BEDFORD – The State of Indiana will continue to present its case in the murder trial of Phillip “Butch” Deckard this morning in Lawrence County Superior Court II.
Judge John Plummer III is presiding. Testimony will resume at 8:30 a.m.
You can view the trial via live-stream at this link.
Deckard, 58, is accused of shooting and killing his girlfriend Charlene Silvers after a domestic dispute on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, at the home the couple shared at 2738 Maul Ridge Road.
Officials say Deckard and Silvers had a 13-year relationship. Silvers died from her injuries on Thursday, August 27, 2020, at 7:24 p.m.
Lawrence County Prosecutor Sam Arp and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Allison Chopra are presenting the case for the state. Martinsville Attorney John Boren is defending Deckard.
The jury finished Thursday afternoon hearing testimony from Lawrence County Prosecutor Office Investigator Greg Hagan, who is an expert in extracting data from electronic devices such as cell phones.
Hagan testified he collected data from both Silvers’ and Deckard’s cell phones.
He testified that on the day of the shooting, Silvers called one number 9 times between 12:56 p.m. and 1:44 p.m. That person was Shannon Johnson.
The jury then listened to three voice messages that Deckard left on Silvers’ cell phone accusing her of “having a boyfriend” and “playing games”. Two of the messages were sent on August 9, 2020, and one on July 25, 2020.
Investigator Hagan read numerous text messages Deckard sent Silvers from July 2020 through August 2020 to the jury. From the messages, it appears the couple had ended their relationship.
A text message sent from Deckard to Silvers read, he knows she loves someone else, that he will always love her, that he wants to die and can’t live without her and he is going to leave town.
Judge Plummer then recessed for the day on Thursday.
