deleted in the last 20 minutes, messages between Huda and Nicki in the early morning after his party, that had also been deleted but contained conversation about a gift that Niki gave Mustiffa. Mustiffa did not make a lot of sense and seemed intoxicated. I also found a strong box under Nikis bed in the master bedroom with a baggie matching the baggie found a mustiffas home with similar scot tape label and numbers, labeled 52891. The baggie had a larger quantitiy of oxycodone tablets but forensics found it was the same dosage. also in the strong box there was 2 100 dollar bills and personal papers. 

what did you do with these findings

I prepared a crime scene investigation report

did you do any further investigation

yes, i met with Hudas regular physician, DR H C olandria in her office in new haven

What did you find during your meeting with her

I learned that Huda had serious chronic back pain, she had been addicted to narcotics, she had been given a prescription for 60 mg of percocet several years ago following a car accident but only enough for 6 weeks.

Why might have Huda kept a pill from the car accident prescription

well it is not uncommon that some patients might  keep a few pills just in case of a bad day.

Did you find anything else

I learned that Huda has been scolded in the pass by her physician about drinking alcohol and taking pain medication at the same time. Huda took this lightly and continued to take this combo. 

anything else?

I finally learned that Huda had diabetes which deteriorated her condition, considering she had diabetes