CONWAY -- The state rested its case Tuesday in a capital-murder case against a Pine Bluff man after a state medical examiner testified that a Wooster woman suffered a severe "prolonged" assault before she was killed in 2018.
Attorneys for 20-year-old Tacori Mackrell -- who is accused of kidnapping Elvia Fragstein, 72, while she shopped in Conway and later killing her -- are expected to begin presenting their defense case in the death-penalty trial at 9 a.m. today.
The fourth day of the trial was filled with the testimony of one witness, Stephen Erickson, the deputy chief medical examiner at the state Crime Laboratory. Erickson testified as an expert in forensic pathology who performed Fragstein's autopsy and deemed her death a homicide.
The prosecution has called 25 witnesses since the trial began Thursday.
Investigators believe Fragstein was shopping at the Conway Commons Shopping Center on July 7, 2018, when she was abducted by Mackrell, 18, at the time, and his cousin, Robert Smith II, who was 16 at the time.
Mackrell is charged with capital murder, kidnapping, robbery and theft of property. Smith, who is awaiting trial, is charged as an adult but is exempt from the death penalty because he was under 18 at the time he is suspected of committing the crime.
After an objection by defense attorney Jeff Rosenzweig, Erickson described Fragstein's injuries as senior deputy prosecutor John Hout displayed photographs of Fragstein's decomposed, skeletal body on the television screen in the courtroom.
Fragstein's body was found by a farmer on July 11, 2018, on a rural road near Pine Bluff.
In the photos, Fragstein -- dressed in denim capri pants and a red knit shirt -- was lying facedown deep in green vegetation in a ditch.
An autopsy revealed that she had suffered eight broken ribs, a fractured cervical vertebra and a crushed throat.
Erickson said Fragstein suffered a multifactional, severe and prolonged assault.
The throat injury produced "air hunger," and also severe pain, Erickson said.
Fragstein's body was identified using dental records. The medical examiner said he didn't expect to find anything in his exam to indicate the cause of death because of the fact that the body had sustained severe postmortem insect and animal predation as well as decomposition from being left in the elements.
"But I found a lot," Erickson said.
The medical examiner used anatomical diagrams on poster boards as well as plastic models to describe Fragstein's injuries.
Some injuries could have been caused by manual strangulation and someone "stomping" the victim, he said, while the crushed vertebrae in her neck was likely caused by someone using an external instrument, such as a tire iron.
Under cross-examination by Rosenzweig, Erickson said he was unsure in what order the injuries occurred, but the combination of strangulation and blunt-force trauma to her chest and cervical spine caused her death.
Rosenzweig asked if Fragstein's injuries could have been made more severe by the fact that she had suffered from osteoporosis, a disease that causes the body to lose bone mass, making the bones weaker and more susceptible to serious injury.
Erickson said he could not disagree that the disease could have made her bones more fragile, but he pointed out that Fragstein would have still felt the pain inflicted by the injuries.
"This woman had a lot of injuries," Erickson said.
Defense attorney William "Bill" James Jr. has not denied that Mackrell was involved in Fragstein's disappearance, saying during opening statements Thursday that "Tacori Mackrell was a part of this."
Mackrell and Smith were identified on security footage at various stores and the parking lot of the shopping center.
Fragstein's blood also was found on Smith's shoes, according to the Crime Lab. Mackrell's girlfriend at the time, Eriya Evans, testified previously that Mackrell returned home from Conway with a "new car" that matched the description of Fragstein's Honda CR-V.
On Monday, the prosecution presented recorded statements Mackrell made to police after he was arrested. Mackrell changed his story numerous times, at one time saying a Caucasian man threatened the two men and forced them to kidnap Fragstein.
Mackrell also told investigators he tied up Fragstein using his and Smith's belts.
The trial is scheduled to continue through Oct. 16, but Faulkner County Circuit Judge Troy Braswell Jr. told jurors Tuesday that "we are moving at a good pace."
Braswell moved his courtroom to a room on the fourth floor that allows jurors to be spaced 6 feet apart as a precautionary measure against the covid-19 pandemic.
While some jurors were seated in cushioned chairs inside and in front of the jury box, others sat in the first four rows of hardwood benches in the public gallery. Several jurors could be seen using cushions on the benches to soften the seat.
At the end of the day Tuesday, Braswell asked if the seat pads were sufficient for their comfort, to which some jurors shook their heads "no."
"Save your receipts," Braswell said. "We're going to find you something new."