Wesley Earnest, 39, listens to opening statements during his trial at the Bedford County Circuit Court in Bedford, Va., Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Earnest is charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a felony in the December …
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Updated: Monday, 05 Apr 2010, 7:27 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 23 Mar 2010, 10:36 PM EDT
BEDFORD, Va. (AP) - A trial has started for a former high school administrator accused of killing his estranged wife.
Opening statements were given Tuesday in 39-year-old Wesley Earnest's trial.
Earnest is charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a felony in the December 2007 death of Jocelyn Branham Earnest. He was an assistant principal at Chesapeake's Great Bridge High School at the time.
Investigators say Earnest set it up to look like a suicide, but a medical examiner testified Friday that the gunshot wound that killed Mrs. Earnest was not the kind of wound common in a suicide.
Prosecutors presented an ATF record proving Earnest bought the murder weapon.
Also, Jocelyn's friend claimed she was there when Jocelyn caught Earnest with another woman.
Jocelyn's therapist testified that around that same time, Jocelyn realized her marriage was over.
The divorce was never finalized.
Jocelyn Branham Earnest was born in Morgantown, W.Va., and graduated from Hedgesville (W.Va.) High School and West Virginia University. She was a member of the Mountaineer women's basketball team from 1989 to 1992.
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