IRON COUNTY -- The trial began on Tuesday for an Iron County man being charged with murder and witness intimidation.
David Anthony Levack is on trial for homicide felony murder, home invasion, and witness intimidation. The victim of these suspected crimes was 81-year-old Joyce Johnson, who was found dead in her home last September. Johnson was scheduled to testify in a stolen property case against Levack the day she was found.
The jury was selected on Monday evening, and the trial finally got underway on Tuesday morning when the defense and prosecution presented their opening arguments.
The prosecuting attorney says that cell phones and calls made from around the time of Johnson's death put Levack in the vicinity on days the murder could have occurred. Police found Johnson dead in her bathtub when they forcibly entered her home after she failed to answer phone calls. An autopsy showed that Johnson had died from strangulation.
The defense attorney says there is no physical evidence that Levack was in the home. There are no fingerprints or DNA that suggests he was inside. The attorney also stated that Levack owns multiple phones and loans them out to other people, so there is no way to tell he was the person on the phone near the house at the time of the murder.
The prosecutor then called their first witness, Johnson's daughter.
We will provide updates on the case as it unfolds.
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