Laura-Lee Godfrey Holliman”s maternal grandmother continued her testimony this morning at the Lowndes County Courthouse.
Brian Holliman”s defense today gets the chance to cross-examine Freda Stacy, who was called by state in the case against Brian Holliman.
He stands accused of shooting his wife, Laura, to death with a shotgun on Oct. 25, 2008 at their Caledonia home.
Stacy took the witness stand Monday afternoon as the first witness for the state after 16th Circuit Judge Lee Howard seated a 14-person jury, including two alternates.
District Attorney Forrest Allgood, prosecuting the case, questioned Stacy for at least 40 minutes.
Fighting back tears, Stacy gave testimony about her granddaughter, from the first time she met Brian Holliman, and the events leading up to the day of her death.
Stacy said Laura brought Brian home to meet her, and Laura and Brian married in October 2005.
Stacy saw Laura at least twice a week, she testified.
“We were very close,” she said.
Stacy said she took Laura to see a chiropractor on Oct. 21 because she was complaining of migraine headaches, which she suffered from since she was a teenager.
As Stacy was driving her to the doctor, she said Laura told her Brian would not leave her alone, and she needed to get some relief.
Stacy also said Laura began to cry.
“She began to tell me she was going to leave Brian,” she said.
As they were making their way back to the Holliman home, Stacy said, Laura Holliman was getting several calls from Brian Holliman on her cell phone.
“She would answer, ”Please … leave me alone. I”ll be there in a minute.” She finally cut the phone off,” Stacy said.
Of her plans to leave Brian, Stacy asked Laura Holliman if she had given this some thought.
“She said there is no turning back,” Stacy said.
Stacy testified she offered to take Laura to find a place of her own on Saturday afternoon.
When they got back to the Holliman residence, Stacy said, Brian Holliman started following Laura Holliman, and Laura Holliman kept telling him to leave her alone.
Stacy also said Brian Holliman did not like her because of her close relationship with Laura Holliman.
Stacy talked with Laura on other occasions during the week, including Oct. 25. When she called her, Laura was taking a shower and was going to call Stacy back. Laura was planning to go to a friend”s house to watch the Alabama-Tennessee game later in the day, Stacy said.
Stacy asked Laura if she still wanted to go look for a new place, but Laura told her she wanted to wait another day. Later that afternoon, Stacy got a call from Brian.
“I picked up the phone and Brian hollered out, ”I shot her, I shot her!” I said, ”How did you shoot her?” He was hysterical,” she said
Allgood asked Stacy if Laura ever expressed anything about suicide, and Stacy said she did not.
“She did not like guns,” Stacy said.
Howard then called for a recess until this morning when defense attorney Steve Farese would begin his cross-examination.
The jury selection process began Monday morning at 9 and wrapped up at approximately 4 p.m.
Allen Baswell was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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