A man who was once thought to be a suspect in the murder of the Monroe County election commissioner failed to show up in court Thursday as a witness.
Jessica Kennedy is charged with the 2010 murder of Jim Miller.
During testimony this week, jurors have watched hours of taped interviews by Kennedy, in which both prosecutors and the defense acknowledge her story has changed several times.
Brandon Steele, who investigators once considered a suspect in the murder, and the defense claimed intimidated Kennedy into confessing to the crime, ignored a subpoena to show up in court.
The judge issued a "material witness bond" for Steele, and ordered deputies to pick him up. He will remain in custody through the trial unless he pays a $1000 bond.
At different times, Kennedy has claimed she witnessed Miller's murder and even confessed to being a part of it at one point. In court Thursday, jurors saw a video taped re-enactment of the crime, where Kennedy went with investigators to the scene of the murder and showed them how she says it played out.
The judge prevented the playing of another videotaped interview, saying that it was obvious that Kennedy's story had changed several times and that it wasn't necessary to watch another one. The audio quality on the recordings is poor, and the jurors claimed earlier this week they were having a hard time understanding what was being said.
Detective Brannon with the Monroe County Sheriff's Department took the stand on Thursday. He showed a watch and two rings that were removed from Miller's body. The defense asked if the motive for the murder was robbery, why wasn't the jewelry taken? Det. Brannon said it's not that unusual for valuable things to be left behind at crime scenes.
Sounds like the guy got messed up with a bunch or drug heads.