Overview
- A 12-person jury was seated and the criminal trial of James Dolphs Elmore began this week, with jury selection completed Monday.
- Prosecutors played a recorded interview in court in which Elmore said he was in the house when 16-year-old Laura Miller died and admitted helping dump her body in the Calder Road oil field.
- The Galveston County medical examiner testified that Audrey Cook’s autopsy found a bullet while Miller’s remains showed no clear fatal trauma and could not be tested for an overdose because of decomposition.
- Elmore is charged with manslaughter and two felony tampering-with-evidence counts alleging he prepared a large vial of cocaine given to Miller and helped conceal both victims, and he faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
- With longtime suspect Clyde Hedrick having died by suicide in March, prosecutors say the case rests on Elmore’s statements, Tim Miller’s testimony and limited physical evidence, a dynamic that could affect how other cold cases are pursued.