HELENA – The trial began Monday for the man accused of shooting a woman in Helena last July.
Skyler Schneider is accused of shooting 23-year-old Katherine Spencer as she sat in a car parked on 12th Ave. July 1st.
Opening statements began just before 4:00 p.m. Monday afternoon.
At trial, the state called its first witness, Helena Police Dept. Captain Curt Stinson.
Stinson played a copy of the 911 call prosecutors say is Schneider reporting that a woman had been shot in a vehicle on 12th Ave. and was bleeding badly.
When police approached the vehicle, they found Spencer in the passenger seat suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Police also described a single bullet hole in windshield directly in front of Spencer, and a spent 9MM shell casing outside the vehicle.
Police searched an area where a neighbor reported seeing Schneider following what the neighbor said sounded like fireworks. Detectives reported finding a 9MM semi-automatic handgun in that same area.
During questioning, police said Schneider denied shooting Spencer but did say the two had been in an argument earlier that evening.
Schneider has denied shooting Spencer. If convicted he faces up to 100 years in prison.
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