Thirteen witnesses took the stand Wednesday as testimony began in the trial of Michael Beard. He's charged with first and second degree murder for the death of 35-year-old Kelley Clayton. Our Tina Yazdani is following the trial.
BATH, N.Y. -- Painting a picture of the minutes after the murder of Kelley Clayton, the prosecution put up 13 witnesses on Wednesday that could demonstrate how the night played out.
The first witness was a 911 call center operator who took the call from Thomas Clayton on September 29, the night he came home to find his wife, Kelley, dead. Jurors heard chilling tape of the call. In it, you could hear Thomas Clayton saying "Help me, help me, my wife is dead."
The next witness was Thomas Clayton's neighbor. He came back to the house with Thomas that night. He testified that he saw Kelley's body on the ground and felt immediately uncomfortable, unsure if the house was secure.
That was when the first officer arrived on the scene -- and that's who jurors heard from next. Steuben County Deputy Sheriff Dean Swan testified that when he arrived at the house, he saw a visibly upset Thomas Clayton. He also observed signs of a struggle throughout the house -- blood spatter on the walls, smears on the bed and photographs on the floor, to name a few.
Jurors then heard from several forensics investigators who corroborated that, saying blood trails and patterns indicate there was definitely a struggle.
They said Kelley was likely in bed when she was first struck by the assailant. She fought back, ran down the hallway and was thrown down the stairs. She then ran to the kitchen area, where she was repeatedly struck until she died.
Throughout the testimonies, jurors hardly heard a thing about Michael Beard. Only two investigators testified that they spoke to Beard following the murder, but nothing suspicious stood out. He was cooperative, and even said he had a good relationship with Thomas Clayton, despite the fact that he was let go from his company weeks before.
And so far, the defense has hardly done any questioning. They only cross-examined three of the 13 witnesses that took the stand Wednesday.
The prosecution expects to call 10-15 more witnesses throughout the trial.