Preliminary hearing held for defendant in 2004 murder

A total of eight witnesses took the stand Monday in the preliminary hearing of a man prosecutors say killed a woman in her home more than a decade ago.

Brad Scott Compher, also known as Ralph Roy Compher, is accused of stabbing Nori Jones to death in her Pocatello home in 2004. He was named a suspect 10 years later.

On Monday, Jones’ boyfriend, her best friend, and various police officers took the stand. They described Jones’ final days, the grisly scene of the murder and Compher’s agitated interviews with law enforcement officials.

The judge admitted several photos of the crime scene as evidence, occasionally over the objections of Compher’s lawyers.

An hour before Monday’s hearing wrapped up, the defense tried to make the case that one of the state’s key witnesses — a pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Jones’ body — wasn’t qualified to testify because he wasn’t a board-certified forensics pathologist. The judge, however, decided to admit his testimony.

The hearing will resume Tuesday morning and could last until Thursday.