Man, 33, 'snapped' and killed his girlfriend after she said she wanted to date a co-worker
A trial got under way in Michigan on Tuesday for a man who is accused of killing his girlfriend in a jealous rage and then leading police on a chase that ended in a shootout.
The prosecution and the defense in the murder trial of 33-year-old Adam Nolin agreed on the facts of the case, but clashed over the question of motive.
Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Bonnie Prevette told jurors in Kent County Circuit Court that Nolan had planned to ambush his girlfriend, 27-year-old Tia Randall, in the bathroom on September 7 because he was angry that she wanted to go out on a date with her co-worker.
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Adam Nolin, 33 (pictured in mugshot after arrest, left), is on trial in Michigan for the September 2018 killing of his girlfriend, Tia Randall, 27 (right)
Nolin (pictured in court in October) faces multiple charges, including open murder and two counts of attempted murder
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Share'If he couldn't keep Tia, no one else could have her,' Prevette said, according to Mlive.com.
Defense attorney Charles Clapp offered an alternative version of events, arguing in his opening statement that his client 'snapped' and lashed out at Randall out of depression and despair.
'I'm not telling you he's an innocent man. There was no premeditation,' Clapp said.
In addressing his client's actions after Randall's killing, including leading police on a chase and opening fire on officers, the attorney claimed Nolin wanted to police to shoot and kill him, in what is colloquially known as 'suicide-by-cop.'
Tia Randall's body was discovered on the morning of September 27, 2018, at a Creekside Estates mobile home in Wyoming, Michigan.
The mother-of-two was killed by a single gunshot inside the bathroom.
A prosecutor argued that Nolin (left) had been upset with Randall for some time and had planned her ambush killing. The mom-of-two was shot in the bathroom
Police immediately identified her boyfriend, Nolin, as a suspect and released an alert for the public to be on the lookout for him,
Nolin was spotted driving his 1996 dodge pickup truck on US 131. As police tried to pull him over, he crashed into a concrete median, exited the vehicle and fled on foot.
As he ran, Nolin opened fire on police officers chasing him.
Grand Rapids police officer Todd Wuis used a patrol SUV to ram Nolin from behind, leaving the suspect with serious facial injuries that required medical treatment. The incident was captured on video by an eyewitness.
Nolin faces multiple charges, including open murder and two counts of attempted murder.
His defense lawyer, Clapp, told jurors on Tuesday that his client should be convicted of a charge lesser than first-degree murder, which requires premeditation.
Nolin then led police on a chase that ended on US 131, where an officer rammed him with an SUV after he opened fire on cops
The prosecutor told the court Nolin had been seething with anger at Randall for some time before killing her after she had dropped her two children at a bus stop.
'He ambushed her in the bathroom,' Prevette said. 'She didn’t even see him coming.'
The jury also heard from a neighbor who recounted hearing Randall and Nolin arguing, and from a friend of the defendant who testified that on the eve of the killing, Nolin seemed upset and talked about wanting to have an 'affair' of his own.
In the course of the trial, the court will hear from Randall's co-worker whom she wanted to date, and will be played recordings of Nolin's phone call to his mother after the killing and her call to 911.
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