Prosecution could wrap up Friday in Broyhill case in Raleigh
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The murder trial of Jonathan Broyhill is winding down.
At the end of court Thursday the prosecutor told the judge the lead detective in the case who is being cross examined now is likely his last witness.
Raleigh police investigator Zeke Morse spent the afternoon introducing evidence he collected from iPads and cell phones belonging to Broyhill and his close friend Jamie Hahn, the woman he is accused of stabbing to death. Some texts from Broyhill to Hahn contained elaborate lies about faked illnesses.
At one point, Hahn's voice haunted the courtroom as the investigator played a voicemail from her to Broyhill. The voicemail was about a large unpaid cable bill for a campaign managed by Hahn's political consulting firm. Broyhill worked for the firm and managed the campaign account. Prosecutors say he embezzled tens of thousands of dollars in funds from the account and believe a confrontation over the missing money may have been a motive for the stabbing.
Hahn was attacked at her north Raleigh home in April 2013. Her husband, Nation, was also badly injured when he came to his wife's aid. He says Broyhill tried to turn the attack on him and he was cut when he tried to wrestle the knife away from Broyhill, who was best man at his wedding.
Nation Hahn was on the witness stand for three days, much of it a lengthy cross examination. Late Wednesday and Thurs day his body language made it obvious he was exhausted by the detailed questioning. When he was finally released from the witness stand he mouthed the words, "Thank God."
Broyhill's attorney told the judge that he expected to continue cross examining the lead detective well into Friday morning. He said if the prosecution then rests, he would like to send the jury home for the weekend then call at least one witness on Monday.
Broyhill faces the first-degree murder charge, two charges of attempted first-degree murder, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.
The jury of five men and seven women has to decide between those charges and a possible lesser charge of second-degree murder.
