PICKENS — The prosecution continued to call witnesses Wednesday in an attempt to prove their case against a former Williamston man accused in the murder of an Easley pawn shop broker in June 2006.

Ronald Eugene Shepherd faces charges of murder, assault and battery with intent to kill, armed robbery and possession of a weapon during the act of a violent crime, in connection with the incident, which took place at Action Pawn Shop on S.C. 8 in Easley June 15, 2009.

He was later arrested in Montreal, Canada but was not returned to Easley for another 23 months because Canada does not believe in the death penalty.

Solicitor Bob Ariail had to agree not to seek capital punishment in the case in order to extradite Shepherd.

Shepherd has pleaded not guilty to the crimes.

The owner of the pawn shop, John Bruin, died from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to Dr. Michael Ward, Greenville’s chief medical examiner, who testified Wednesday that he performed the autopsy on the victim.

Assistant Solicitor Judy Munson also called several police officers and forensic experts to the stand, who explained how finger prints were taken, evidence was collected, and how they linked bullet casings to the a 40-caliber Glock they say was the murder weapon.

Two men who served with Shepherd in the S.C. National Guard also testified on behalf of the prosecution.

Joseph Harley Kelley said ATF officers came to his home the day following the incident , and at their request, he placed a phone call to Shepherd. That call was recorded was admitted into evidence Wednesday and played for the jury.

Munson also played a recording on the same tape of a message they say Shepherd left on Kelley’s answering machine.

Kelley testified that he and Shepherd were “pretty close.”

One of Shepherd’s superiors in the National Guard testified that he purchased a handgun for Shepherd at a store in Anderson because he could get it for a better price.

Donald Thompson, who has been in the guard for 24 years, said he met Shepherd when he came to Charlie Battery in Clemson following basic training.

He said that while deployed on a stateside mission, which took them to Texas and later Washington, D.C., he spent a lot of time with Shepherd.

He said he bought the Glock Model 23 on Nov. 4, 2005 and immediately sold it to Shepherd for the same price.

Thompson testified that the gun believed to be the murder weapon was the same gun he sold to Shepherd, but he said the barrel had been changed.

He also testified that he thought Shepherd was already 21 when he sold the gun to him, based on the fact that Shepherd already had other firearms.

He said he did not change the barrel on the gun and that he did not know what Shepherd did with it following the exchange.

Prior to Thompson’s testimony, James Armstrong with the Greenville County Crime Lab, testified that the barrel on the gun had been replaced with a stainless steel, aftermarket barrel prior to the incident.

He also testified that he believed, based on his comparisons, that the shell casings found at the crime scene, as well as a bullet from the wall and the one removed from the victim’s body, were fired from the same gun.

Defense attorney John DeJong, however, questioned the methods used in tool marking, which is often referred to ballistics testing, saying some reports that say it is not scientific.

Thompson disagreed, saying the testing was recognized as a scientific method.

Sgt. Brian Cowan also testified for the prosecution about how he recovered a bullet from a cinder block wall in the pawn shop, as well as the fact that there was video surveillance footage of the incident, which he took back to the Easley Police Department to play and to get still images to help in the investigation.

Lt. Tony Robinson with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office crime scene unit, testified that he took latent fingerprints at the scene, mostly from around the front edge of a glass gun display top.

Sgt. Rene Sherbert later testified that several of those prints matched the various finger and palm prints submitted by Shepherd.

Special Agent Chris Wildt testified about going to Shepherd’s friend Harley Kelley’s home, asking Kelley to call Shepherd , and about recording the phone call and the answering machine message that were later played for the jury.

Wildt also testified that ATF officials learned through Canadian authorities that firearms taken from Action Pawn Shop the day of the crime may have been dumped somewhere along the side of the road near the Canadian border.

The guns were later found and sent to Wildt via FedEx, he testified.

During the last 1.5 hours of court Wednesday, the jury watched video footage of a Montreal officer questioning Shepherd.

Prior to the questioning, Shepherd was advised of his right to an attorney and his right to remain silent.

However, during the exchange, he told the Montreal officer about how he changed clothes at a New York hotel before crossing the border, and he told the officer the location of the guns taken from Action Pawn.

During the video footage, Shepherd estimated that he took 10 handguns and that he left them along a tree line near a ditch between mile markers 172 and 173, along I-87 near the New York/Canadian border.

When asked why he left the guns there, Shepherd stated on the video, “I kind of realized what I did.”

As part of the questioning process, the Montreal officer asked Shepherd several times what triggered him that day and encouraged him to think about the reason so he could avoid that trigger in the future.

Shepherd’s response was that he didn’t know.

“It doesn’t really matter since I probably won’t ever walk as a free man again, especially in the state,” he stated in the video.

When asked how he felt about what happened, he said, “I feel bad for his family because I know how I’d feel if someone took somebody from my life.”

Shepherd, who was born in California and moved to South Carolina at the age of 6, told the officer he originally went to the pawn shop that day to buy a gun.

“I was going to go look at them and decide,” he stated on the video footage.

He said he was raised by his aunt and uncle and that he had a half brother and half sister.

Shepherd talked with the Montreal officer about his service in the National Guard, paint ball and playing video games.

He said he liked to drink vodka but that he hated drugs and did not use them.

Shepherd remained composed as the video footage of the interrogation was played, occasionally looking through paperwork on the desk in front of him.

During opening arguments Monday, Munson accused Shepherd of shooting Bruin, pointing a gun and firing twice at his wife Betty Bruin, and then hopping across the counter and putting guns into a bag before leaving.

Betty Bruin was present in the courtroom during Wednesday’s testimony.

Testimony resumed Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. at the Pickens County Courthouse.

Please check back at www.theeasleyprogress.com for trial updates throughout the week.