CHARLOTTE, Tenn. — Prosecutors showed a key piece of evidence in Steven Wiggins' capital murder trial Wednesday, airing Dickson County police officer Daniel Baker's body camera footage to the court.
The video, which the judge warned would be very disturbing, showed the last moments of Sgt. Baker's life as he was shot to death after asking Wiggins to exit his vehicle during a traffic stop on May 30, 2018.
Prosecutors say the killing was "execution-style," calling TBI Special Agent Nathan Neese to the stand Wednesday, who walked the jury through the gut-wrenching moments Baker collapsed in the road after already being shot once.
"Sgt. Baker would have been laying on his back and the camera is pointing to the sky and then you hear subsequently two more shots, and then just a few minutes later three final shots," Neese said.
The video, in its entirety, also showed Wiggins loading Baker's body into his patrol vehicle and driving away in it. The patrol vehicle, which was driven to a remote field, was found later the same morning with Baker's body in the back seat. Investigators say Wiggins lit parts of the car and Baker's body on fire.
As testimony continued Wednesday afternoon with Wiggins' interrogation video, a hush covered the Dickson County Courthouse when the defense stood up and requested a mistrial, claiming a portion of the interrogation video wasn't redacted as it should've been. After a brief recess, Judge David Wolfe denied the request for a mistrial.
A big question in the case is whether Baker's murder was premeditated. Prosecutors called Brian Hudnall to the stand, an acquaintance of Wiggins, to recount what Wiggins allegedly said to him one day prior to May 30, 2018, after Hudnall noticed a pistol in his lap.
"Did you tell [Wiggins] to be careful riding around Dickson with a pistol in his lap?" District Attorney Ray Crouch asked. "And what was his response when you told him that?"
"If anybody tries to arrest me I'll smoke their [expletive]," Hudnall answered.
The defense then questioned Hudnall's credibility, asking him why he shared that information with investigators months after hearing about the deadly shooting of Sgt. Baker. Hudnall, who admitted he was in some legal trouble at the time, testified, he didn't know why.
The state also showed video evidence, taken by the TBI, showing that Wiggins' driver-side door worked properly despite Wiggins claiming during the fatal traffic stop with Baker that it didn't. That claim forced Baker around to the passenger side, where he was shot.
The prosecution is expected to rest its case Wednesday night or Thursday.