Opening Statements Begin In Murder Trial Of Alleged Serial Killer

The capital murder trial officially began for alleged serial killer William Reece.

Almost 25 years after Tiffany Johnston disappeared from a Bethany carwash, and five years after DNA linked her killing to the defendant, opening statements began in William Reece's murder trial.

Prosecutors opening statements consisted of lawyers laying out a timeline of Reece's alleged victims. They named nine total with almost half murdered in 1997, the same year Johnston was killed.

The state introduced the name of the Texas Ranger, Jim Holland who they said was the only person able to crack Reece. 

Holland eventually coaxed the confessions out of the defendant which led Texas law enforcement to the discovery of Kelli Cox and Jessica Cain's bodies. Reece also took responsibility for killing 12-year-old Laura Smither.

During their opening statements, the defense questioned Holland's tactics.

A DNA test was initially ran on swabs taken from Johnston's body in 1997, but no profile could be made. It wasn't until 2015 a DNA test with those swabs, that a profile partially matched Reece.

The defense team argued Holland left the partial part out when striking a deal with Reece. His lawyers also called into question the credibility of the witnesses the state said saw Reece at the Bethany carwash and near where Johnston's body was found.  

The state's first witness transported the courtroom to 1986.  Attorneys read victim testimony from one of the defendant's kidnapping and rape convictions in Cleveland County. The at the time 19-year-old University of Oklahoma student got in Reece's truck with the promise of being taken to a phone to call for a ride after her car stalled on a stormy day. 

When she got in the truck, Reece got her to go into the sleeper compartment where he duct taped and held her captive. The testimony said the victim saw Reece had a kitchen knife, so she did what he told her, and eventually preformed sex acts on the defendant. She was let go after she promised not to tell anyone, and even said she'd call Reece in the future.

Reece would get a 25-year sentence for that and a second similar case. That victim was the state's second witness. She testified that Reece followed her home from a bar and attacked her.

It would be months after his early release that Reece would allegedly take the lives of Tiffany Johnston, Kelli Cox, Jessica Cain and 12-year-old Laura Smither.