With jury selection completed the Marcia Trimble murder case will begin at 8:30 this morning. The jury consists of seven women and five men.
The first witness is expected to be Virginia Trimble, Marcia’s mother.
9-year-old Marcia disappeared Feb. 25, 1975 while delivering girlscout cookies. Evidence found when her body was discovered led police to believe that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
Jerome Barrett was convicted earlier this year of murdering Vanderbilt University student Sarah Des Prez in 1975.
He was arrested and charged with Marcia’s death in early 2008. Prosecutors, in opening statements will tell the jury that Barrett's DNA was found on Marcia's blouse.
The trial will be streamed by several local stations and TruTV may also carry the trial.
Added note:
Sprocket here. Like a commenter mentioned, Steve Huff of True Crime Report was from the Nashville area before moving to Georgia, and has written extensively about the Trimble case on his old blog, True Crime Weblog. Here is a link to the stories he as previously written on that blog.
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14 comments:
Here in Middle Tennessee, this case was as big as the JonBenet Ramsey murder. TruTV is carrying it.
David From TN
Where was Marcia murdered? This sounds like a really interesting case.
Marcia looks like a younger version of Martha Moxley.
I think if they have DNA they will have a conviction.
Wow, she does resemble Martha Moxley!
It seems the defense is going to suggest that Marcia was kidnapped and killed somewhere else, and then placed in the garage. The point of this theory is that Marcia was supposedly killed after March 12 (when Barrett was arrested for rape).
An alternative defense theory is to say that the original FBI profile was correct. This was that a teenage boy (or boys) from the neighborhood was the killer.
David From TN
My friend (and a fantastic reporter/author) Lisa Sweetingham is the correspondent in the field for TruTv today. I first met Lisa during the Robert Blake murder trial back in 2004-2005. If you have any questions about the case for Lisa, I can pass them on to her. I can't guarantee an answer on each one, but I can certainly try!
This is going to be an incredibly interesting case to prove since it happened back in 1975. It can possibly be a challenge.
David From TN
Thanks for the info on possible defense theories.
Barrett already has a life sentence, so another life sentence won't mean much except to the Trimble family.
Any idea how the defense is going to attempt to explain away Barrett's DNA on Marcia's shirt and pants?
Steve Huff also wrote extensively on Marcia's case on one of is previous blogs, not sure which one.
I am guessing his work on this case is archived somewhere. He lived across town from where the murder took place, and is very eloquent in his describing how this impacted his life.
Donchais,
The defense hasn't tried to explain the DNA yet. So far, they are relying on cross-examining the prosecution witnesses.
Yes, she does resemble Martha Moxley, and was killed about 8 months before. Belle Haven in Greenwich was a gated and guarded place. Green Hills in Nashville is not as affluent and was and is not gated. Anyone can drive a car into Green Hills. I did a couple of months ago.
Jerome Barrett was probably in a vehicle. He was convicted that year of the rape of a Belmont student. Barrett was convicted in January 2009 (through DNA) of the rape-murder of Sarah Des Prez, a Vanderbilt student living in an apartment. Both of these crimes were not far from Green Hills.
David From TN
From Jesdamala,
I posted about Steve Huff's interest in this case. I thank you Sprocket for finding the links.
He has written eloquently about how this was an impact on his early life.
Many years ago, in my yearly life, a young woman was savagely murdered in my neighborhood, Stephanie Gorman, and her story has been much documented,by Ellroy, however, nobody has ever been called to answer. I can tell you that for YEARS I would not stay in my house alone, living only blocks from this tragedy.
While it is more than wonderful that eventually these cold cases are solved, there are so many who are not, will never be. And while they impact the families, without a doubt, and friends, they also impact anybody who every lived close, and spent terrified years as a result.
http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/display.php?journal_id=112
Kudos to Steve Huff who truly was able to grasp the impact such random and unsolved murders have on communities.
The jury deliberated 7 hours on Friday without reaching a verdict. They will begin again at 8:30 AM on Saturday.
David From TN
Jerome Barrett was convicted today of 2nd Degree Murder in the death of Marcia Trimble.
David From TN
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