JACKSONVILLE – Duval County prosecutors are trying to prove that a 15-year-old boy murdered a tourist outside a southside motel in May, despite the fact that they have little evidence to prove it.
Defense attorneys contend that Michael Glover, an 11-year veteran of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, beat a confession out of Brenton Butler, 15. Glover is the son of Sheriff Nat Glover.
When he took the witness stand Wednesday in the third day of Butler's trial, Glover was questioned by the defense about the methods that he used to interrogate the suspect.
Butler is accused of robbing and killing Georgia tourist Marianne Stephens at the Ramada Inn on University Boulevard last May.
When investigators arrived at the scene, they found no weapon and no gun residue on the teenager's hands. A few days later, the gun was found in some nearby woods.
Glover was one of the first officers to interview Butler following his arrest.
"At that point, I leaned to his ear, and I said, 'Why did you shoot the victim?'" Glover said. "At that point, he said he didn't mean to hurt anybody. He just needed her purse."
One courtroom observer told NewsChannel 4's Fred Halstied that this is one of the most interesting trials that he has ever seen.
"The whole case is simply his confession plus the positive eyewitness allegation by the husband of the victim," Dick Braendle of the Justice Coalition said.
Prosecutors say that Butler could take the stand later this week. He is being prosecuted as an adult, and, if convicted, could face life in prison.