Opinion ID: 2977292
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The stolen bike

Text: Police and fire personnel testified that they noticed a single track in the grass at the crime scene, apparently left by a bicycle. The track led from the front of Braddy’s house to the dirt alley behind the house. Later that day, a stolen bicycle was found abandoned four houses away from Saxton’s residence. Plaster casts of tire tracks made in the alley running behind Braddy’s house closely resembled the treads on one of the tires on the stolen bike and did not match any of the tires on approximately 125 bicycles that were in the custody of the Marion Police Department at the time of the murder. The bicycle was stolen approximately half-way between Saxton’s residence and the crime scene. A blue fiber consistent with denim material was found on the seat of the bicycle. An eyewitness saw a black male riding a bicycle at 6:00 a.m. in the direction of Saxton’s residence, but the witness could not identify Saxton and stated that the man had on long pants rather than denim shorts. The state’s theory was that Saxton had stolen the bike earlier in the evening, rode it to Braddy’s house, killed her, set fire to the house, then rode the bike back to his own residence and