UPDATED: Video from patrol car introduced as evidence in trial - KYTX CBS 19 Tyler Longview News Weather Sports

TYLER (KYTX) -- The murder trial for Dr. Bobby Nichols began Wednesday, approximately seven months from the night Nichols is accused of murdering his wife, Rosalind, inside their central Tyler home.

Officer Mitch Rogers with the Tyler Police Department took the witness stand to describe being on the scene that night. He said Nichols was involved in a brief standoff after making a 911 call in which he reported his wife's death. Rogers said Nichols remained on the phone with a dispatcher and ultimately agreed to exit the home. Rogers said Nichols came out unarmed.

Defense attorney Bradley Lollar asked Rogers whether Nichols was cooperative when he exited the home. Rogers said he was.

Officer Brandon Lott with the Tyler Police Department was the next witness. Lott was riding with Rogers that night. He said he recalled being dispatched on a call in which Nichols allegedly admitted to shooting his wife.

Lott said he used to be a paramedic. He described approaching Rosalind's body in the living room and finding her to have no pulse. He said she wasn't breathing.

Pictures Lott had taken inside the home showed a pistol resting on the coffee table inside the Nichols' living room. Lott identified that as the murder weapon.

Officer Jason Compton with the Tyler Police Department was the next witness.

Compton described taking a tactical position outside the Nichols' home after being dispatched to the scene. He said he provided cover for other officers once Nichols exited the home and surrendered.

Compton said no one else was inside the home besides Nichols' deceased wife. He also described the same pistol Lott had identified in crime scene photos. Compton said the gun appeared to be jammed, rendering it useless.

Officer Andrew Hill with the Tyler Police Department was the next witness.

Hill also described being briefed that Nichols had told dispatchers he shot his wife.

Hill said he handcuffed Nichols when he surrendered, while asking if there were any other guns in the home. Hill said Nichols answered that there was one "next to her."

Lollar asked Hill whether Nichols was cooperative after surrendering. He said he was.

Sergeant Darin Grissom with the Tyler Police Department was the next witness.

Assistant District Attorney Jason Parrish introduced into evidence a video taken from the dashboard camera of Grissom's patrol car when he was dispatched to the Nichols' home.

The video showed officers entering the home and included audio of officers taking Nichols into custody.

Grissom described finding shell casings once he entered the home. He said none of the officers touched those at that time.

"We went into the house, saw the white female on the couch. Officers secured that area and officer Rogers and I continued through the house," Grissom said. "There was a shell casing on the floor of the entryway. There was another on the floor near a lamp table in the sitting room...the two casings were not very far apart."

Grissom said he worried the casings would be disturbed and stood watch over them as paramedics arrived. He acknowledged the presence of the pistol on the coffee table but said he was not sure whether it was jammed or not.


Lollar asked Grissom how far apart the shell casings were. Grissom estimated they were two to three feet apart.

ETMC Paramedic Mary White was the next witness. She was one of the paramedics who examined Rosalind that night.

White said her crew provided no medical treatment because they knew she was deceased. She said Rosalind's body was cool to the touch, indicating that she had been deceased for a while.

Parish asked what Rosalind's injuries were like. White said she did not observe any injuries on Rosalind's body, having been asked by officers not to disturb the body.

Lollar asked whether it was possible to determine how long Rosalind had been dead based on touch. She said it was not possible to determine precisely how long.

Judge Gary Alfred, Smith County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace, was the next witness.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Vance admitted Rosalind's death certificate into evidence.

Judge Alfred said Rosalind had died of a fun shot wound to the chest.

Crime Scene Investigator Donald Malmstrom with the Tyler Police Department was the next witness.

Malmstrom said he also saw the shell casings and pistol inside the home as described by the other officers.

Vance went through a large collection of crime scene photos with Malmstrom depicting the couch on which Rosalind was killed. Malmstrom detailed the locations of the shell casings as well as apparent bullet holes to the couch and floor underneath it.

Malmstrom described a wound to Rosalind's lower abdomen which appeared to be from a single bullet that entered on the front of her body and exited on the back side.

Malmstrom said he also performed a trajectory rod analysis on the gun shot holes.

Vance admitted photos showing the results of the analysis, which includes lasers as extensions of the rods' various directions, into evidence. The photos appeared to show that at least one gun shot could have come from someone seated in a chair next to the couch.