DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The trial for a man Daytona Beach police say is linked to a serial killer case started on Friday.
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Robert Hayes, 37, was arrested in September 2019 on first-degree murder charges for the March 2016 death of Rachel Bey, 32.
Police said Hayes was identified as the man behind at least three unsolved murders in Daytona Beach from 2005 to 2006.
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Former Daytona Beach police Chief Craig Capri said investigators linked DNA from a 2016 Palm Beach murder suspect to their case.
Capri said Hayes was named a suspect in the deaths of Julie Green, Laquetta Gunther and Iwana Patton.
“Three women, three months, and evidence will show they were all killed by the same person that person is in the courtroom today,” State Attorney Andrew Urbanak said in court on Friday.
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An arrest affidavit said investigators used DNA from a cigarette smoked by Hayes to link him to the DNA found on the victims.
DNA will be a critical focus of both the defense and prosecution cases. While the defense says it plans to dispute those DNA results the state says it’s that evidence along with ballistics that links Hayes to these murders.
Hayes’ defense attorney said you would need a car to get to the crime scenes, and Hayes did not have one.
During opening statements, defense attorney Francis Shea claimed there was someone else known to frequent sex workers that police were looking at related to the case.
“We got here evidence that’s going to open your belief that there is other possibilities to situations,” Shea said.
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Capri said Hayes was a student at Bethune-Cookman University when the killings happened.
Investigators said Hayes was one of hundreds of people interviewed when the killing occurred, because he had purchased a similar gun to the murder weapon in the area.
Capri said there was no physical or forensic evidence to link him to the crime at the time.
If Hayes is convicted, the state says it will seek the death penalty.
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