Andy Brown Charged With Killing Boss
The trial has begun for Andy Brown, the 37-year-old Portage man accused of murdering his boss. Brown is facing charges of first degree murder (premeditated) and felony firearm, as a result of his having allegedly shot prominent Sturgis accountant, David Locey, in his office on October 2nd, 2013.
The day before the murder, Brown and Locey had an emotional meeting concerning allegations of embezzlement against Brown. Joy Stevens, the office manager for Locey’s CPA office in Sturgis, testified at the preliminary hearing that Locey had received “a letter from an attorney in Grand Rapids stating they had problems with Andy and were thinking about pressing charges of embezzlement.”
Apparently Brown also confessed during that meeting to cashing checks that had belonged to the firm and using the money for personal gain. “He was on the verge of being fired. Mr. Brown was not happy about that. And because of that imminent firing, he chose to murder David Locey.” said Prosecutor John McDonough.
But defense attorney, Michael Hills, doesn’t agree with the prosecution’s assessment of the situation. “There is a lot of smoke but it doesn’t relate to this homicide,” Hills said. “There is a substantial lack of evidence … There is zero motive.”
Investigators never found the murder weapon, a gun determined to be a .38 caliber, based on analysis of bullet fragments and casings found at the scene, nor have they been able to pinpoint Brown’s location at the time of the murder.
St. Joseph County District Court Judge Jeff Middleton decided that there was sufficient probable cause to send the case to trial, but said that there were many unanswered questions that the prosecution would need to address during trial. He also pointed out that it was critical for the prosecution to get the test results from blood analysis done on Brown’s clothing, and also the results from the gunpowder residue swabs from Brown’s hands.
After two full days of selection, a 12-member jury was seated by end of day on Wednesday, June 25th. Opening statements were made on Thursday morning, June 26th. The trial is expected to go on for as long as three weeks.