SAN ANTONIO — Day five of the Otis McKane murder trial featured testimony from several witnesses, including the then-supervisor of slain officer Detective Benjamin Marconi.
Lieutenant Brent Bell testified before Judge Ron Rangel’s courtroom, describing the nature of his colleague’s death.
“It was execution-style and the location of where it occurred, to us, seemed to be sending a message,” Bell said.
Marconi had been sitting in his patrol car, in the middle of conducting a traffic stop, when prosecutors say McKane came up and shot him twice in the head.
McKane initially confessed to the killing, saying he had to lash out on someone because of a child custody issue. He later recanted the confession.
He faces the death penalty if convicted.
Bell pointed out a pattern of officers being targeted; referencing the events of July, 2016 when a gunman shot and killed five police officers and wounded nine others.
“It appeared to us probable that Officer Marconi was targeted not because he was Ben Marconi, but because he was in uniform," Bell said. "Until we apprehended this person, we didn’t know when he was going to do it again."
The state prosecution team played video captured by SAPD Crime Scene Investigator Brenda Oliva, showing the inside and outside view of Marconi's patrol unit.
Bullet casings, pools of blood, Marconi’s radio, phone and water bottle were visible in the video, marked by yellow evidence markers.
Oliva presented the jury with in-person evidence, such as shell casings and the two traffic arms that prosecutors say McKane drove through at SAPD headquarters.
More than 20 witnesses testified in the first week of the trial.
The trial resumes Monday at 9 a.m.
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Day four of the trial Thursday included testimony from multiple San Antonio police officers who described their accounts of responding to alerts of an “officer down” Nov. 20, 2016.
Officer Frances Ochoa worked with Detective Benjamin Marconi for at least two years.
The state prosecution team presented the courtroom, footage captured from Ochoa’s body-worn camera the day of Marconi’s death.
Jurors and family of Marconi’s watched and listened to the urgency expressed by Ochoa as she drove through traffic, sirens blaring, on her way to the crime scene in front of SAPD headquarters.
The body-worn video shows several police officers surrounding Marconi attempting to render medical aid.
Prosecutors say McKane had pulled up behind Marconi, who was conducting a traffic stop, before running up and firing off two shots as the detective was sitting inside his patrol car.
On the first day of the trial, the state detailed the efforts to save Marconi – from where the shooting happened in front of SAPD's headquarters to in the ambulance and at the hospital.
The prosecution said McKane was livid over a child custody issue and felt the need to "soothe his soul" and the shooting was about lashing out at somebody.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales has said he plans to pursue the death penalty in this case. McKane faces life in prison or death by lethal injection if convicted.