'She's gonna die?'

"Somewhere there your world starts to disintegrate," Martel remembered yesterday afternoon for the jury entrusted with deciding if Martel's killer, Seti Christopher Scanlan, will also die for the Oct. 11, 2002 crime.

The jurors - 12 permanent members and four alternates - have sat through more than 100 prosecution witnesses used to recreate the crimes of Scanlan and his gang between August and November 2002. Many involved technical explanations of bullet trajectories or amounts of money stolen during robberies. But the heart of the decision facing jurors was laid out yesterday afternoon when Martel told them just what the loss of his wife has meant to him and his children.

"The three of us will never be what we were going to be. That's not changeable as disgusting as it is," Martel said.

A perfect life

Wearing the same dark suit as the morning he kissed his wife good-bye for the last time, Martel told the jury about their relationship from their meeting in August 1992 until her death.

Martel, a Kentucky native, met Alice when both worked for Wells Fargo. Although Martel said he kept up a defensive shield to keep from "tumbling into love," the couple dated and married Sept. 17, 1994 in a Menlo Park church.

They bought a house in South San Francisco and began building their life together.

"We created everything from nothing," Martel said.

Alice Martel was used to obstacles, having moved to the United States as a young teen with her sister and teaching herself the language from a Chinese-English dictionary. With that same dictionary before him on the witness stand, Martel said his wife converted challenges into opportunities and had a quiet leadership quality about her.

The couple was very active, often skiing, and also traveled to Maui, Aruba and Beijing. During a 1998 trip to China with David's parents, Alice prayed to Buddha for motherhood, his mother Eileen testified. Shortly after, they were blessed with two sons, Steven and Matthew.

They bought a house in Millbrae, where the family still lives, and another Victorian in San Francisco which they were renovating for their retirement. Eventually, Alice Martel went back to work for Wells Fargo on Burlingame Avenue.

"I sit here today sure as heck wishing she never got near the place," Martel said.

But at the time, the Burlingame branch seemed perfect - near the couple's Millbrae home and close to the Montessori schools attended by their sons.

Alice Martel reveled in the small perks of her job - the flat-screen computer, her own office - her husband said. The morning of Oct. 11, 2002, David Martel left early to meet the contractor for the Victorian. His wife made a silly face, gave him a kiss and told him not to get his jacket dirty during the meeting.

"And that was it," Martel said.

Saying good-bye

Shortly after 3 p.m. a colleague told Martel that his wife had been shot and the two headed down the Peninsula. Scanlan has admitted shooting Alice Martel while she stood in the doorway of her office and leaving her to bleed on its bathroom floor.

While Scanlan and his three alleged accomplices fled the robbery with about $4,000 and many crimes still ahead of them, Alice Martel was bleeding uncontrollably from a .40-caliber bullet that tore through her abdomen.

David Martel's message to his mother was short: "Mom, this is Dave. This is an emergency. Alice has been shot," she testified.

Not soon after, Alice Martel was declared dead. David Martel asked one of her doctors to tell his children because he couldn't do it. Even later, it is difficult to define death to children that are only 4 and 2-and-a-half, he said.

"Mommy's body stopped working. She doesn't breathe. She doesn't eat. She doesn't sleep," Martel said he told them.

Although his sons understood death from the passing of David Martel's father six weeks before, they had other questions, he said.

What did the bullet do to Mommy? Does it feel like fire?

Martel said he is determined not to let his children - now 5 and 4 - be victims, too. He said they laugh, they smile, they do great in school - all which makes him wonder how much better they would be if their mother was alive.

He talks to mothers rather than fathers at parties. He tries to figure out what moms talk about. He coaches his son's soccer team because it hurts too much to stand alone on the sidelines. But one thing he can't do is pass on his wife's Chinese heritage.

Alice Martel's wanted to teach her sons the language. Now, David Martel said the children don't even realize that they are half-Chinese.

The rest of the family

The death of Alice Martel didn't just hurt her immediate family; it reverberated throughout the entire family, according to her husband's mother and brother. Most telling, they said, is simply in the word "mom."

"In that house the absence of it is overwhelming sometimes," Eileen Martel said.

Brian Martel, David's younger brother, echoed the sentiment.

"You never, ever listen to a kid cry for mommy the same way again," he said, choking up.

Not only did he lose a sister-in-law and friend, but Brian Martel's adopted Chinese daughter also lost someone to which she could relate.

He said the murder also brings guilt that "we all have something David had taken [from him]."

The family moves forward but little things arise that bring it all back, he said.

Just last Christmas, David Martel handed his sister-in-law a shirt that Alice made with Chinese symbols on it the year before for her niece. She was waiting until the little girl was bigger, he said.

The punishment

Under California law, prosecutor Steve Wagstaffe was barred from asking David Martel and the rest of the family what punishment they believe Scanlan deserves. However, Martel said his wife did not suffer excuses in herself or others.

Scanlan himself has said he is willing to die for Martel's death although his defense attorneys are pushing for life in prison without parole. The jury - some who dabbed at their eyes during the testimony - will decide. However, a death penalty conviction carries an automatic appeal.

His alleged accomplices pleaded not guilty and face trial in the fall.

Scanlan remains in custody on no-bail status. The defense begins its case today with Scanlan's older step-sister and residents from Samoa who will speak about his childhood.

Meanwhile, David Martel said he never wants to testify about his wife's murder again because compartmentalizing it is the only way to cope.

"I have to slam a lid on this when I leave here," he said.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 104. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.