Deputy District Attorney Victor Avila showed the jury surveillance video and photos, which he claimed proved Pursehouse attacked Harwick, strangled her, and threw her body over her third-story balcony. His legal team alleged she could have fallen in an attempt to escape.
However, investigators discovered a lethal dose of nicotine in a syringe on the balcony at the scene.
“This does not just happen out of nowhere,” Avila argued. “That does not land on his lap. He has to go get that. He has to go obtain that. It’s a poison that, if you inject it into someone, it may not be detected unless they’re looking for it.”