A state prosecutor argued during opening statements Thursday in Anchorage Superior Court that Bukurim Miftari killed his girlfriend because he could not suppress his emotions over their deteriorating relationship.
"Have you ever loved someone so much you wanted to kill them?" Assistant District Attorney Laura Dulic said to start her argument. She said Miftari uttered those words to a friend of the victim hours before police found her severely injured in a ditch.
The defense argued that Miftari's girlfriend, 30-year-old Kristen Reid, lived dangerously by selling drugs. Attorney George Dozier said the highly competitive trade of "wholesale amounts of drugs" made Reid enemies, alluding to the possibility of another killer.
Miftari, 24, faces four charges: first- and second-degree murder, kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
According to the charges against Miftari, an officer discovered Reid lying in a ditch along Fairbanks Street near International Airport Road early in the morning on Sept. 17, 2012, after a passerby reported a blue Chevrolet Tahoe SUV parked in the middle of the street.
Reid was naked, shot through her left temple, and paramedics rushed her to a hospital. She was declared brain dead and removed from life-support three days after the shooting.
I want to shoot her
Dulic said Miftari and Reid were not in love. Rather, the defendant had an "infatuation" and "obsession" over the victim, feelings made worse by jealousy.
At the time of Reid's death, the couple was romantically involved, Dulic said. They started dating in spring 2012, but by Sept. 16, 2012, Reid was ready to end the relationship, she said.
The prosecutor said the state would not deny that Reid was "far from perfect." She was married to an imprisoned man while dating Miftari. She sold drugs. She hung out at strip clubs. Still, "she was a real person and a friend to many."
Reid and one of those friends went out to the Alaska Bush Company on International Airport Road on the night of her death. Miftari joined the friends at some point, Dulic said. The friend, not identified in the charges, said she didn't notice any hostility between Miftari and Reid while they were at the strip club.
However, the state's first witness -- Karen Bennett, another friend whom Reid apparently called "mom" -- was at the strip club and bar that night, too. She said Miftari appeared agitated. Miftari allegedly became upset when Reid gave her number to men at the bar.
"'Why the f--- is she giving her number to everybody?' " Bennett quoted Miftari saying. " 'Have you ever thought about shooting someone you love? I want to shoot her, or someone.'"
Bennett said the couple did not get along well.
Reid left the club at about 2 a.m. and went back to her friend's apartment. Miftari showed up and, still outside, yelled for "Kris," said Dulic. Miftari allegedly forced Reid to leave with him. Reid departed so fast that she forgot her cellphone and to put on shoes, she said.
Dulic did not offer jurors a detailed theory about what happened between the alleged kidnapping and the discovery of Reid's body. She said several pieces of evidence put Miftari at the scene of the crime.
The abandoned Tahoe belonged to Miftari, a gun found near Reid was registered to the defendant and a witness spotted someone throwing something in a nearby dumpster. It turned out that was Reid's purse, which contained "large amounts" of drugs and money, according to testimony.
Additionally, cellphone data placed Miftari in the area around the time of Reid's death, Dulic said. The state also plans to present fingerprint and DNA evidence, she said.
Defense: A staged crime scene
Dozier, the defense attorney, said evidence will show Miftari "did not shoot anybody."
Miftari and Reid sat together and got along the night of Reid's death, Dozier said. That is "not surprising, because they were lovers," he said.
When Miftari wasn't spending time with Reid, he was caring for her children, he said. The couple would occasionally have "spats." Occasionally, those fights would turn physical. Reid would strike Miftari; she was larger than him, Dozier argued.
Reid was found stripped, the attorney told jurors, adding that another culprit may have been searching for something like a recording device. Dozier previously argued Thursday morning that Reid was a successful drug dealer who associated with other dealers. She and her associates are understandably suspicious of informants and wires, he said.
"I am in no way implying that Ms. Reid deserved what she got, but (the drug dealing) is important in context of her environment," he said.
It is unlikely Miftari would intentionally leave behind the Tahoe and gun, both of which were easily traceable, Dozier said. However, the purse was curiously missing, he said.
The purse was the one item that would not suggest Miftari if it were left behind, "thus leaving the scene as if it was almost staged," he said.
Dozier said the police focused on Miftari without looking into other possible suspects.
Miftari's trial is scheduled to continue into next week.