I – The Prosecution
Persons of the Jury, throughout this trial, we will show scientific evidence that places the defendant, Bobby Wilson, at the scene of the murder of one Miss Jessie Vargus, on the night of the night of May 28th. We will show how he sought out her illegal services and killed her in cold blood, fleeing the scene of the crime, having taken without giving her wages upon. We will show that he is a cold and calculated killer who deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The prosecutor for the state scanned the jury one last time, fixing his eyes on a few of the men, before sitting down in his seat again.
“Please give us your opening statement, counselor,” Judge Todd said, directing his glance at the defense.
“Thank you, your honor.” William Gates stood up, first compassionately glancing toward Mr. Wilson. He looked at the jury.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is quite impossible for Mr. Wilson to have committed the crimes he is being accused of in this courtroom. We have solid evidence from bank statements, witnesses, and toll booth charges that place Bobby in a completely different city while Miss Jessie Vargus was murdered. We will also show that Mr. Wilson is not a person who seeks such illegal services, and thus would not have had the opportunity or the motive to commit the crimes he is being accused of committing. Thank you.
Mr. Gates sat down and looked back up at the judge.
Judge Todd glanced at the jury and back at the prosecutor’s podium. “Mr. Black, are your ready to present your case?”
“I am, your honor.”
“You may begin.”
Today, I want to tell you a sad story about the death of a fellow human being. This event occurred at a house rented as a short-term rental. A man and a woman consented to meet there for purposes that are known to be illegal. But what happened turned from controversial to cold-blooded murder. We believe that once the two people closed the door, a discovery occurred that made the man lose control and murder the woman he brought in there with him. It was not his intent, but it happened.
Sadly, a hammer coincidentally lay on the floor beside a table. Probably forgotten by a repair man fixing a newly replaced window. That hammer became a murder weapon used to brutally assault the woman.
Now, I am about to show you some disturbing photographs. Photographs taken by the crime scene investigators when they first arrived on the scene. Please direct your attention to the screen.
Mr. Black picked up a clicker from his table and pointed it toward the screen hanging on the wall. He showed one picture of a dead body, mangled in the head.
This is the aftermath of the scene. You can see here the poor woman who just wanted to make to money to eat, is now deceased. Her head had been crushed in at several points. She is almost unrecognizable.
Mr. Black pushed the button displaying another picture. A few members of the jury forced themselves to look at the screen. This photo was less brutal and more instructive.
In this photo, you are looking at what is called a' blood splatter' in the crime scene analysis world. You can see three distinct lines. According to our investigator, whom you will hear from directly confirming his expert testimony, this means that Mr. Wilson swung the hammer into a raised position forcefully at least three times. So the victim was hit at least four times in the head.
Here is a report from the autopsy showing five distinct contact points between the hammer and the victim. Certainly within the three splatter patterns.
This is a horrible crime, but how do we know Mr. Wilson did the crime? As you know, we utilize science, and not speculation. We will soon show you evidence demonstrating Mr. Wilson to be the person who was in that room when the brutal murder took place.
Before I show you that evidence, however, I want to provide a motive. To start, you need to know something about Jessie Vargus. She is a transgender female. Now some of you may not agree with such a lifestyle, but is that really a cause to murder someone?
This poor woman was just trying to make enough money to eat. While the profession she chose to engage is illegal, murder is not the solution. We will demonstrate from social media posts here that Mr. Wilson hates transgender people.
“Objection, your honor!” Mr. Gates yelled as soon as the word ‘hate’ exited the mouth of the prosecutor. “It is mischaracterization to describe my client at hateful.
“Sustained,” Judge Todd said. “Do not characterize the defendant.”
Let me rephrase. It is clear from the social media posts that Mr. Wilson is an active member of a church that does not affirm the transgender lifestyle. This radicalization could easily lead him to the motive necessary to commit such a crime. To not embrace this lifestyle is to want to erase the lifestyle, so we have established a motive. It is our belief that he sought out the services of a prostitute, but upon finding she was transgender, he killed her out of disregard for her lifestyle.
Mr. Black stopped to scan the faces of the jury. He subtly nodded toward two people whom he thought looked sympathetic to his argument. He continued on.
The police recovered the hammer, used as the murder weapon, at the scene. The murderer wiped the hammer clean of blood or fingerprints, but the reconstruction of the crime scene with computer models shows that a hammer exactly like this was used in the murder. So we clearly see an attempt to hide aspects of the crime by cleaning the weapon.
Crime scene investigators found a print on the door lock. You can see that print on the screen now. Notice that it is a perfect match of prints we have on file for Mr. Wilson according to his biometric identification card. They also found DNA at the scene, also a perfect match for Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Black stopped again to let the jury take in the photos of the fingerprint and the DNA match.
Finally, we reached out to the property owner and discovered they have a camera in the room. Here is a relevant video.
The prosecutor played a video clip of a man and a woman walking into the room. The woman was clearly the victim, and the man looked perfectly at the camera, revealing a perfect match for Mr. Wilson.
The jury looked at the video clip of the man walking into the crime scene and then they glanced at Mr. Wilson at his table. Many of them nodded their head in confirmation that the video showed them the man who was on trial.
Mr. Wilson looked back, scanning the faces. Nearly each person, having made eye contact, looked away from him. One man snarled at him, holding his eye contact menacingly. His heart dropped as the thought ran through his mind that the jury might declare him guilty. He almost thought himself guilty.
Persons of the jury, I have summarized our evidence. The defendant met Jessie Vargus and then turned to murder because of her lifestyle. We have the defendant at the scene with video evidence. Mr. Wilson’s DNA and fingerprints were found at the scene, and we know he attends a church that does not agree with the lifestyle Jessie Vargus lived. We have location, evidence, and motive. Over the next few days, we will bring in expert witnesses to verify the evidence we have summarized to you today.
“Thank you, Mr. Black,” Judge Todd said. “We will be adjourned for today. I want to remind the jury not to watch any coverage of this trial, and to be back at 8:00 tomorrow morning to hear from the expert witnesses.”
