The murder retrial of Christopher Clements continued Wednesday at the courthouse in downtown Tucson.
Clements is the man accused of kidnapping and killing 6-year-old Isabel Celis in 2012. A new trial began this month following a mistrial in 2023.
Wednesday, the state brought to the stand seven witnesses, including a former girlfriend of Clements, Malissa Stark, and the lead detective of the case, Josh Cheek. Both Cheek and Stark were the only ones questioned by the defense.
Stark, a former girlfriend of Clements, was the one who notified the FBI back in 2017 that Clements knew where Isabel’s body was located following a phone call from him while he was in jail.
Stark admitted that she was instructed by Clements to look for a piece of paper located under some rocks outside of the home they were living in at the time. That paper contained a note with the name ‘Isabel Celis’ written in what she recognized as Clements’ handwriting. However, she also admitted she didn't know what she was looking for but only did what she was instructed by Clements over the phone.
Her cross-examination and testimony lasted about an hour.
Testimony resumed that afternoon with the state questioning more witnesses, one of them not present in court.
All but three witnesses knew Clements personally when asked. Two of the three were shown photos of their daughters, neither of whom recognized the photos or who took them but did identify their child.
The other witness, now 20 years old, was one of the little girls in one of the photos taken. She also didn’t know Clements or who took the photos at the time.
The lead detective for the case, Josh Cheek, testified for over an hour, admitting that those photos shown to previous witnesses were all found on an iPad belonging to Clements on an app called “My Secret Apps”.
The day ended following questioning of Cheek from the defense regarding some of the exhibits shown in court by the state.
They also questioned him about the phone call between Stark and Clements in 2017 because, according to Cheek, no record was ever found of that phone call despite jail calls being recorded for anyone except an inmate's lawyer.
The day ended with the retrial resuming Thursday morning.
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Kenny Darr is a reporter for KGUN 9. He joined the team in January 2023. Before arriving in Arizona he was an Anchor and Reporter at KADN in Lafayette, LA. Share your story ideas with Kenny by emailing kenny.darr@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
