BANGOR, Maine — The trial of F Daly who is charged with the 2018 murder of Isreal Lewis on Second Street in Bangor began Tuesday in Penobscot County Superior Court.
Daly was arrested on January 27, 2018, twenty days after Lewis, 51, was shot and killed in an apartment on 40 Second Street.
Opening statements were heard on Tuesday morning.
“Israel Lewis was murdered. Israel Lewis did not die of natural causes,” State prosecutor Leane Zainea said holding up the gun she says was used in this murder.
Zainea detailed to the jury the events of the case. The prosecution said surveillance video from Leadbetter's Convenient Store on Jan. 7 show that Daly went to the store twice that day but in different clothes. The original outfit he was wearing was thrown in the trash after allegedly shooting Lewis.
“So who killed Israel Lewis? This man right here, F Daly,” Zainea said to the jury as she pointed at the defendant.
The defense argued that the state has no physical evidence connecting Daly to the case.
"There is no fingerprint evidence, there is no DNA evidence, there is no surveillance evidence of Mr. Daly entering Mr. Lewis’ apartment,” defense attorney Kaylee Folster.
Folster said Lewis had problems with other people who might have wanted to harm him more than Daly.
“The most solid evidence the state has for Mr. Daly is 20 days old,” Folster said.
Daly’s girlfriend, Kayla Preston went to police 20 days after the shooting implicating Daly in the murder. The defense is arguing she had a motive because the police report was filed after the couple had an argument.
The state and defense were questioning witnesses on Tuesday afternoon, including Heather Knight, Lewis' girlfriend who found his body three days after he had been killed.
The trial is expected to take at least a week.