UTICA -- Testimony is under way in the murder trial of a man charged with killing a 29-year-old woman five years ago and dumping her body behind a central New York fire department.
Local media outlets report that a man testified Wednesday in a Utica court on how he nearly struck a lump in the snow while sledding with his son behind the Deerfield fire station in early 2007. Buried in the snow was the body of 29-year-old Jennifer Bennett. Authorities say she had been strangled and her body dumped behind the fire hall.
In March, authorities charged Craig Ingersoll of Utica with second-degree murder and criminal sexual act in Bennett's death. Officials say Ingersoll was charged after his DNA matched evidence from the crime scene.
Oneida County Sheriff Robert Macioll told reporters in March that the arrest resulted from a “hit” from the state’s DNA database, which indicated that DNA evidence taken from Bennett’s body matched that of Ingersoll.
Ingersoll was arraigned in May and pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
Testimony began Wednesday and is scheduled to resume Thursday.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
