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Testimony begins in ‘13 murder case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
The attorney of a man accused of murder in a 2013 stabbing death told a jury in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court prosecutors have a circumstantial case at best.
John Juhasz, attorney for Theodore Alexander, 60, who is charged with murder and felonious assault in the Sept. 28, 2013, stabbing death of Ivan West, 27, in Alexander’s Hilton Avenue home, said Wednesday no one really knows what happened except the victim himself.
“The state wants you to believe this happened at only one place and the only person who could have done it was Ted,” Juhasz said in his opening statement.
A jury was seated Tuesday to hear the case before Judge John Durkin.
Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Brundege said in her opening statement that West, who worked for an asphalt company, had no home of his own and occasionally would stay with friends, one of whom was Alexander. Brundege said just before West was killed a friend dropped him off at Alexander’s apartment.
Police said there was an argument that preceded West’s death, but a neighbor testified he heard no commotion the morning West was killed, saying that Alexander came to his door and said West was in his apartment bleeding from a stab wound.
West’s mother, Georgia West, testified she did not know Alexander. She also burst into tears on the witness stand when she was shown a picture of her son.
The neighbor testified he told Alexander to call 911 and he went over to check on West but did not disturb him. West was lying face down and having trouble breathing, the witness said. He died before paramedics could arrive.
Dr. Joseph Ohr, forensic pathologist for the county coroner’s office who did the autopsy on West, said under direct examination from Brundege that West would have been able to walk for several minutes and even climb a flight of stairs.
Andrea Weisenburger, who works for the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, said under direct examination she received DNA samples from both West and Alexander as well as a knife from Alexander’s home.
Weisenburger testified she found Alexander’s DNA on the handle of the knife. Tests on the blade of the knife, however, could not find enough DNA to make a sample to compare to anyone.