(Sioux City)– A key figure in the Shelby Duis case is back in court.
A drug trial got underway Monday in U-S District Court in Sioux City for Jesse Wendelsdorf. He’s been charged in a federal indictment with two counts of conspiracy to manufacture, possess and distribute methamphetamine at a residence in Spirit Lake.
In the first day of testimony, Dawn Edwards, who says she was never a girlfriend of Wendelsdorf’s, told jurors she paid 25-dollars to Wendelsdorf and his girlfriend for a quarter gram of meth, and that she smoked marijuana and meth with the couple at their Spirit Lake home.
Several law enforcement officers also testified Monday.
Prosecutors say about 30 witnesses will testify on their behalf, with the defense expected to call just one witness, Jesse’s father, Jaime.
Wendelsdorf was acquitted of murder charges in the death of two-year-old Shelby Duis of Spirit Lake, who was found dead in her home at 1501 Jackson Avenue on January 4th, 2000. Her mother, Heidi Watkins of Spirit Lake, was convicted of child endangerment. She’s serving up to a 50-year prison term.
