As this first-degree murder trial got underway today (Sept. 25), here’s what we know:
Seabeck resident Martin Warren, 36, is charged with the first-degree murder of his father, Russell Warren, 61, at the pair’s Komichan Lane home on the afternoon of Oct. 11, 2004.
Kitsap County Sheriff’s detectives believe Martin Warren, angry at his father for not letting him use a family car and allegedly high on methamphetamine, shot Russell Warren four times as he watched TV on the couch.
The case’s opening arguments were held Monday, followed by the prosecution calling personnel from the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, the lead law enforcement agency, to the stand.
Kitsap County Prosecutor Jim Mitchell argued Monday that jurors would “see the rage, see the thinking,” behind the killing, and that the alleged murder is “a simple case about rage taken to it’s ultimate conclusion.”
Defense Attorney Clayton Longacre argued Monday that while “something snapped,” Martin Warren had been subjected to many traumatic events in his childhood at the hands of his father, including an alleged rape and a murder, as well as introducing him to methampetamine and other drugs.
Tomorrow, we’ll continue our trial coverage and focus in on the prosecution’s witness testimony.
