New documents reveal digital evidence in Kelly Paduchowski murder case

FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) – New court documents provide insight into the exact digital evidence Flagstaff police have in a murder case that rocked the Flagstaff community this summer.

Kelly Paduchowski was first reported missing by her husband at the end of June.

He has been in custody since her remains were found. Authorities said Daniel Paduchowski confessed and led them to Kelly's remains in an unusually quick deal.

We already knew there was physical evidence in this case, including drops of blood and bloody footprints found outside the Paduchowskis' home in Flagstaff.

But now we know the extent of the digital evidence in this case and what exactly the police have, including hours of questioning of Daniel Paduchowski before he led police to his wife's remains in the woods.

These new details come just weeks before the sentencing of the Flagstaff father and husband.

According to police, Daniel Paduchowski led police on a citywide search for his wife in early July before surprisingly leading investigators to her body a few days later and taking a plea deal the same day police announced he had been charged with murder.

“It's extremely rare these days,” said defense attorney Russ Richelsoph, who has nothing to do with the case.

Richeloph analyzed how unusually quickly the missing person report, the search, the confession and the settlement were made within a week.

The fact that a quick settlement is reached in this case is partly due to the amount of evidence.

A new court document revealed the mountain of digital evidence that the Flagstaff Police Department has and exactly what the evidence is.

We now know that this includes, among other things:

• 40 hours of interview material with Daniel Paduchowski
• 16 audio recordings, including emergency calls
• 165 Ring door cameras
• 5 Body Cam Videos
• 11 Corporate Surveillance Videos
• 1,093 photographs

Richelsoph said this case particularly illustrates the change in the type of evidence law enforcement and lawyers have access to.

“The amount of available digital evidence alone has grown over the years,” said Richelsoph.

Court records also show that on July 3, police began surveillance of Snowbowl Road, which leads up the mountain to the site where Kelly's body was recovered on July 5. They have 84 images of the location where the body was found alone.

Based on the evidence available, solving such a case would typically take months, if not years, Richelsoph said.

“The lawyers are really insistent on getting the time they need to go through all the evidence,” he said.

However, he said that the outcome of a case is ultimately decided by the defendant and that in this case, Daniel Paduchowski's guilty conscience probably took precedence over any legal advice.

“When I see this, I suspect that legal reasons did not really play a role here. I suspect that emotional reasons played a role here,” said Richelsoph.

Court records also show that the hours of video footage they have shows, among other things, Daniel leading officers to his wife's body and describing in detail what he did to her.

We are still waiting to learn what his motive is, where other evidence was found besides her body, and what the murder weapon was.

The sentencing for Daniel Paduchowski is scheduled for September 10.

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