Little Rock - KATV's Anne Pressly never regained consciousness after she was found in her bed, brutally beaten by an intruder. Now, prosecutors hope DNA evidence will do the talking for her.

Curtis Lavelle Vance's trial on capital murder, rape and burglary charges is to begin Monday in Little Rock. Prosecutors say they plan to use DNA collected at Pressly's home as well as taped confessions from Vance.

Defense lawyers claimed police coerced Vance into giving up a DNA sample in an interview before his arrest. While on the stand for a pretrial hearing, Vance claimed "police trickery" confused him into giving up the samples and the confessions.

Pressly was found severely beaten in her Little Rock home on October 20, 2008. She died five days later without regaining consciousness. Vance was arrested by Little Rock police on November 26th.


(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

 Email To Friend