Prosecutors argued Davis killed Anderson with a broken cast iron skillet because she reported to police he raped and stalked her, as well as vandalized her car. Davis was never charged for those allegations, but prosecutors claimed he silenced her to prevent her from moving forward with the charges.
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Davis also allegedly started the fire to destroy evidence in the apartment, prosecutors claimed. A stove fire never reached Anderson’s body, which was found in Davis’ locked apartment.
Denise Anderson
The defense asserted the state didn’t meet its burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Davis was the culprit. Citing “a lot of unanswered questions,” defense attorney Jared Gietzen noted officers did not analyze the rug on which Anderson was found.
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Grand Forks County prosecuted the case after Cass County determined it had a conflict of interest.
Over the past week, the state presented evidence, a timeline of the crime and motive. Anderson s destroyed phone and the broken skillet were put in the sink near a stove fire, but the skillet wasn t found until Aug. 4, 2019, after police released the unit back to the building s owner.
That s one of the issues defense attorney Jared Gietzen raised. Police did not analyze the rug on which Anderson was found, begging the question of what evidence officers missed, Gietzen noted.
He also asked how a hair could be left on a skillet that was exposed to heat when DNA from what appeared to be blood on the skillet was destroyed by the same heat. Anderson s blood was found on Davis shoe, but Gietzen even questioned that.