It was a shock to all of us when a District 1 resident was discovered murdered and buried in his back yard under a concrete slab. Subsequent news articles offered little new information, including a false confession. It didn't make sense at the time and much of it doesn't make sense yet. Perhaps we will learn more and there will soon be justice for Michael Giles.   The murder trial opened today of Kwaneta Harris, who is charged in the killing and subsequent theft of over $200,000.

From UPI.com:
 
Testimony began Tuesday in the trial of a woman accused of killing a man buried beneath a concrete slab in the yard of his Garland, Texas, home.
 
Charged with capital murder is Kwaneta Harris, who police said also paid another woman to falsely confess to killing Michael Giles, 46, a military retiree, The Dallas Morning News reported. Giles's body was found a year after he was reported missing in October 2007.
 
In an opening statement, Prosecutor Josh Healy said Harris and Giles had an on-and-off relationship for 10 years that ended when she shot him in the back of the head, the Morning News reported. He said she then buried him in his backyard, where the body lay undiscovered for more than a year.
 
Healy said Harris stole $200,000 from Giles, a 46-year-old Air Force retiree, after he died.
 
Defense attorneys Richard Franklin and Robbie McClung conceded Harris stole the money but said Harris did not kill Giles, the Morning News reported.
 
After Giles vanished, his house was foreclosed on and leased to someone else, police said. One day, the new residents came home and found the concrete slab behind their house.
 
"We just couldn't figure out why it was poured," the newspaper reported Garland police spokesman Joe Harn as saying when the body was found. "It wasn't an extension of a patio. It wasn't big enough for someone to sit out on."
 
Police said "financial dealings" led them to Harris.
 

 
Some of the opening presentations were difficult to view and the judge gave a recess early to allow more time to adjust to what was being seen. Additional information on the trial was posted at the DMN Crime Blog:
 

 
Prosecutors Healy and Kevin Brooks also introduced gruesome photos of Giles' body as it was found under a cement slab at Giles' Garland home. The body was wrapped in a comforter and a brown robe was wrapped around his head. Also inside the comforter was a pillow with a hole in it.
 
Read more.
 

 
John Bayless discovered himself close to the case and has been following it. He was the first to alert me the trial would soon be starting. John has decided to track the case on a new blog dedicated to the case. John expects to attend some of the trial and to post what he is learning.
 
Also, Giles' Air Force buddies have honored their friend by adding a memorial page to the Pave Cave website, derived from the name of an Air Force project to modify Sikorsky MH-53 helicopters.
 

Update Oct 6: Murder trial begins (DMN Crime Blog)

Update Oct 6: Trial begins (DMN)

Update Oct 7: Evidence mounting against Harris (DMN Crime Blog)

Update Oct 10: Prosecution rests (DMN)

Update Oct 12: Harris pleads guilty (DMN Crimeblog)

Update Oct 13: Harris pleads guilty in middle of trial (DMN)