Death penalty trial begins Monday for former Fort Carson soldier
The death penalty trial for ex-Fort Carson soldier, Glen Galloway, began Monday.
Galloway faces two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend Janice Nam and a homeless man named Marcus Anderson. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial began with opening statements from the defense and prosecution. Galloway appeared in the El Paso County courtroom dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit. He was then removed from the courtroom after he threw a laptop at the court reporter during a closed conflict hearing with the defense team and judge.
The prosecution argued Galloway killed Janice Nam deliberately in May 2016. The prosecution team argued the killing was pre-meditated and out of revenge for him being convicted of stalking Nam in 2015. The team placed evidence including surveillance videos and photos before the judge that put Galloway at Nam’s home the night she was killed.
The prosecution also laid out Marcus Anderson’s death, showing surveillance footage of a truck with two people driving into a storage unit.
Both the prosecution and defense say Anderson and Galloway lived together on the streets and shared the truck that is pictured in the surveillance photos. The prosecution argued Galloway killed Anderson at the storage unit, which belonged to Anderson and left him there.
The defense’s opening statements stated Anderson and Galloway went to the storage units to get meth-making supplies. The team argued Anderson had taken Galloway’s gun and pointed it at him when Galloway questioned him about it. Galloway then killed Anderson in self-defense. From there the defense said Galloway snapped leaving Anderson there and taking the truck and killing Janice Nam hours later.
The defense said they are not arguing Galloway killed Janice Nam, but say he did it because his mental state “snapped.” They asked the jury to find him not guilty on both counts of first-degree murder.
A witness and Nam’s sister, Isabelle Wolfe, testified Monday afternoon. She told of May 30, 2016, when she tried to get in contact with her sister, but never heard back. She drove over to Nam’s house in the afternoon, with her friend, and the second witness in the case, Courtney Reichhold.
Both described how Wolfe entered through the garage, found Nam’s sliding glass door shattered, and found Nam dead in her bed.
Wolfe said during Galloway and Nam’s relationship she only spent time with him three times. Wolfe described the relationship as “seemingly normal” for just starting to date.
Reichhold also testified, describing from her point of view what happened when the pair went to check on Nam.
Three CSPD officers who responded to the scene that night also described their response, along with the Emergency Response Technician who took the 911 call from Reichhold when the women discovered Nam dead.
