A young man whose fiancee was killed at a downtown San Diego hotel while he was jailed testified Wednesday that he arrived back at their room to find her missing.
Cory Nowell’s testimony came during a preliminary hearing for Jason Bradwell Lewis, 40, who has pleaded not guilty to murder in connection with the death of 26-year-old Jhordann Reann Rust of Wisconsin.
Her body was found in a communal bathroom area of the West Hotel by employees of the lodging house last Dec. 15.
Nowell said they met in Denver last year and came to San Diego by bus, arriving Dec. 12.
“We wanted to start a new life, get on our feet,” Nowell said.
He said they consumed a few alcoholic beverages after checking into the hotel and then walked around the downtown area looking for marijuana. He kept blacking out, however, and was taken into custody by police.
Rust wasn’t in their room after he was released two nights later, but he noticed that the wallet he’d left with her had been rifled through, though all their money was there. He said he also spotted food packaging that hadn’t been there before, and didn’t know why it would be there if she hadn’t spent any of their money.
He said he also noticed that both room keys were on a table, meaning Rust couldn’t get back into her room.
Nowell is scheduled to be back on the stand on Thursday. At the conclusion of the hearing, Superior Court Judge Kathleen Lewis will determine whether there is enough evidence to order Lewis to stand trial.
Earlier, San Diego police Sgt. Marc Jose testified that Lewis denied killing Jhordann. The defendant also denied having met her, but later admitted he’d been in her room because she’d locked herself out of her own, the sergeant said.
At a previous hearing, Deputy District Attorney Melissa Vasel said the victim called her mother in Wisconsin, and the mother heard a struggle and could tell her daughter was being attacked.
The mother called San Diego police, but officers could not locate Rust, according to the prosecutor.
On Dec. 15, just after midnight, employees of the hotel called 911 after discovering her body in a second-floor communal bathroom area, according to the prosecution. Vasel said Lewis’ fingerprint was found near where Rust’s body was found.
Inside a nearby trash can, officers found the boyfriend’s cell phone and a blood-stained mattress pad and some of the victim’s clothing, Vasel said.
A crime lab specialist testified that DNA belonging to Lewis was found near the opening to the victim’s vagina and on a shirt, while her DNA was found on a sheet and bed leg.
Lewis — who has been to prison for residential burglary and battery with serious bodily injury — faces 56 years to life in prison if convicted.
–City News Service
