KERRVILLE — As the murder trial of Bryan K. Crum began Wednesday, the defense didn't dispute that he killed girlfriend April Kerr Barr in Ingram 15 months ago.
Crum's lawyers appeared to be laying the foundation for a claim of self-defense in the death of Barr, 39, whose throat was slashed with a hunting knife at their trailer home.
“Their relationship, at times, was a mess,” defense counsel Clay Steadman told the jury in opening remarks. “It was a train wreck waiting to happen.”
He noted that Barr, who worked at a computer store in Kerrville, had previously been arrested on an assault charge and was intoxicated when she was killed at the Riverside RV Park on Dec. 20, 2010.
Crum, 41, was arrested four days later, Christmas Eve, after traveling to his parents' home in San Saba County.
Larry Crum described his son as disheveled, upset and possibly drunk when he reported that he'd killed Barr, without sharing any details.
“He said ‘I messed up,'” testified the elder Crum, who quickly called police. “I was shocked. It nearly took me to my knees.”
San Saba County Deputy James Barrows, who answered the father's call, testified that Bryan Crum had left the home in Barr's Jeep by the time he arrived.
Police caught up with the suspect hours later driving nearby and arrested him at gunpoint, as jurors saw on video from Barrows' patrol car.
Crum, an employee of a Fredericksburg restaurant, didn't claim self-defense to arresting officers, said prosecutor Brad McCullouch, who told jurors an autopsy revealed Barr had defensive wounds.
“Evidence will show how he started this fight with a beer can and ended it with a knife,” McCullouch said of the defendant.
The trial is expected to last until at least Friday.
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