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The second day of testimony in the Jennifer Heckel murder trial is over. Heckel was shot to death inside her home in June 2011. Christopher Logsdon is on trail. Prosecutors say Logsdon shot Heckel thinking she was someone else, a woman who owed him drug money.
Hutchinson detectives didn't get a lead in Heckel's death until two weeks after her murder. The lead came when Detective Dean Harcrow was talking to Billy Joe Craig, a man also charged with Heckel's murder.
"I asked him (Craig) what he knew about the Heckel case and he said he heard that she got shot in the head," said detective Dean Harcrow. The prosecution asked why that raised a red flag for detectives. Harcrow testified that no one knew besides the people at the crime scene and police that Heckel had been shot in the head.
From that conversation, Harcrow began to learn about Logsdon and details he and Craig knew about the shooting. Those details included text message which talked about the murder. But the defense asked whether the text messages indicated which murder they were talking about. The detective said no.
Earlier in the day, Heckel's now 6-year-old son testified. He was on the stand for less than 15 minutes. He told jurors we was watching cartoons in the front room and his mom was in the kitchen on June 14, 2011. He says he saw a man walk up to the house and a short time later he heard several loud booms. He says he thought they were gunshots.
The boy says he stayed in the front room until they were gone. Neighbors testified Thursday that he then went to their house to say his mom was hurt.
Prosecutors didn't ask the boy specific questions about his mother and the defense did not cross examine him.
Heckel's husband, mother, father and her in-laws also took the stand Friday. Many of them cried as they talked about Heckel's life and the loving relationship she had with her husband and son.
Friday's testimony also focused on evidence collected from Heckel's home. Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents say they never recovered a weapon. But based on Heckel's injuries, the shooter was only a few feet away when she was shot.
Investigators say four bullets were fired in Heckel's home. They believe the first missed her, the second grazed her side, the third went through her back and the fourth hit her in the head.
Testimony will continue Monday morning. The trial is expected to last up to six weeks. Prosecutors plan to call Craig to testify. His trial for Heckel's murder is scheduled for January.