Jury hears opening arguments, testimony in first day of murder trial

On Dec. 12, 2011, Chief Deputy Fred Wiedeburg of the Cheyenne County Sheriff's office kicked in the door of a Sioux Meadows apartment and found the body of April Smith.

Tuesday in Cheyenne County District Court a jury of four men and eight women heard opening arguments during the first day of the State of Nebraska vs. Craig Johnson.

Johnson faces charges of first-degree murder a class IA felony, use of a weapon to commit a felony, a class II felony, possession of a deadly weapon by a felon, a class III felony and habitual criminality in connection with the Dec. 11, 2011 death of the 42-year-old Smith.

Kelly Breen and Todd Lancaster with the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy represent the defense while Corey O'Brien and George Welch, both assistant Nebraska attorneys general, represent the prosecution.

During opening statements O'Brien worked to convince the jury that Johnson was the only possible perpetrator in this crime. He described a relationship full of jealousy between Johnson and Smith. The road to the victim's death was full of twists and turns, he said.

Smith was going through a rough patch with her husband, Ed Smith, who'd moved out of their Sioux Meadows apartment in 2011, O'Brien said. Johnson moved in shortly after this.

"What started out as mutual flirtation ended in a blossoming relationship very quickly," O'Brien said.

Neighbors frequently heard April Smith and Johnson arguing and the situation was complicated by the fact that Ed Smith was never completely out of the picture. After concerned friends and family contacted police on the day of the incident, law enforcement discovered April Smith's body.

At that point Johnson was missing as well.

On Dec. 15, 2011, Johnson was pulled over in Michigan while driving Smith's van, which now had South Dakota license plates in place of her Nebraska ones, O'Brien said.

After nearly a 20 minute chase with speeds exceeding 100 mph, Johnson was stopped with spike strips.

O'Brien described the physical evidence pointing to Johnson including fingerprints on a possible weapon at the apartment and clothing with Smith's blood on it in the van.

"The timing of anyone other than Craig Johnson committing this crime is impossible," O'Brien said.

All evidence points to Johnson, he added.

Breen attempted to persuade the jury that there were other possibilities, including that Smith's murder was a drug related crime. Breen painted the picture of a mutually dysfunctional relationship between Smith and Johnson.

"There was a stormy relationship there," Breen said. "There was a lot of verbal abuse."

Smith could hold her own, he contended: "This was not a lady that was a shrinking violet."

We often say the most awful, vile things to those we love the most, he said, but there was no evidence that Johnson ever committed any violence against the victim.

"The timeline doesn't rule out other people being at Smith's residence," Breen said.

He admitted that something violent obviously happened to Smith.

"April Smith was tortured to death by a person or persons unknown," Breen said.

The presence of unidentified hair and threads in the victim's fingernails was a significant find, he said.

The defendant's flight from Nebraska is not evidence of his guilt, Breen claimed.

"He is a black man who's lived in Cheyenne County for less than a year," Breen said.

Johnson had no relatives in the area. Breen asked the jury to imagine that Johnson found his live-in girlfriend dead in the apartment they shared.

"You can draw the inference that he flees in fear," Breen said. "He knew he'd be the number one suspect in this crime."

The autopsy found that the multiple prescription drugs in Smith's system contributed to her death, he added, including a "lethal dose" of hydrocodone.

Hydrocodone is a highly addictive narcotic. The fact that there was such a large amount of the drug in her system indicated that she was an abuser and had a habit that couldn't be satisfied by prescription, Breen claimed.

"When you abuse narcotics you enter a dangerous playground with dangerous playmates," Breen said.

His remarks focused on the matter that the hard forensic evidence in this case raises reasonable doubt. The attorney asked the jury for acquittal.

Many of Smith's family members testified about the last time they saw the woman.

Robert Gray, Smith's nephew, and his wife Nicole Gray both testified. They lived with Smith for a time in 2010 at her residence at Sioux Meadows. The Grays indicated they spoke daily with Smith and visited her most nights in the time directly before her murder.

The last time the Grays claimed to have seen Smith was the night of Dec. 10, 2011, when they went to her home for a game night with their children. Both Robert and Nicole Gray said Johnson had been drinking that night and that he left at one point to get more beer.

Johnson was acting differently than usual that night, Robert Gray said. At one point Johnson mentioned his frustration with men flirting with Smith at her place of work.

"He was upset about that," Robert Gray said.

Johnson was also reportedly upset that Ed Smith fixed the brakes on April Smith's van.

When Robert Gray and his wife left, Johnson and Smith weren't arguing, but there was tension in the room, he said.

The Grays planned to go to Smith's house the next day, but were unable to contact her. The Grays became concerned after many phone calls went unanswered and they noticed Smith's house was locked and dark.

"April and I were extremely close, she was like another mother to me," Nicole Gray said.

Nicole Gray admitted that Johnson got along fine with she and her children and that it was normal for them to drink while playing games.

The next witness for the state was Ed Smith, the victim's husband at the time of her death. He'd been married to April Smith for around 20 years at the time of her murder.

The Smiths began having relationship problems in spring 2011 Ed Smith claimed. He moved some of his things out of her place at Sioux Meadows where they lived together at that point. She needed space and was having health issues, so he decided to give it to her, he said.

Even though they were no longer living together, the Smiths kept in close touch, texting and calling often. Ed Smith continued to drive the van they shared when he was in Sidney. He also helped his wife pay bills and did odd jobs for her. He told the court that he was aware of the relationship between Johnson and his wife and even went to their apartment and shared Thanksgiving dinner with them and other family members.

Ed Smith last saw April Smith on Dec. 10, 2011, he claimed. He'd just repaired the brakes on the van. After that she dropped Ed Smith off at his truck so he could leave town for work.

"I gave her a hug and a kiss goodbye and I told her I'd see her when I got back into town," Ed Smith said.

He texted April Smith over the weekend on both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon and received responses both times, he said.

Ed Smith was adamant that he didn't harm April Smith on Dec. 11, 2011. The text he received on Dec. 11 in the afternoon was from April Smith's phone, but he admitted he couldn't be sure who really sent it.

"I guess somebody could have had her phone, yes," Ed Smith told the court.

Many family members testified that April Smith did not abuse the medication she took for back pain, but all admitted they were never in her company all day long and that they had no knowledge of her actions when she was alone.

Leonard and Sharon Merritt, who shared an apartment wall with Smith at Sioux Meadows, testified they could hear arguing on a fairly regular basis through the thin wall their apartment shared. On the weekend Smith went missing, the Merritts agreed that they heard a loud argument between who they believed to be Johnson and Smith.

"There was a big argument and that's the last thing I heard or seen until Fred (Wiedeburg) came to the house," Leonard Merritt said.

The Merritts recalled hearing arguing from the abutting apartment one or two times per month in the time Johnson and Smith shared the apartment. The Merrits attempted to intervene multiple times and were told by both Smith and Johnson to mind their own business, they said.

Leonard Merritt acknowledged that Smith probably heard he and his wife argue, as well, and that he never had a problem with Johnson in the past.

As the trial progressed to the afternoon, both Fred Wiedeburg, Chief Deputy at the Cheyenne County Sheriff's Office, and investigator Monty Lovelace with the Nebraska State Patrol testified about their parts in the investigation.

On Dec. 12, 2011, Wiedeburg arrived at April Smith's residence for a welfare check. He knocked loudly on the doors and tried to look in the windows, receiving no response.

He spoke with her family and friends, none of which could get a hold of her. When Wiedeburg returned to the residence and again received no answer, he forcibly entered by kicking in the door.

"As we entered the kitchen you could see the remains of a female lying face down on the floor," Wiedeburg said.

He found no one else at the residence. He checked for signs of life and backed out of the scene.

"It looked like a long struggle had gone on in this residence," Wiedeburg said.

After this, Wiedeburg called Nebraska State patrol for assistance in investigating the case.

Lovelace agreed that there were signs that April Smith had been fighting for her life in the apartment.

He found evidence of the victim's blood in both bedrooms and in the bathroom. He indicated that it looked as if something had been placed around her neck and that she'd been stabbed in the abdomen. Lovelace also discovered clumps of hair and broken acrylic finger nails.

Testimony continues on Wednesday. The trial is expected to last for several days.