JASPER, Tenn. – DNA evidence in the trial of Angela Kilgore, the woman accused of killing Whitwell business owner Jerry Ridge in 2016, was produced from sampling numerous items in evidence, but DNA evidence from both the suspect and victim on a single item was a rarer find.
It was found on a shirt seized from Kilgore’s truck, on a can of lighter fluid and on gloves found near Ridge’s body.
Angela Denise Kilgore, 51, of Whitwell, is charged in connection with the death of pawn shop owner Jerry Don Ridge, according to TBI officials. Ridge’s body was found May 17 after firefighters extinguished a fire at Valley Pawn Brokers on State Route 28 in the small Marion County town.Kilgore, 53, was arrested in October 2016 in the May 17, 2016, death of the 72-year-old Ridge, whose body was found by firefighters inside his State Route 28 business, Valley Pawn Brokers, after a fire. Authorities were suspicious of the fire early on.
Kilgore’s jury trial began Monday in Marion County Circuit Court in Jasper, before state Senior Judge Don Ash.
Testimony on Tuesday came from local and state law enforcement, local and state fire officials, TBI forensic scientists, a DNA expert from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, a Ridge family member and a man who works at a convenience store down the street from the crime scene.