Craig Smith reports in greater detail this evening on KGUN 9 News at 5:00 and 6:00.
Pictures of young girls were an important part of evidence in the child murder trial of Christopher Clements. He’s charged with killing 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez and is set for trial next year in the death of six-year-old Isabel Celis.
Prosecutors have been introducing evidence to suggest Christopher Clements had an obsession with young girls and had a collection of photos of girls in various poses. All between the ages of 3 and 13.
Maribel Gonzalez was 13 years old when she disappeared June 3, 2014. Three days later a passer-by found her body in a remote area of Avra Valley.
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Prosecutor Tracy Miller asked a police computer expert, formerly with Tucson Police to discuss what investigators found on two iPads Clements owned.
Each had a special password-protected folder that held pictures of young girls from a wide range of ages. Some were fully dressed and some were undressed. Between both devices there were about 1,300 pictures.
Jurors were shown clothed photos from the collection of girls, with some of the girls looking as young as pre-school age. Some were photographed through car windows and in stores.
Examining the computer also showed part of Clements' search history. It suggested he had been looking for stories about Maribel Gonzalez with search terms like "Body found in desert."
Afternoon testimony included an FBI computer specialist who said the night Maribel disappeared Clements was using a phone app that let him hear law enforcement radio traffic. That was just before midnight.
Shortly after that he used Apple Maps. Phone information indicates at 2:21 a.m. he shut down the police scanner app. The phone shut down and was not active again until 6:42 a.m.
Earlier testimony claimed the night Maribel disappeared, Clements was away from his home, then came back, demanded bleach, went to buy more bleach, wanted to know if his girlfriend had looked in his car trunk, left again, then returned near dawn and required his girlfriend to use bleach to clean anyplace he had been.
Other testimony showed the night Maribel Gonzalez disappeared, Clements' cell phone traveled away from Tucson and connected to cell towers near where Maribel’s body was found.
IN THE VIDEO BELOW - A timeline of the disappearance of Maribel Gonzalez
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
