FRANKLIN, Va. — It's week two of testimony in the trial against Wesley Hadsell.
Hadsell is accused of killing his 18-year-old stepdaughter, AJ Hadsell, in 2015. Investigators found her body in an abandoned home in Southampton County.
The first person to testify on Monday was a man named Corey. He dated AJ Hadsell in middle school and said they remained friends after breaking up. He is now 26-years-old and works as a plumber. He wanted to be in the military but said after this incident, he said it was best that he got out of the military.
According to prosecutors, Wesley Hadsell tried to blame Corey for killing AJ.
He told jurors he gave police everything they asked because he did not murder AJ. Corey said police interrogated him, took his phone and made him take a lie detector test as well as give investigators a DNA sample. He said detectives also searched his and his mom’s home and they found AJ’s Longwood University jacket.
He said he never knew a Longwood University jacket existed and he never knew it was inside of he and his mom’s home.
Prosecutors said Hadsell broke into Corey’s home and planted that jacket.
Corey said he found out AJ disappeared from Wesley Hadsell, and that Hadsell Facebook messaged him. He said, “my heart sunk.”
Corey helped in several searches and even found a piece of AJ’s credit card on the side of a Norfolk road.
The second person to take the stand Monday was a woman by the name Rita. Rita is Corey’s mother.
In 2015, she worked as a Navy contractor and confirmed that Norfolk Police searched her home. She told jurors she never personally met Wesley Hadsell and only met AJ once. He said her son, Corey, often helped AJ’s family search for her when she disappeared.
Joshua Hathaway, who worked as a homicide detective in AJ’s disappearance, said Hadsell randomly told investigators that he would never plant evidence.
Hathaway also told jurors Hadsell said “I’m screwed” while alone in the investigation room.
Hathaway showed jurors several pictures of Hadsell’s red pick-up truck and work van going past a 7-Eleven gas station in Norfolk. The detective also showed a video from a 7-Eleven in Suffolk. You could see Hadsell get out of his work van, go inside and buy something with a credit card. He gets back in his van and leaves. Hathaway pointed out that you could see the GPS mounted to his front video of the van.
A former Norfolk homicide detective also provided key testimony. He said he found heroin in Wesley Hadsell’s hotel room. The medical examiner said AJ died from heroin poisoning.
The former Norfolk detective also told jurors that Hadsell randomly told him he never would plant evidence. The detective said he never asked Hadsell that question. He also said Hadsell said “I’m screwed” while alone in the interrogation room.
The last person to testify on Monday was an FBI agent who analyzed Hadsell’s work GPS. He said the GPS showed a vehicle behind a home for 22 minutes on Smith Ferry Road on March 4th, which is where investigators found AJ Hadsell's body in April.
Court officials expect this trial to last another week and a half. The prosecution is expected to rest its case by Thursday.