SPRINGFIELD — After seven delays, the murder case for a man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend is now in the hands of a jury.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, Candance Prunty had three young boys when she was killed more than a decade ago.
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Five years ago, her ex-boyfriend Thomas Albert was charged with her murder.
Albert was dating Prunty briefly in the summer of 2015, when she broke off the relationship.
That October, someone shot and killed her inside her Springfield home while her boys were at school.
Prosecutors said it was Albert and that his being upset about the breakup was the motive.
In their closing arguments on Friday, the defense said other men in Prunty’s life had more damaging evidence against them.
The defense pointed to what they called the “monumental mistake” in the Springfield Police investigation; they said police had “tunnel vision” on Albert from the jump and cited a lack of evidence.
Prosecutors told the jury, don’t look at what we don’t have, look at the evidence and use your logic.
“Ladies and gentlemen, at the beginning of his trial on Monday. Mr. Albert will be presumed innocent. As he sits here before you today, he is guilty of an aggravated murder of Candance Prunty,” Aaron Heskett, Assistant Clark County Prosecutor, said.
“There’s nothing that ties Thomas to the scene. There’s no DNA evidence, there’s no fingerprint evidence, there’s no hair fibers, there’s no blood, there was no blood on his clothing,” Ronald Keller, Albert’s defense lawyer, said. “Quite simply, they have miserably failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The jury has just been sent the case for deliberation.
We will continue to follow the story.
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