" text="white"> ~THE TRIAL~

David had strong ties and a compact relationship with his immediate family. During the course of the trial, the evidence was presented which seems to exculpate him:
Several hairs were recovered from the victim; tests revealed that they were not from David Hicks. One was found to be consistent with Asian hair, another consistent with Lester Busby.
A hammer found near the scene of the crime by Lester Busby, and believed to be the murder weapon, was admitted at trial; no fingerprints were recovered from it.
No evidence was found against David: no fingerprints, hairs or fibres. No blood was found on any of his clothes or in the car he was driving that night. No witnesses could be found who could say David looked anything but normal.
No motive could be shown as to why he would do this to his grandmother. Lester Busby and Eddie Ray Branch testified against David at trial. As stated above, Eddie Ray Branch and his immediate family had a burial insurance taken out on the victim three days before she was killed and Emmett Spear was the insurance salesman who was supposed to have consummated the policy. David was not gone long enough at the time his grandmother was first noticed to be missing to have committed the crime. So the prosecution had to construct the double attack version of the killing. As mentioned above, three pieces of evidence found by the defence underneath Lester Busby's house were never presented at trial: a syringe containing traces of human bodily fluids; a hammer with traces of blood on and a wine bottle.

( excerpts from "Friends For Life" http://www.friends-for-life.demon.co.uk/index.html )