Opening statements set to begin in 2015 Scottsdale murder case

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Opening statements are set to begin on Wednesday in the murder trial of Ian Mitcham.

Mitcham is charged with murdering Allison Feldman a decade ago in her Scottsdale home. 

RELATED: Attorney for suspect in controversial Scottsdale murder case files for SCOTUS review

Feldman, 31, was found allegedly beaten to death inside her Scottsdale home in February 2015. 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.

Investigators say they identified Ian 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.

The case has faced repeated delays over the years, including multiple judge recusals and procedural setbacks, leaving Feldman’s family waiting nearly a decade for a trial to begin.

Opening statements will be streamed on 12+.

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