Dale Hausner looks on as a witness testifies in his eight-count murder trial in Phoenix. Pool photo
Live from the courtroom: Dale Hausner’s attorneys began their defense this morning for the 35-year-old Mesa man accused of being Arizona’s infamous Serial Shooter. Things, however, did not start off well.
The first witness to testify in Hausner’s defense was Melissa Lupton, who attended ABC Bartending School in Tempe a couple months after he did in 2005. The defense called her to ask about her experience at the school, which included a run in with her instructor and Hausner’s former friend, John Kane. Lupton said she was sexually harassed by Kane, and authorities have accused Hausner of shooting up a car believed to be hers as revenge for blowing the whistle on Kane.
During her testimony, the judge was forced to step in several times
to stop her from bringing other people’s statements into her testimony.
Because of this, much of her testimony was riddled with the halting
confusion of multiple objections by lawyers from both the defense and
prosecution.
This made Lupton’s testimony less than compelling, but it will
likely set the stage for the defense to accuse Kane of being the
shooter of the car.