Almost four years after a young Knox County woman was found murdered on the side of a rural road, the trial for her suspected killer is finally underway.
Shawn Smoot, 44, is charged with first-degree murder in the October 2011 death of his former girlfriend and employee Brooke Morris. Investigators say Smoot shot the 23-year-old and dumped her body in Roane County.
It took three days for a jury to be seated to hear the trial, and the panel will be sequestered until the trial is finished.
On Thursday, opening arguments began.
Prosecutor Tiffany Smith, an assistant district attorney with the ninth judicial district, painted Smoot as a man who was possessive, jealous, and obsessed with Morris. In her opening statement, she said Smoot had attacked Morris before in her apartment. The attack prompted Morris to get a restraining order against Smoot.
Without placing it in context for the jury, Smith also quoted an apology letter that Smoot wrote to Morris' landlord after the alleged attack, saying “Women tend to make us do crazy things. Unfortunately that night was one of them."
The prosecution claims that the restraining order against Smoot ruined his marriage and his life, and eventually caused him to murder her.
Defense attorney Bob Jolley told the jury there was no physical evidence tying Smoot to the roadside where Morris' body was found. He also said Morris went before a judge before her murder, to rescind the restraining order and allow the pair to have contact again.
The first witness called to the stand was Morris' mother, Tina Gregg. Prosecutor Robert Edwards had her identify a photo of Morris, which was admitted into evidence so the jury could see it.
The woman, who along with her husband discovered Morris' body, then testified about that night. She said she was watching for deer along the road when she spotted the body. She said she directed her young granddaughter to cover her face with a jacket so she couldn't see what they had discovered. She called 911 to report the body, and prosecutors played the 911 call for the jury.
Detective Lt. Art Wolf of the Roane County Sheriff's Office was then called to the stand. He identified the gun casings found at the scene and entered into evidence, and talked about blood that was found inside Morris' purse and on her clothing.
He said he spent most of the night processing the scene.
Testimony is expected to continue for two to three weeks.
10News will continue to follow this story on WBIR and WBIR.com.
