WINFIELD, Kan. (AP) _ The ex-girlfriend of the man accused of killing Kansas college student Jodi Sanderholm says he would grab her hair and choke her while they were having sex.
Alexa Swertzell testified that she ended her three-year relationship with Justin Thurber on December 30 of last year, just five days before Sanderholm disappeared. Sanderholm's body was found January 9 near Arkansas City.
Swertzell said in Thurber's preliminary hearing that the two of them once went parking in the wildlife area where Sanderholm's body was found. She testified that Thurber remarked "how easy it would be to get rid of somebody'' there.
Attorney General Paul Morrison, who is trying the case, said this morning that he's almost finished calling witnesses. Thurber is charged with capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in Sanderholm's death.
Morrison expects to file notice that he would seek the death penalty.