Editor's Note: What follows contains graphic testimony.
NORWICH – Gruesome details surrounding the death of a young girl were revealed at the felony hearing for alleged rapist and murderer, James Brower, on Tuesday.
The prosecution called four witnesses, the 911 call was played in open court, and Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride presented evidence in an attempt to show the Norwich Town Court Judge, James Fox, there is reasonable belief a felony was committed, and reasonable belief said defendant committed the felonies alleged.
It's alleged that Brower and his partner of 13 years, Tobias Rundstrom-Wooding, raped and killed 11-year-old Jacelyn O’Connor in the early morning hours of July 30, 2017.
“She is blue, and she is cold,” said Brower to the 911 dispatcher on the call that was played at the hearing. “She is not breathing. I just don’t understand. I’m shaking.”
Brower said he woke up at 9:30 a.m., drank coffee, did dishes, and spoke to his aunt on the phone before one of his sons told him that O’Connor was dead. It was said during investigator testimony that Brower said he thought his son was kidding because of, “the sense of humor he has.”
Brower told police he asked his sons again to wake O’Connor, as he “did not want her sleeping all day,” and that again he was told she was dead.