BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — For more than an hour, Trezell West spoke calmly, laughing at times, as he gave law enforcement details of his life with his wife and their six children leading up to the disappearance of their two youngest.
He broke down the events of Dec. 21, 2020, the day he reported Orrin, 4, and Orson, 3, missing from the backyard of the family’s California City home.
Then the interview, a recording of which was played in court Wednesday, takes a sharp turn. It was conducted with several law enforcement officers just days after the Wests reported the children missing.
“You have not been honest,” an officer says. He tells West officers have spoken to his other children and their stories match — they haven’t seen Orrin and Orson in weeks. He says the boys were never at the home the day the Wests said they disappeared.
“You know where they’re at,” the officer tells West. “You haven’t even shed a tear.”
Trezell West repeatedly denies lying, eventually asking if he’s under arrest or free to go. He’s told he can leave.
“I’m done with this,” West says.
The majority of the nearly two-hour video was played Wednesday, the second day of Trezell and Jacqueline West’s trial on charges including second-degree murder in the deaths of Orrin and Orson. The remaining 10 minutes will be played when court resumes Thursday morning.
A grand jury indicted the Wests, the adoptive parents of Orrin and Orson, in March 2022. Their attorneys have said the couple had nothing to do with the boys’ disappearance. Trezell West is represented by Timothy Hennessy and Victor Nasser, Jacqueline West by Alekxia Torres Stallings and Fatima Rodriguez.
The bodies of Orrin and Orson have not been found.
In the video, one of several interviews played for the jury by prosecutor Eric Smith, law enforcement tells Trezell there are no children’s shoeprints in the area where he said the boys were playing the evening he reported them missing. Police dogs found no scent of the boys outside the Wests’ home on Aspen Avenue, and massive searches involving multiple agencies and a helicopter turned up nothing.
An officer tells Trezell West his and Jacqueline West’s stories don’t match up. They’re simply not true, he says.
He also remarked on the couple’s behavior.
“You have shown zero emotion,” he tells Trezell West. “Your wife has shown zero emotion.”
Trezell West, whose earlier happy demeanor turned sullen, maintains he had nothing to do with the disappearance. He takes issue with authorities speaking to his other children without his permission.
The officer who conducted the majority of the interview leaves the room and West continues to speak with California City police Officer Brian Hansen.
Hansen tells him he knows he and Jacqueline West are looking out for each other.
“Either you’re protecting her or she’s protecting you,” he says.
Hansen was the only witness called Wednesday, and will resume testifying Thursday. The Wests’ attorneys have not yet had an opportunity to cross-examine him.
