A key witness in the Robert Ortloff murder trial recants what she's been telling authorities for 24 years

Patterson never asked her whether she'd read the recent New Times stories on the case, in which she was portrayed as vital to Ortloff's chances of winning an acquittal.

It was the fault of her mother, Susan Pickett, she said.

"[Her mother] continued to go on and on and on about it," Steedman said, referring to the muddy footprint. Police reports suggest that Pickett arrived at the crime scene soon after authorities.

"Would you describe your mother as domineering?" Levy asked her.

"Yes, she would make suggestions," Steedman said. "My grandma saw certain things that I didn't see, and my mother wanted to play the death detective and try to help."

Either she was lying to the Smiths' attorney in 1989 and to Dan Patterson in 2006, or she was lying on the witness stand in the current trial.

Certainly, her testimony and the memorable moment with Kelly Smith in the lobby immediately afterward are eyebrow-raising.

The Smiths have been fixated on Robert Ortloff since they learned of Kathleen's murder.

Shortly after the slaying, family patriarch David Smith told a private investigator and two attorneys (Smith allowed the conversation to be taped) that he would be willing to bribe authorities to get Ortloff charged.

It's possible, of course, that Ortloff indeed is guilty as charged, though the evidence against him remains skimpy.

But it seems that Lisa Steedman's testimony has ripped a hole in Ortloff's defense that will be difficult for his attorneys to repair before a jury begins its deliberations in a week or two.