Extraneous testimony begins in Blair murder trial
The former girlfriend of Aaron Blair testified in full court, with the jury present, Wednesday morning, Oct. 4, that she had a brief relationship with his father, Elton Carroll “E.C.” Blair, in 2008, after she and Aaron broke up.
Tiffany Lee was on the witness stand in E.C. Blair’s murder trial in the Stephens County District Courtroom. She and Aaron Blair have a son together. The prosecution introduced the witness as part of extraneous evidence meant to show that E.C. Blair had exhibited similar conduct to that which he has been accused in the murder of Leah Martin in 2015.
Lee said the affair was brief and that after she broke off the relationship, a series of harassment began. She reported to the Graham Police Department that she had received harassing phone calls and bricks were thrown through her living room window and the windows of her car and that of a vehicle she had previously driven. Additionally, a man came to her house asking for her new boyfriend, saying that he owed him drug money.
She testified that she identified the man as an employee at E.C.’s Auto Repair, which was owned by Blair. However, Lee dropped the charges.
District Attorney Dee Peavy presented a police interview transcript that she said included statements by Lee indicating that Blair had paid her to not identify the suspect in a police photo lineup. Lee said she did not remember being paid or telling that to the police.
She also said that when she first heard that Martin was missing, her gut reaction was that Blair had something to do with it.
Defense attorney David Wimberley cross-examined Lee and asked her if her boyfriend at the time had been a drug dealer.
“I didn’t know it at the time,” she said, “but, yes.”
Wimberley also suggested that her thinking that Blair was involved in Martin’s disappearance was influenced by what she had seen on social media.
“The fact is, today, you don’t think E.C. Had anything to do with what’s been going on in this trial, do you?” he asked. “If you thought you had anything to do with this, would you let your child stay with him?”
She answered “no” to both questions.
Testimony is expected to continue in the trial Wednesday afternoon.
Story by Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan
