The words of his daughter - "Mommy got her head split open and she's dead" and "Daddy cut Mommy" - were used against David Bush in court Thursday.

On Monday, Misty Knievel, born Misty Bush, testified that she remembered nothing from December of 1990, when her father, David Bush, is accused of killing her mother and his wife, Lynn Bush.

On Thursday, her counselors from the years after Lynn Bush's disappearance spoke for Misty. Both Lynn Gordon, a counselor in Sheridan, and Robin Eicher, a child psychiatrist who worked in Laramie, documented multiple incidents where Misty talked about seeing her mom dead, and how her dad was responsible.

Independent of each other, they both determined that Misty Knievel was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, and that it was caused by her mother's disappearance, which she may have witnessed. Though the girl didn't talk about traumatic events at every session, Gordon said Misty exhibited thematic behaviors associated with PTSD.

Gordon, who in 1991 was a counselor employed at Northern Wyoming Mental Health Center in Sheridan, testified that she didn't believe Misty, whom she counseled from ages 3 to 5, was coached to say damning things about her father.

Those diagnosed with PTSD feel like the traumatic event is happening again, Gordon said. She said Misty re-enacted what appeared to be a traumatic event. She had overcome her fear of play knives, Gordon said, and took one of them and poked a baby doll with it.

"Daddy cut Mommy," she said.

The reason, Gordon said under oath, was that the girl had witnessed the death of her mother at the hands of her father when she was just 2.

On Nov. 27, 1991, Gayle Knievel, Misty's grandmother, brought the girl to Gordon's office, according to a report Gordon wrote at the time and read from the stand Thursday.

"This is where we talk about my mother," Gordon said Misty told her.

The subject changed, until Gayle Knievel left the office. Then, Gordon said, she and Misty began to draw pictures and write letters to Lynn Bush.

"Mommy is dead," Misty said.

Gordon asked, "Did you see Mommy die?"

"No, but my Mommy is dead."

"Where is she?"

"In the mountain," she said. "I miss my Mommy. Daddy's bad."

Gordon said in court that Misty began to discuss the event with her after David Bush was granted visitation rights months into their time together. The girl moved in with her grandparents soon after Lynn Bush disappeared in December of 1990.

Eicher, a child psychiatrist in Laramie at the time, spent three sessions with Misty, two in June of '92 and another in July of '93. She was hired to evaluate the girl's mental health as part of a custody hearing.

The second time they met in June, they got supplies to make drawings of their moms, Eicher said. Misty told her she needed tape. After they drew their mothers, Eicher said, Misty put Scotch tape over their stomachs.

"We have to put it on Mommy's owies," Eicher said Misty told her.

Eicher said although she only asked about the picture, Misty said, "I don't want to live with Daddy."

"This child was extremely anxious and agitated and it was difficult session to see because she was so distressed," Eicher said.

Eicher said she started working with children in 1982. The session with Misty and the tape, she said later on during her testimony, "was the most difficult session I've ever sat through in my entire life."

The next July, they met again, and Misty drew another picture. Eicher said she asked about it.

"It's just a stupid picture like Daddy draws," Misty responded. "I don't like daddy. I just love him though. I don't like him cause he killed my Mommy."

Natrona County District Attorney Michael Blonigen asked both women about symptoms of someone with PTSD. Gordon and Reicher both said that people who've either personally experienced or witnessed life-threatening situations are at risk.

Gordon said when she first began to counsel Misty, the girl appeared sullen and withdrawn. It got worse when David Bush began to visit his daughter, Gordon said.

During the two years that Gordon counseled her, Misty began to say things that fit into themes, she said. They included "Daddy cutting Mommy," "bloody Mommy" and "Mommy had an owie."

Defense attorney Vaughn Neubauer focussed questioning on the possibility that the girl was coached by her grandparents, and both experts denied it.

Eicher said she asked Misty what was under the tape on her mom's stomach, and Misty said, "a blanket." It was a peculiar answer, she said, one she didn't believe anyone would have told her to say. She said she would have expected an adult who'd coached Misty to make her say "blood" or "a cut."

Questioning Gordon, Neubauer referred to a report she wrote after an Oct. 14, 1991, session with Misty. In the report, he asked if Gordon wrote that it's extremely typical of children to say what adults want them to say, especially when the same question is put to them repeatedly.

Gordon agreed.

Blonigen tried to establish that the only person coaching Misty was David Bush.

In his redirect, Blonigen asked Gordon to read the passage from the report directly above the aforementioned statements. It turned out that her report had to do with David Bush asking his daughter a question after she said that he'd hurt Mommy.

"Who told you to say that?" Gordon wrote that David Bush said.

"Misty did," Misty responded, according to the report.

"Who told you to say that?" David Bush asked her again.

"Misty did."

After hearing the same question multiple times, according to Gordon, Misty finally told her father, "Gramma did."

Contact reporter Cory Matteson at (307) 266-0589 or cory.matteson@casperstartribune.net.