Schwander is charged with open murder
TRAVERSE CITY -- The first day of the Robert Jensen Schwander trial has wrapped up. Eight men and four women will determine the teen's fate.
Schwander is accused of murdering 16-year old Carly Lewis back in June.
Dressed in a suit, Schwander showed little emotion as attorneys laid out their cases. The prosecution says the murder was premeditated, and that the defendant never really liked Carly so he lured her to a vacant building to kill her.
The defense calls the murder an accident, an argument gone horribly wrong. They say Carly died from strangulation, not from stab wounds found on her body. The defense says those are from police officers at the murder scene, using probes to locate her body in a sand pile.
Carly's mother Susie took the stand, and talked about her daughter with tears in her eyes. She said Schwander lived at the Lewis home for two months, when he had no other place to go.
She testified that she asked him to leave when he didn't help around the house and kept his bedroom door locked.
Schwander faces an open murder charge. This means the jury will have to decide if the evidence proves first degree murder, second degree murder, or manslaughter. He faces life in prison if convicted of first degree murder, which requires premeditation.
