Second Week of Murder Trial Involving Tyler Thomas Disappearance, Concludes

BEATRICE – A DNA expert now with a Lincoln, Nebraska crime lab testified Friday morning that no DNA evidence was found in a subsequent search of Joshua Keadle’s White Ford Explorer in 2016.  The testimony from Erin Sims was heard during the trial of Joshua Keadle, charged with first-degree murder in the December 2010 disappearance of Peru State student Tyler Thomas.

The state called three witnesses Friday, morning….before for the proceeding recessed until one p.m., when the next state witness was to be called.
Nemaha County Sheriff’s Deputy Casey Moyer testified to reviewing surveillance video taken from a Peru bank, which shows Keadle’s vehicle twice crossing into view the morning of December 3rd, both times southbound. The video was taken between midnight and seven a.m.
The times were 2:09 a.m. and 3:15 a.m.  The surveillance video shows 5th Street in Peru, facing east.

Investigator Kerry Crosby testified that Joshua Keadle’s phone number doesn’t show up on Tyler Thomas’ phone, after Thomas went missing. He attempted to determine if Verizon had any call records on Keadle’s phone.

"The information I received from Verizon Wireless was that during the time period of December 2nd and December 3rd, that according to the plan that Mr. Keadle had with Verizon at that time, that detailed call records were not available". That was similar in the phone records of Tyler Thomas.

Crosby was the officer who arrested Joshua Keadle, on October 17th, 2017…for the charge of first-degree murder that is the subject of the trial. Defense attorney Jeffery Pickens asked Crosby if anyone has given a timeline showing where Mr. Keadle is and where Ms. Thomas is....Crosby
said "not a specific timeline".

Acknowledging that is important, Crosby said no when asked if anyone has put one together.  Prosecutor Doug Warner asked Crosby, isn’t that what this trial is about?  Crosby's response, "Oh sure....yes.....it will".

A computer forensics investigator with the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office confirmed Friday that Tyler Thomas deleted 107 “friends” from her Facebook account, in the hours before she went missing, December 3rd of 2010.
That testimony was given Friday afternoon, by Investigator Ed Sexton, upon defense cross-examination. He said he didn't know why those deletions occurred.

Testimony Friday indicated the last time Tyler Thomas logged onto Facebook, was December 2nd, 2010….at 2:39 p.m.

Sexton, asked about Thomas’ status updates reviewed by investigators on her Facebook page, describing them.
"It was like a diary, I guess is the way I would describe it. She would put in questions, people would respond to those questions. She'd make comments, sometimes nobody would comment on it. It read kind of like a diary of how she was feeling at the time", both positive and negative comments.

Sexton also testified that Joshua Keadle was not listed as a “friend” on Thomas’ Facebook account. Likewise, Thomas was not listed as a “friend” on Keadle’s Facebook.

The final witness called by prosecutors on Friday was Michael Maseth, who was an FBI Special Agent….now an FBI Supervisory Special Agent. He was asked if anyone involved in the investigation had pinpointed where both Thomas and Keadle were, leading up to her disappearance.

"I can't say whether they did, or the didn't. I know that I didn't".

Testimony ended at around 3:15 p.m., scheduled to resume at nine a.m., Monday.