(Radio Iowa) – Opening arguments got underway Wednesday in Woodbury County District Court in Sioux City, in a 40 year old murder case . Sixty-three year old Thomas Popp is charged in the shooting death of 18-year-old Terri McCauley in 1983. McCauley disappeared on September 27th after a night out with friends and her body was found less than 24 hours later. Popp was living and working in Sioux City at the time and was the primary suspect in the case, but wasn’t arrested until last year after police took another look at the case. Woodbury County Attorney James Loomis mentioned the technology changes in his opening statement.
Loomis says McCauley’s friends last saw her leave in a car matching the color of one owned by Thomas Popp. He also owned a similar gun. Popp’s defense attorney John Loos says there was not one piece of hair, one fingerprint, or one piece of fiber from the clothing Terri McCauley was wearing that was found in Popp’s car. He says that is unusual when someone is killed with a shotgun.
Loos says 40 years later there is no physical evidence, including DNA, linking his client to McCauley’s death.
Prosecutors expect to call 15 witnesses, including McCauley’s best friend and a former investigator who says Popp should have been tried years ago. Popp is also expected to testify.
