Skull found in '95 belongs to Kovacich

The previously unreported 1995 discovery of Janet Kovacich's skull led to a March 22, 2007 grand jury indictment of her husband charging him with first-degree murder.Paul Kovacich Jr., 58, has been held at Placer County jail without bail since a second grand jury indictment alleged that he kidnapped and killed his wife with a firearm more than two decades ago.According to documents filed May 15 in Placer County Superior Court, a partial skull was found in Rollins Lake Oct. 22, 1995. No other evidence was collected at that time and the skull was listed as a Jane/Joe Doe.In March 2005, DNA evidence collected in connection with the 1982 disappearance of Janet Kovacich along with human remains were sent to the Department of Justice's Richmond, Calif. laboratory for forensic analysis.Forensic anthropologist Patrick Willey testified before the Placer County grand jury March 22 that he received the skull in 1995. "The skull had a bullet hole on the right of the cranial vault," according to court documents.Colleen Spurgeon, a criminalist with the Department of Justice, received the partial skull and DNA from the Kovacich children in Oct. 2006. Through DNA analysis the partial skull, missing the mandible, was determined to belong to Janet Kovacich.Due to a gag order, no one who has a connection to the case can comment. Paul Kovacich, a former Placer County sheriff's deputy, was re-arrested March 22 at the Foresthill home of his girlfriend, Dixie King. King, who worked as a reserve deputy for the Placer County Sheriff's Department in Tahoe from 1975 to 1977, refused to testify before the grand jury."King asserted her Fifth Amendment right not to testify and was granted use immunity," court documents state. Which means if King were to truthfully testify against Kovacich during trial the information she provides cannot be used against her.Kovacich's arrest was the result of a second grand jury indictment, this time alleging special circumstances, which could mean the death penalty if he is found guilty. The first indictment alleged murder without special circumstance or use of a firearm. According to Deering's Penal Code, special circumstances include: lying in wait, robbery, kidnapping, use of a gun and rape. Two of those apply in this case. "It is further alleged that the intentional murder of Janet Kay Kovacich was committed by the defendant while the said defendant was engaged in the commission of kidnapping...," according to court documents dated March 22, 2007. Kovacich's defense lawyers, Tom Leupp of Auburn, and Clyde Blackmon, of Sacramento, filed a motion May 1 with Placer County Superior Court calling for dismissal of the allegations of use of a firearm and special circumstances. "The grand jury proceedings in this case were conducted in such a way as to compromise the grand jury's ability to act independently and impartially in (violation) of (Kovacich's) due process rights," the document state.Kovacich's attorneys counter the prosecution's claim that the hole in the skull was a product of a gunshot, citing a 1995 autopsy report. Dr. Donald Henrikson, a pathologist working with the Placer County sheriff's coroner's division determined that the skull, found by a two citizens, belonged to a young white female with an "undetermined" cause of death. He examined the skull and showed it to three of his colleagues. "While we believe unanimously that it could be a bullet hole, it certainly has an atypical appearance for a gunshot wound ...," the report states. "I can certainly imagine an instrument, such as the pick side of a pick-axe which could produce a hole like this."Janet Kovacich was last seen Sept. 8, 1982. There had been talk of divorce between the Kovacichs, according to court documents. Janet Kovacich was reportedly taking steps to leave the defendant at the time she disappeared.During an interview with Auburn police just days after his wife's disappearance, Kovacich was "unemotional," according to court records. "His demeanor was controlled," records state. Kovacich has pleaded not guilty. He is scheduled to return to court at 8:30 a.m. May 29 in Placer County Superior Court.