Testimony in the third day of the capital murder trial of the man accused of killing an Arlington pastor focused on the evidence.
Steven Nelson is accused of killing Clint Dobson in March 2011 at Northpointe Baptist Church and brutally beating Judy Elliott, the church secretary.
Several police officers who were present when Nelson was arrested on March 5, 2011, said he was wearing a flashy white belt that prosecutors entered into evidence.
Caleb Blank, Arlington police lead homicide detective, said the belt was a critical missing piece of the puzzle.
"At the crime scene, when we were walking through pastor Dobson's office, we found two small, white metal studs, for lack of a better term," he said. "And we, for the life of us, couldn't figure out what they were."
Blank said he later discovered identical studs lining Nelson's belt, which was missing four pieces.
Blank also said he found bloody tennis shoes in the Nelson's apartment and that the tread matched a footprint left at the scene.
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Nelson sat emotionless when Tracy Nelson, his former transgender girlfriend, testified about the belt.
She said Nelson would never wear it because it was too "feminine" and said he was the masculine one in their relationship.
