Witnesses paint scene in Chesapeake murder trial

CHESAPEAKE

The bathroom door behind which Karen Kittell was found shot to death had a hole kicked in it, early testimony revealed today in the murder trial of her tenant-boyfriend, Eric Spencer Baugher.

Baugher, 36, has claimed that her shooting was an accident. Prosecutors told jurors in previewing their case that they’ll show there was an argument between Kittell, 46, and Baugher earlier on Jan. 24, and that he made a threat.

Opening witnesses – police and a paramedic – otherwise described events already known.

Dispatchers said a caller had said “he had shot his girlfriend and she was beyond help.”

As police converged on Kittel’s Thyme Trail home behind Greenbrier Mall, Baugher emerged from the open garage, cooperated with officers and was arrested. Police found a black handgun on a first-floor bedroom table, and Kittell’s body in an adjacent bathroom.

Jurors met the gruesome reality of a murder case when prosecutors projected on a screen a photo of Kittell’s underwear-clad body, slumped against a wall in a pool of blood. In the spectators’ seats, Kittell’s sister and daughter averted their eyes.

The trial, which began late Thursday, is expected to last a week.

For more details, return to PilotOnline.com later and read tomorrow's Virginian-Pilot.