BIG SPRING, TX – In Day 4 of the murder trial for Colten Hughes, the prosecution brought in multiple expert witnesses to take the stand, including the medical examiner, and experts in digital forensics, and a forensic accounting expert that was also a certified fraud examiner.
The medical examiner testified to conducting the autopsy of 67-year-old Leah Hughes, and photos of the entry and exit areas from the gunshot wound were displayed.
Information was obtained by the digital forensic expert from the cell phones and smart watch, which documented Colten’s locations, steps and heart rate on Dec. 27, 2023 at approximately 5:45 PM when Leah died. The expert also revealed Colten’s phone internet search history looking for islands for sale in Belize and South American countries that do not extradite around the time of Leah’s death and before he was arrested in Feb. 2024.
During this week’s trial, it had been mentioned multiple times from various witnesses that Leah had invested $300,000 into Colten’s business, but the forensic financial expert stated that no deposit for that amount was ever found for Colten’s bank accounts from 2020 to 2024. It was also noted that Leah was missing multiple oil royalty checks that totaled approximately $1.8 million, all of which had been deposited into accounts with Colten as an account holder. No salary deposits were ever found in any of Colten’s bank accounts, and it was noted that Wells Fargo had closed Colten’s account in 2023 due to suspicious activity. The expert also testified that two days after Leah’s death, a payment to GM Financial was made for $6,100 from one of her accounts.
The prosecution rested today and the defense’s first action was to recall Wes Hughes as a witness. They questioned him about having a temper and angry text messages sent to Colten’s mother Kim Coleman after his arrest.
The trial will reconvene at 9 AM tomorrow morning and presentation of evidence is expected to conclude tomorrow and the jury is anticipated to begin jury deliberations on Monday, July 21, 2025.
(Photo by KBest Media)
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