[Watch coverage of the trial on the Law&Crime Network with live in-studio analysis in the player above. For a raw feed of the trial, watch in the player below this article.]
Friday, the murder trial of George Burch continues in Wisconsin. Burch is accused of killing Nicole VanderHeyden, who disappeared on May 21, 2016. Burch and VanderHeyden allegedly met that same evening. Burch is now facing a trial for first-degree intentional murder, but he insists that he didn’t do it. Watch live in the player above.
Burch’s DNA was found on VanderHeyden’s body, and he admits that he was with her the night of May 21. He has said that he was having sex with her in a car, when VanderHeyden’s boyfriend, Douglass Detrie, found them. Burch said that Detrie then killed the woman, and threatened Burch at gunpoint, making him move the body to the spot where investigators later found her.
Detrie took the stand over the course of two days, including on Thursday. He talked about what happened the day VanderHeyden disappeared, and how he received a number of angry text messages from her that night. When she didn’t come home that night, or the next day, he eventually notified the police, who viewed him as a potential suspect. Detrie was even arrested, only to be released later.
Detrie told the court that while VanderHeyden was missing, he had looked for her and asked about her, not knowing where she could be. During cross-examination, Burch’s defense attorney accused him of knowing all along what happened to her, but Detrie denied this.
Detrie also talked about his experience dealing with police, and how he cooperated with them.
Other testimony on Thursday dealt with the police’s investigation of Detrie and VanderHeyden’s home, and their discussions with Detrie. When police told him that they found a body, Detrie broke down crying and “seemed to be hyperventilating,” Sgt. Jason Katers told the court.
The prosecution will continue to call witnesses on Friday, and are expected to present more witnesses on Monday and possibly Tuesday, before the defense will have an opportunity to present their case.
Stay with Law&Crime.com and the Law&Crime Network for continuing coverage of the trial.
[Image via Brown County Jail]
