I was able to get in for all of Wednesday's proceedings.
Here is the TV version of the day's events:
There was a theme to the second day of testimony in the murder trial of a Jefferson County teenager.
Police say the suspect changed his story a lot.
The detectives who interviewed Kyle Box were on the stand Wednesday afternoon and testified that Box's story of what happened on the night of March 8, 2015 was different just about every time they asked him.
Box is accused of stabbing 62-year-old Randy Bent in Bent's Watertown home and then setting Bent's body on fire to cover it up.
The detectives said Box's story changed from never being in Watertown, to another person doing it, to him acting in self-defense.
Also on the stand, was a fire investigator who took pictures of the crime scene.
Those pictures were graphic and Bent's family and friends were visably upset, embracing, crying and one even had to walk out of the court room.
The defense claims Box was never told he didn't have to cooperate with police.
His attorney says Box felt like he was being raped and acted in self-defense.
Everything below is testimony.
It started with Watertown Police Detective Shawn Boyle on the stand. Boyle was one of the officers who interviewed Kyle Box after he was brought in for questioning overnight on March 9, 2015.
Boyle immediately discussed the various versions of many details of Kyle Box's story. (There will be a lot more on that later)
Boyle mostly discussed the interview that took place several hours after the fire was reported.
Boyle says Box had multiple versions of how he got back to Carthage that night. He said Box admitted to heroin use throughout the interview. He also discussed how nervous Kyle Box seemed.
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Much of the discussion in court has been on whether or not Box should have been informed that he didn't have to cooperate with police. The defense has been wondering why he didn't know and trying to describe how they feel Box was treated like a suspect before police admitted he was one.
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Boyle took a picture of Box's shoes to compare to the ones found at the crime scene, but Boyle says it was to rule him out. Boyle says Box was never in custody and didn't need to be read his rights. Also because he was 18, he didn't need parents around. He says Box was always free to leave, but never did and was there willingly.
Boyle claims he didn't know Box did anything until he made confessions. That's again when Box's attorney, Laurel McCarthy, wanted to know why her client wasn't informed of his rights to not cooperate.
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At this point, Boyle is done and everyone including Kyle Box approached the bench. It was about photos that were about to be shown and the defense objecting to them. (They were allowed).
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Senior Fire Investigator Michael Knowlton, who works for DHS, was brought to the stand next.
He got to the scene about 11 p.m. that night and had to wait for a search warrant to enter. In the meantime he was taking pictures of the outside of the home. That warrant came through and eventually he was allowed to take pictures inside.
Knowlton's journey was documented through the photos and those photos showed no damage to gas or electrical meters on the side of the house. He did notice blood near the front door.
Photos of this documentation was shown to the jury. The home's living room was charred and from his tour he was able to determine that the origin of the fire was near the body of Randy Bent lying on the floor.
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This next part is what came from the side bar where everyone approached the bench.
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Photos of Randy Bent's body were allowed into evidence and shown.
Knowlton says burn patterns on the body allowed him to determine the origin.
The pictures were extremely graphic and close up.
At one point you could hear gasps coming from what I assume were Bent's family or friends. They began to embrace each other and wipe away tears. One person visibly shaken had to leave the courtroom.
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Knowlton described how the body had been covered by blankets and again discussed how there were no electrical problems, no damage and breakers weren't tripped. Other rooms didn't have the damage either.
Knowlton did notice a burner on the gas range in the kitchen was still in the on position, but it was clear the fire didn't actually start there. (More on this later)
He was able to rule out all accidental causes and determine the fire started near Bent's body.
A K-9 was run through to try and find accelerants, but it was unsuccessful. (Also, did you know light bulbs will bend toward the heat source in a fire?)
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After lunch, another detective with the city police department who is now retired took to the stand.
Stephen Vackas was the senior detective with Criminal Investigation. He was in charge.
Vackas spoke with neighbors and some of Bent's family.
He tried to videotape the scene, but it was dark. He also noticed knife wounds on Bent's chest. He described how he found Bent's body and the clothes he was wearing. He described a cut shirt, tattered underwear.
He also took a photo with his cell of a footprint in the kitchen because he was told they had a person of interest. He was watching the interviews being done by detectives.
Vackas spearheaded the effort to locate the knife that Box allegedly told them he threw near a garage. He was unsuccessful.
When he talked with Box, Box was claiming self-defense, but Vackas said it didn't match the evidence. No wounds indicated a fight. He says the story of Bent 'coming at' Box didn't match up.
They discussed the Craigslist ad in the interview and how Box claimed he needed money to pay a marijuana fine in Texas. He says he found more than one posting form Kyle including one placed for women.
Box's story then became a lot more about how he wasn't into the sexual acts that had been discussed.
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This is when the testimony got adult-themed as it focused on the communications between Box and Bent that day.
They had discussed what actions would be performed and certain acts needed to be explained. They discussed their appearances and trading pictures.
Police were able to subpoena Craigslist for some of the emails.
Bent used a fake name, 'Chris Smith'. He did have numerous other communications with other men.
The emails between Box and Bent turned into texts and despite Box claiming in that interview he never sent pictures, they were able to find one nude one that was sent.
Box says he was picked up by Bent at the Kinney Drugs in Carthage and brought back to Watertown. At the home Box said he'd changed his mind and no longer wanted to go through with it but couldn't leave because he wouldn't be able to get home.
Box says he was forced to perform a sex act and threatened. He is alleged to have told police he was tall but not strong.
Box claims to have then taken a knife away from Bent, and Varkas says when he accused Box of lying Box got angry. Vackas says the evidence didn't match up with what Box was saying. Box says Bent came at him, but had stab wounds in his back. Box then discussed his mental illnesses that were on record and that he did indeed felt like he was being raped.
Vackas says he returned to the scene several times to find that knife, in the snow and when the snow melted. He never did.
Bent's car was found at the skate park in Carthage. He never found the keys or the knife despite Box claiming he left them in or near the car.
Vackas says he reached out to other men that had been identified through Craigslist ads responded to by Bent and it was determined that he did meet men all the time.
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At this point the defense took over the questioning and immediately tried to paint the picture of a poor job by police to look for a struggle and again establishing Bent as a man who had deviant sexual desires.
Vackas said he was able to find men with whom Bent had just conversations, sexual conversations, talking about meeting up and neighbors said a couple of times a week men in the Army would visit him.
The defense used Kyle's words of hazing out and blacking out to establish his mental process.
Kyle admitted to setting the fire but thew towels on him because he didn't want to see his face. He told cops he set the fire because no one would believe his story.
Kyle also admitted to using drugs that day.
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It was also determined then that Box had taken a box of tissues and used the gas range to start a fire and threw the box on Bent. The knife was never found.
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There was a break and the last witness of the day took the stand: police detective Andrew Netto.
He says moments after the body was discovered he called hospitals to see if anyone had any hand injuries from a possible knife incident and Carthage Hospital says it did. He went there and met Kyle Box.
He drew a picture of Box's shoe pattern just in case.
The Miranda Rights topic came up again.
Box initially told Netto he fell in a parking lot at Kinney Drugs and cut his hand on ice. He says while at the hospital Box started talking about meeting a friend named Randy, through a friend named Josh. Box told Netto he and Randy smoked pot and parted ways and that he'd never been to Watertown.
Wanting to rule Box out, he went to the Kinney Drugs store to see for himself but found no evidence of a fall.
He says Box willingly took Netto to the store a bit later to show him himself. He showed Netto a different area than was previously discussed and that area had no evidence either.
He took that picture of Kyle's shoes to walk around and try to find matching prints in the snow.
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The prosecution was trying hard to show police didn't suspect him of that crime and just wanted to clear him.
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The shoe photo though matched the prints from Watertown and the car was found in Carthage. It was at this point the suspicions began and Kyle was read his rights. Netto says Kyle said he understood his rights and still talked.
That's when the story started changing.
He added the part about the Craigslist ad and when he got to the house he heard a fight and a 3rd person threatened him if he said anything and left. He went inside, saw what happened and called his girlfriend.
Later it changed again. That 3rd person had a knife and pushed Box and that's how his hand got cut.
The story would change again and again.
That 3rd person had a brown jacket, then a sweatshirt with a hood and a jacket.
He hitchhiked to home to Carthage. That third person made him ride to Carthage with him and perform a sex act.
Finally the story came without the third person. Box said Bent had a knife and fought him. He fell into that haze. He admitted to lighting the box of tissues, but called them towels.
As Netto called him out for what Netto believed were lies, Box would get angry. Box also wrote a statement in which he confessed and he signed it.
That videotaped confession will be played in court Thursday. We'll have the full update again.