Records show Boswell, Trail buying hacksaw, trash bags hours before Loofe's disappearance
WILBER - New evidence presented Thursday at the trial of Aubrey Trail focused on Trail and Bailey Boswell's activities during the day on Nov. 15, 2017.
Boswell and Sydney Loofe went on a Tinder date in Wilber on the night of the 15th, but no one ever saw or heard from Loofe after.
Lincoln Police investigator Robert Hurley was back on the stand Thursday. He was able to piece together cellphone records from Trail and Boswell on Nov. 15-16, which led investigators to the discovery of Loofe’s remains in Clay County.
Hurley talked about these findings during testimony on Tuesday.
Hurley also looked at records from Nov. 14-17, focusing on the 15th specifically.
Phone records, paper records and video surveillance shows that Trail and Boswell spent the night of the 14th at the Best Western Plus near 27th Street and Interstate 80 in north Lincoln.
The two checked in at 4:03 p.m. Later that evening, Boswell drove to Loofe’s residence at 6601 Colfax Avenue in northeast Lincoln.
During their first meet-up, Boswell and Loofe drove around for awhile and smoked marijuana. Boswell then dropped Loofe back off, and went back to the Best Western.
On the morning of the 15th, surveillance shows Boswell and Trail entering the Home Depot on N 27th in Lincoln at 10:25 a.m. In a matter of about ten minutes, Boswell and Trail purchased a two-pack of drop cloths, a hacksaw, a five-pack of 12-inch hacksaw blades and tin snips.
Tin snips were later found after a search of Trail and Boswell’s Wilber apartment, but the hacksaw and blades were not.
A handsaw was found during a search of Trail’s black Ford 500, but no tools were found near Loofe’s body in Clay County.
After their stop at Home Depot, Trail and Boswell went to the Aardvark Antique Mall around 11 a.m. on the 15th.
Trail and Boswell ran an antique dealer business called “A and B Antiques.” They also rented out four cases at the Antique Mall, where customers could buy items from those cases.
Trail and Boswell stopped by the Antique Mall to pick up a check for things bought from their cases. They also bought two food grinders, a weed cutter, a gerber folding saw and a drill.
After that, cellphone records indicate that Trail and Boswell driving to Loofe’s residence, and then to the N 27th Menards, where Loofe worked a 12-6 p.m. shift.
Surveillance footage from that Menard’s shows Trail walking into the store and nearly crossing paths with Loofe. Trail looked at Loofe, and called Boswell soon after.
Trail and Boswell left Menard’s at about 12:20 and were back in Wilber by 1:17 p.m. They stopped at Dollar General in Wilber about a half-hour later, where receipts show the purchase of Clorox bleach and Hefty trash bags.
Boswell then traveled alone to Loofe’s residence on the evening of the 15th, and the two went back to Wilber together for their second Tinder date.
Loofe’s phone was never turned on again after arriving in Wilber that evening.
You can read more from Thursday's proceedings here.
The trial resumed Thursday without Trail present in the courtroom for a third straight day.
Saline County District Judge Vicky Johnson said Thursday that the trial “is on, if not ahead” of schedule, despite several delays.
Johnson said the jury will not have to report on July 5 to save on travel expenses for witnesses scheduled to testify on July 8.
There will also be no proceedings on the July 4th holiday.
The trial is set to be wrapped up by July 12, which would make it a four-week ordeal.
Trail is accused of first degree murder in the death and dismemberment of 24-year-old Lincoln woman Sydney Loofe.
Loofe’s remains were discovered in rural Clay County on Dec. 4, 2017.
Trail faces the death penalty if convicted of first degree murder. Boswell faces that same charge, and is set to stand trial in October.
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