Defendant Randall Reed walks out of Judge Rebecca Stern’s courtroom during a break on the first day of his trial.A local construction company owner noticed when one of his accounting employees didn’t show for work on June 15, 2011. That same day, he spotted the man suspected of killing her.
Chris Moffat, head of Moffat Construction, testified Tuesday in the first day of Randall Reed’s first-degree murder trial in connection with the smothering death of 70-year-old East Ridge resident Jane Stokes.
Moffat had known Stokes for decades. She had worked at Moffat’s wife’s accounting office. The pair often socialized during smoke breaks.
Moffat had hired Reed to do work on Stokes’ home in late April of that year. Workers repaired roof damage from recent tornadoes and did work on a fence for Stokes.
Hamilton County District Attorney Bill Cox asked Moffat if Reed would have known Stokes lived alone from his time working there.