Allison Feldman’s father testified on third day of murder trial

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Monday is Day 3 of the murder trial for Ian Mitcham. He is accused of beating Allison Feldman, 31, to death in her Scottdale home in 2015.

After several years, his trial is now underway.

For three years, investigators had no suspect in the case, until they turned to new technology that Arizona authorities had never used before: familial DNA.

RELATED: How to watch the murder trial of Ian Mitcham live with the 12+ streaming app

Banking records, text messages and diary entries were all mentioned by attorneys while describing the scope of the investigation during their opening statements on Nov. 12.

During opening statements, Erin Otis, a prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, highlighted how two bank deposits allegedly made by Mitcham around the time of Feldman’s death were key pieces of evidence in the case.

Otis also said the defendant had no known connection to Feldman before the victim sustained “unimaginable violence.”

Meanwhile, the defense argued that after three years of investigating this case, police detectives took a shortcut. Mitcham’s attorney, Jeff Kirchler, claims investigators ended up charging the wrong guy.

Investigators say they identified Mitcham as the suspect after DNA evidence from the crime scene closely matched genetic material belonging to Mitcham’s brother, who was already in prison. Police later located a vial of Mitcham’s blood from a 2015 DUI arrest. A sample of that, according to reports, should have been destroyed years earlier.

Without obtaining a new warrant, Scottsdale police tested that blood and created Mitcham’s DNA profile, which they say matched evidence from the Feldman crime scene.

That decision reportedly sparked privacy and ethical debates that reached the Arizona Supreme Court, where justices ultimately upheld the use of the evidence.

For a Week 1 recap of the trial, click here.

A police officer and sergeant from the Scottsdale Police Department were called to the stand, followed by Feldman’s father. 

Feldman’s father testified, saying that he visited her from Minnesota often and that he didn’t see any red flags between Allison and Alex, her boyfriend. 

He said he reached out to Allison on Feb. 17, 2015. 

“I sent her a text message to say good night, and I didn’t get a response”, he said  

Since he didn’t get a response, he called her the next day. After not hearing back from her, he contacted the Scottsdale Police Department for a wellness check; within hours, he learned his daughter was dead.

He added that the last time he talked to her, it was a normal conversation, and she was in good spirits.

Allison’s direct supervisor was also called to the stand to share the last few interactions he had with Allison before she was killed and details on how he found out about her death. He added about the interaction Allison had with a UPS employee and details on a corporate credit card that was reported to authorities.

Want to watch the trial on 12+? Click here.

12News’ Trisha Hendricks is in the courtroom and will have more details at a later time.

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