Forensic experts: Blood, bullets, cleaning supplies found inside of Range Rover after Raleigh man killed in botched Craigslist sale
Justin Merritt's defense team admitted he shot Andy Banks in September 2020 during a botched Craigslist transaction over a Range Rover. Merritt's lawyer said the murder was not premeditated.
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Prosecutors argue Andy Banks was killed in September 2020 while trying to sell his silver Range Rover in Raleigh’s Village District. Banks was 39.
A total of 14 witnesses took the stand in the trial on Wednesday.
Two forensic experts from the City-County Bureau of Identification; a Danville, Virginia, police officer and a Raleigh police detective, a specialist in cellphone data, testified.
The Range Rover was found draped in a tarp days after Banks went missing on Sept. 12, 2020. It was found behind a church near Merritt’s home in Danville, Virginia. Banks' body was then found in a nearby field.
Raleigh police detective Gory Mendez traced Merritt's phone to a field in Virginia where he found Banks' body, five days after he disappeared.
"I yelled for others, indicated I had located something," Mendez said Wednesday in court.
In court, forensic experts discussed blood, bullets and cleaning supplies found inside the Range Rover.
On Wednesday, there was discussion about the red Patagonia raincoat Banks was last wearing. It was found with bullet holes and blood.
“This is the inside of the hood of the rain jacket where you can see red in color stains,” said crime scene investigator agent Suzanna Stirewalt while looking at a picture of the jacket. “You remove the weather stripping and we found this projectile lodged into that a-frame.”
Stirewalt clarified that the projectile was from a used bullet.
Merritt is not expected to take the stand in his defense.
However, toward the end of court on Wednesday, a video was played of a Raleigh police detective's September 2020 interview with Merritt while they were in Danville, Virginia.
"I'm investigating something that happened in Raleigh," the detective said in the video. "That is why I am here in Danville."
"What is it that I can do to get out of this ... out of everything?" Merritt said.
The medical examiner is expected to take the stand on Thursday, which is when the state intends to wrap up its case. Closing arguments are set to take place this week.
If convicted of murder, Merritt will automatically receive a life sentence in prison.
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