Willie B. Allmon. Photo by Mark Reis/Gazette

Background: Willie B. Allmon, 52, of Widefield is on trial on charges of first-degree murder and sexual assault on a child in the May 18, 2009 fatal beating of his 8-month-old grandson Isiah Wilson.

What happened today: On Wednesday, jurors watched videotape of a three-hour interrogation of Allmon by El Paso County Sheriff’s Detective Bill Otto. In the first part of the tape, Allmon insisted he had no knowledge of how Isiah’s head sustained multiple fractures. As the interview wore on, however, Allmon began to provide the detective with additional details.

What the video showed: About 90 minutes into the videotape, Otto leaves the room to allow Allmon, who said he suffers from lower back pain, an opportunity to stretch. However, the camera kept on rolling.

Allmon takes a sip of water and rubs his lower back and his legs. He stares down at the upturned palms of his hands as if they were holding something.

He sits down and talks to himself. “Let see, kitchen…bedroom…phone…Felicia…911.”

Felicia refers to his daughter who was the first person he called that morning to report that Isiah wasn’t breathing. She was at her mother’s house at the time, about 10 minutes away. Willie Allmon had agreed to watch her son that morning.

Again he looks at his hands.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” he says.

Otto steps back into the room.

“Did you think of anything?” he asks.

“I do not want to give you something that ain’t true,” Allmon replies.

“Sure,” the detective answers.

Earlier in the video, Allmon had told the detective that he had passed out while changing Isiah’s diaper and woke up to find himself with his grandson pinned beneath his chest, making gurgling noise.

Now, Allmon begins to describe what followed, when he rushed the boy into the kitchen in a panic.

“I could have accidently banged his head without realizing,” Allmon begins. “But I’m asking myself, “Did that happen? Did that happen?”

“To me, I’m the only person who can account for whatever it is,” he said, alluding to the fact that no one else was in the house at the time.

Otto prods him for details.

“I would like to. It’s killing me…I can’t put it together,” Allmon says.

“I think you’re struggling with this because it’s an unpleasant experience,” Otto suggests. “…You’re afraid of telling me.”

“Either I bang his head against the counter or I dropped him,” Allmon continues.

Otto, however, points out that the boy suffered multiple fractures and was hit more than once.

The detective appeals to Allmon’s background, referring to his history as a sergeant in the U.S. Army and his involvement with the Masons.

“You’re a man of integrity and honesty,” he tells Allmon. “The truth needs to come out.”

After some more back and forth, Allmon fills in another detail.

“I had to have dropped him if he had another injury to his head,” Allmon said. “I didn’t think it was that severe, but evidently it was.”

Allmon now says he’s “pretty sure” he dropped the child, but he doesn’t remember exactly where.

On a video screen in the interrogation room, Otto shows Allmon pictures of the bedroom and asks him to circle where the boy was when he rolled off the bed.

Allmon says he could probably remember better if they could go back to his house.

Otto replies, “other than going back, what would help you remember?”

“I guess God kicking me in the butt and showing me,” Allmon replies.

Otto decided to give Allmon another short break.

During this interval, Allmon continues to go through the motions of picking a child up and putting him down.

“Lord Holy Father, help me,” he says. “Did I drop him more than once? Did I hurt him when I fell on him?”

When Otto returns this time, the tone of the interrogation would change dramatically. I’ll pick up there in my next post.