FARGO (KFGO) – On the fourth day of testimony in the trial of Arthur Kollie for the murder of Daisy “Jupiter” Paulsen, the prosecution called her parents to the stand, along with experts in DNA analysis and forensic pathology.
Dr. Mark Koponen said that while Paulsen had a large number of injuries on her body, most were superficial, and that strangulation and the resulting interruption of blood supply to Paulsen’s brain were the non-survivable injuries she suffered.
Paulsen’s father Robert testified that he last spoke with Daisy before she went to sleep the night before her death – the 14-year-old had just received her first paycheck from her first job at Arby’s where she was learning to run the cash register. He said she was planning to take her sister out for dinner with her earnings the next night.
“She was an amazing kid – she could draw, she could sing. She played a couple instruments – she was in the Cheney orchestra for the viola and then she self-taught guitar. She could crack jokes…she can uplift a room by just showing up,” he said.
Robert Paulsen’s voice was heavy with emotion as he described the day of and days following his daughter’s attack, including the decision he made after doctors confirmed Daisy no longer had any brain activity.
“I donated her organs because I don’t want the last part of my kid to be murder – I wanted her to live on through others, and I know that’s what she wanted too. Four people were saved…they couldn’t save her eyes because they had to use them for court, because she was strangled. And they couldn’t save her heart…because of the trauma,” he said, his voice breaking.
Daisy Paulsen’s lungs, pancreas, liver, kidneys, skin, and bone marrow were all donated.
The defense is expected to call its first witnesses Wednesday.
