Accompanied by court officer Tim Higgs, right, defendant Tony Bigoms enters Judge Barry Steelman’s courtroom Wednesday during the first day of testimony in his murder trial. Bigoms is accused in the 2012 slaying of Dana Wilkes.Robert Boulware answered a call from his grandmother at about noon on Nov. 10, 2012. She said his mother hadn’t gone to work that morning and she was worried.
Boulware started calling his mother’s mobile phone nearly nonstop and drove to her apartment on Palo Verde Drive. The door was unlocked but she wasn’t there. Nothing was missing.
Another call from one of his mother’s co-workers led Boulware to her abandoned green Jeep Grand Cherokee at the entrance to the Wilcox Boulevard tunnel.
He opened the door and saw blood dripping from the glove box and dash. He called police.
Initially he thought maybe the blood could be from one of his stepfather’s nosebleeds. The man was on dialysis and undergoing chemotherapy.