GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Testimony continued Wednesday in the trial of a man accused of committing premeditated murder before leading police on a high-speed chase on US-131.
Prosecutors are trying to prove Adam Nolin committed premeditated murder last year when his girlfriend, Tia Randall, was shot and killed. Nolin has admitted to the killing, but the defense has argued it wasn’t planned.
On Wednesday, a friend of Nolin and Randall took the stand and described their relationship.
“It wasn’t the greatest, the had their good times, they had their bad times,” said Chadsworth Simon.
Simon said Nolin was controlling and often had a gun in his possession.
He said he got calls and texts from Nolin on the day of Randall’s death saying it would be the last time he would see or hear from him.
“At that time, I was just trying to ask him what happened,” Simon said. “I figured he probably got into an argument with her and he was leaving or something like that.”
Simon said Nolin called him again and said he shot somebody.
One of Randall’s coworkers, Christina Buckley, also testified on Wednesday.
She said she noticed a change in Randall’s demeanor two days prior to her death, and that Randall said she was nervous about telling Nolin she had feelings for another coworker.
Buckley said she was concerned about Randall on the day of her death after Randall didn’t show up to her shift on time.
“She was not normally late, ever,” Buckley said. “She would tell someone, notify us right away. She had not notified, we hadn’t heard from her, she wasn’t there, so we started to get a little concerned.”
At that point, Buckley said they tried to get in contact with the coworker Randall had feelings for but were told he hadn’t heard from her either.
On Tuesday, prosecutors referenced Randall’s relationship with her coworker as part of what led up to her murder.
In court Wednesday, the jury was shown a text from Randall to Nolan asking if he was OK with her going out after work one night.
His response said, “whatever keep him away from house, I don’t like this question game anymore. u get out at 8, back by 12.”
Nolin’s mother took the stand Tuesday to testify against her son. She said Nolin called her right after the murder, and she called 911 immediately after.
The case could be given up to the jury as soon as Thursday.
