BEAUMONT, Texas — The trial of a man accused of killing a beloved Beaumont teacher in 1995 began with jury selection on Monday, March 11, 2024 in Jefferson County's Criminal District Court before Judge John Stevens.
DNA evidence finally led police, nearly 26 years later, to charge Clayton Foreman, 63, with the brutal death of Mary Catherine Edwards, who had been a teacher at Beaumont's Price Elementary School.
The case is being prosecuted by Mike Laird and Sonny Echart with assistance from Pat Knauth, who have a list of 73 witnesses they may call during the trail. Tom Burbank is defending Foreman in the trial.
Day 7 Testimony
The morning of day seven began with Judge Stevens telling jurors that they would be hearing evidence of another crime committed by Foreman.
Foreman's ex-wife, Dianna Daleo Coe, then took the stand testifying that she found out three weeks before their wedding that Foreman was on probation for a rape.
When she confronted Foreman about it, he claimed the charges had been dropped.
"He told me it was a big misunderstanding and the charges have been dropped," she said on the stand.
Coe and Foreman were married for 11 years.
Foreman pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the 1981 rape case and received three years’ probation according to Knauth.
Judge Stevens ruled Wednesday that evidence related to the rape can be admitted.
"The Texas Rules of Criminal Evidence favor the admission of logically, relevant evidence for a jury to consider,” Stevens said. “Finding the evidence to be relevant is the first step.”
“The court finds the evidence about to be introduced, is relevant to proving matters necessary in this case for a jury to consider,” he said. “This is no constitutional reason to excluded."
Foreman's ex-fiancé, Teresa Brewer, also took the stand on Wednesday morning. Brewer called off the wedding after learning in 2021 that Foreman was being investigated for Edward's murder.
About an hour after returning from lunch the prosecution rested its case. The defense will present its case next.
Just before 3 p.m. the defense rested its case without calling any witnesses.
Judge Stevens then began charging the jury prior to the beginning of closing arguments in the case.
Day 6 Testimony
On the sixth day of testimony jurors heard the defense's cross examination of a Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab supervisor from Houston, Tanya Dean. The DPS crime lab was involved in testing of some evidence over the years since Edwards' murder.
Burbank questioned the presence of an unknown man's DNA.
“There’s absolutely someone else’s DNA there!" he said in court.
Dean said there were a number of plausible explanations. The prosecution suggested it could have come from the various people who handled the samples through the years.
The jurors were excused for the day while Judge Stevens held a hearing with the lawyers. The prosecution wants to present testimony from a woman Foreman raped in 1981 and another woman who says Foreman came to her apartment and held her at gunpoint in 1986.
Both women went to high school with him.
The prosecution says the evidence shows Foreman had “motive, opportunity and intent” to kill Edwards and that he had a “signature behavior.”
Judge Stevens has to rule on using the state’s rules of criminal evidence. A key issue is whether this evidence could create undue prejudice. For example, would this evidence and testimony be the only thing the jury will remember?
Day 5 Testimony
Judge Stevens announced his decision to move forward with showing the jury a video of an interview of Foreman before he was arrested.
Last week, Foreman's defense, argued that the interview by the Texas Rangers violated Foreman's constitutional rights, and was done under false pretenses.
Burbank said that the ranger told Foreman that he was free to leave while knowing that there was a murder warrant out for his arrest.
The 50-minute video started as a conversation between Foreman, Texas Ranger Brandon Bess and Beaumont Police Detective Aaron Lewellan.
The judge, defense and prosecution reviewed the video Friday without the jury present.
Bess and Lewallan told Foreman in the video that they were investigating the 1995 murder of Price Elementary teacher Mary Catherine Edwards.
In one clip of the interview, Foreman denied knowing Edwards or her twin sister. He told investigators that the two women were bridesmaids in his 1982 wedding and that he did not have any interactions with them beyond the wedding. Edwards told them that he moved to Ohio in 2007 and worked as an Uber driver.
Foreman told Bess that he would like a lawyer before he shared anything else. Officers arrested him right after he walked out of the room.
Jurors also heard from the Lewallan who was lead detective, the spouse of Tina Lewallan who also worked the case.
In less than three months, Foreman became a suspect. His defense attorney cross examined witnesses questioning everything from how the killing may have happened to when the Edwards was handcuffed.
He also raised questions about unknown DNA found under the victim's fingernails.
Day 4 Testimony
On day four of testimony prosecutors moved on to the genetic genealogy that helped them crack the case.
Jurors heard about the trash pull from the garbage can in the street outside of Foreman’s home in Ohio. Foreman's defense attorney, Tom Burbank attempted to keep that evidence out of the trial, but Judge John Stevens denied that motion.
FBI agents who searched through Foreman's trash after an officer did a trash pull, took the stand. The trash pull led to plastic spoons, hair samples and DNA on medicine bottles with Foreman's name on it. This evidence was significant because investigators needed it to link Foreman's DNA to what was found at the crime scene.
Beaumont Police detective Tina Lewallen told jurors she and her husband spent hours working this case in their spare time, at nights and on weekends, using genetic genealogy to build a family tree. This is how prosecutors were able to zero in on Foreman.
Detective Lewallen and her colleagues needed to find the suspect's closest living relative in order to begin constructing a family tree. She told the jury that they identified more than 7,400 individuals, including relatives dating back to the 1800s, before narrowing it down to two brothers from Beaumont.
Genetic genealogist Shera LaPoint, of Louisiana, took the stand as a specialist in the field.
Foreman's trial is expected to continue into next week.
Day 3 Testimony
Day three began with an explanation of the science investigators used to connect Foreman to the murder.
In court this morning jurors heard all about DNA, which was still relatively new in 1995. Beaumont Police and prosecutors sent evidence and blood samples from the murder to labs in Austin and a company called Cellmark in Maryland.
Cellmark was one of the first to offer paternity and criminal testing and previously required the sample size of a quarter.
They said this lab was faster than the FBI for this type of testing.
Melissa Staples, a molecular biologist who used to work for Cellmark, told jurors what she did when she received the samples from the sexual assault kit as well as blood from Edwards’ ex-boyfriend.
Staples explained what DNA types and markers were detected and how she was able to rule out the ex-boyfriend as a possible suspect.
According to Staples, police sent blood samples from about a dozen other suspects for additional testing.
During the trial, defense attorney Tom Burbank questioned former Jefferson County Regional Crime Lab forensic analyst Angela Fitzwater about whether all of the suspects could actually be “ruled out” based on DNA. He also highlighted concerns about why certain swabs from the rape kit were not analyzed at Cellmark.
Other testimonies today included those from former workers at the Jefferson County crime lab. They oversaw the evidence as it was sent off to the labs for analysis.
Day 2 Testimony
In a dramatic development the doctor who performed the original autopsy, changed his opinion about the cause of death. Initially, the autopsy showed the 5th grade teacher likely died from drowning. However, today the forensic pathologist said based on his recent review of the case, he thinks otherwise.
Certified forensic pathologist Dr. Charles Harvey, MD testified over zoom from a retirement home in Boerne, due to his declining health.
He described in painstaking detail about the 36 bruises and abrasions he found on much of Edwards' body consistent with a struggle and signs of blunt force trauma. He also performed a sexual assault examination that provided the DNA evidence that led investigators to Foreman.
Jurors were shown the shirt Edwards was wearing, the towel she was wrapped in, and the handcuffs that bound her.
Dr. Harvey initially determined Edwards died from drowning. Today, he told the jury, based on what he knows now, his opinion has changed. He thinks it was something called entrapment asphyxiation.
"I've dealt with a particular category of death called, restraint asphyxia. The person is unable to breathe. The chest is compressed and they just simply cannot breathe," Dr. Harvey said in court.
He said a person could be killed in 5 to 10 minutes, if enough pressure was applied to the chest from behind. The defense then asked why there were no bruise on Edwards' chest consistent with that type of pressure. Dr. Harvey had no answer for that.
Trial begins
The trial had a brief delay while a juror was dismissed and replaced by an alternate. It is unclear what exactly happened. The judge presiding said it was done “with just cause.”
In opening statements Prosecutor Mike Laird told the jury they need to remember this happened in 1995. He said they will hear about family members who did not live long enough to testify or see this trial today.
He then went on to describe the kinds of evidence the jury will hear.
Prosecutors told the jury they'll hear from dozens of witnesses, including the doctor who performed the autopsy 29 years. They plan to highlight the genetic genealogy and DNA that cracked this cold case.
They offered no motive for the murder, but shared that Edwards was found bruised and handcuffed, slumped over the side of the bathtub at her townhouse. The autopsy confirmed she died from drowning and asphyxiation. Her dad found her, saying it appeared she was tortured.
Prosecutors started their case with a BPD dispatcher.
The court room quickly took a solemn tone as 911 recordings of Mary Catherine's mother's frantic call for help was played for the jury.
As Edwards' mother's cries filled the room while she described how she found her daughter, family members wept and some jurors closed their eyes. Seemingly not being able to handle the horror of the situation.
The jury also heard testimony from Edwards' twin sister Allison Edwards Brocato.
"I called and my dad answered the phone and he was frantic….he said your sister is dead so I said do you want me to call 911… so I called 911… and I hung up from him not knowing what was going on. I called my brother and he lived around the corner we were just hysterical and praying … and then my dear friend lived around the corner and they came over to comfort me," Brocato said.
This was the first the the family has spoken publicly about the murder.
Jurors also heard testimony from two neighbors. Both described hearing a series of loud noises in the middle of the night that sounded like someone kicking the wall. The neighbors went back to bed without calling police.
The defense offered no opening statements. Foreman's attorney tried to poke holes in some of the police processing of the crime scene and he brought up Edwards' ex-boyfriend who was once a suspect but was cleared by authorities.
Background
For a painfully long time the murder of the beloved Price Elementary teacher went unsolved after she was found dead in her home January 14, 1995. Upon investigating police ruled the death a homicide and collected evidence at the scene including the suspect's DNA.
Edwards, 31, lived alone in Beaumont and was a school teacher in the city. She was last seen alive on Friday, Jan. 13, 1995, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The next day, investigators said she didn’t answer any phone calls. Her lack of response prompted her parents to pay her a visit to her house on Park Meadow Drive.
When the parents arrived, they found Edwards dead in her bathroom. Evidence showed that Edwards had been sexually assaulted and killed, according to a DPS news release.
Sadly the forensics of the 90's simply were not as effective as they are today, and as the years passed the case went cold, leaving the Edwards family without closure and the perpetrator free.
However, due to massive leaps in forensic technology, the rise of data bases like Gedmatch and some clever police work a massive break in the case was made in 2021.
After entering the suspect's DNA into a data base of 30 other DNA files that were voluntarily submitted, detectives got a hit on two DNA connections on both the maternal and paternal side.
After connecting both the matches, detectives zeroed in on the child of the DNA union, leading them to Foreman who they then found out went to the same high school as Edwards. They also found that he had been convicted of an earlier assault.
With this new revelation, on April 15, 2021, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigations Cincinnati Field Office and Reynoldsburg Ohio Police Department trash was collected from outside Foreman's home. They were able to collect a sample of Foreman's DNA which was an exact match to the DNA found at the crime scene back in 1995.
Foreman was then indicted in June 2021 for capital murder.
Further investigation revealed Edwards was a bridesmaid in the wedding of Foreman and his first wife, Jefferson County District Attorney Bob Wortham previously told 12News.
During their investigation into Foreman, detectives discovered he pled guilty to raping a classmate at Forest Park High School in 1981.
In that case, police said that Foreman gave the victim a ride home after finding her stranded at a gas station. Police say Foreman "bound her hands behind her back with a belt and held a knife to her throat" before sexually assaulting her.
Police say that 1981 rape had a number of similarities with Edwards' murder.
Edwards and Foreman both previously attended Forest Park High School.
Stay with 12News for coverage as the trial unfolds through testimony of both sides.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
Send us a news tip | Download our app