(Estherville)– Testimony Thursday in the 1st degree murder trial of CeJay Van Der Wilt, accused in the October 2021 death of David McDowell of Estherville, was centered around a key witness, Brady Salberg, who was with Van Der Wilt, Conner Uhde…who was also charged in the case, and McDowell the night McDowell was killed. Salberg testified the four of them traveled to a rural location outside of Estherville with a shotgun in the vehicle driven by Uhde. Salberg said they abruptly stopped and that Uhde claimed there was a flat tire, and that McDowell was told to get out and help fix it. In the process of that, Salberg said they told McDowell his cell phone was missing and they started looking for it. He said that’s when Uhde took the shotgun, threw it at Salberg and told him to shoot McDowell. Salberg testified that he pretended the gun wasn’t working and didn’t know how to operate it. He said Van Der Wilt then took it from him and shot McDowell. Salberg said there was a second shot but he couldn’t see who fired it.
Cara Scott of the Iowa DCI Crime Lab also took the stand Thursday. She testified that some blood found in the back seat of the vehicle matched the DNA of McDowell.
Testimony in the case will continue today (Fri.)
