Two people who visited the rental home of Maximillian W. Halterman, 23, the night he was shot and killed in Oakland Township have not been questioned or identified by police, according to defense lawyers and state troopers who investigated the March 2019 homicide case.

Several state troopers who processed the scene and documented evidence were called as witnesses on the first day of the trial of Alec D. Miller on Monday, Nov. 13. Miller is accused of entering Halterman’s home, shooting him in the head and neck and leaving with drugs and money.

The first-degree murder case is being presided by Butler County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCune.

Miller is charged with shooting and killing Halterman the evening of March 19, 2019. Assistant District Attorney Laura Pitchford argued in her opening statement the death was premeditated.

State troopers arrived at the scene the next day, after one of Halterman’s sisters called police. They found Halterman lying lifeless on a couch with gunshot wounds to the neck and head.

Police reviewed surveillance footage of the home from cameras on a nearby structure. At the 7:40 p.m. time stamp, footage shows a hooded figure emerging from a Chevrolet Silverado and entering the home with what appears to be a rifle.

State trooper Max DeLuca testified a flash that appears on the surveillance footage shortly after is consistent with a muzzle flash. After the hooded person exits the residence, they are seen trying to gain access to Halterman’s truck.

Unsuccessful, the person returns to the residence. Pointing to the figure, DeLuca said it looked as if the person was wearing gloves. Once the person walks back out of the home, they are seen gaining access to the victim’s truck and opening the door.

The vehicle driven by the hooded person is the same Silverado reported stolen by Miller’s grandparents, police determined.

On March 20, 2019, police followed up on the missing vehicle at Miller’s grandparents’ residence, where Miller lived.

Miller was not home when police inquired about the stolen vehicle and Miller’s whereabouts. At the time, Miller’s brother also told state police his rifle was missing, troopers said.

State police said the stolen vehicle was seized the afternoon of March 20, 2019 at Marburger Dairy, where Miller’s grandfather, Gregory Miller, worked.

While executing a search warrant of the vehicle, state police found a pair of gloves, a brown coat, a sweatshirt and a black 7-millimeter rifle. The magazine held one live round. One spent round was also found, according to testimony from state trooper Adam Peth.

Police apprehended Miller in a home in Venango County on March 20, 2019 after a tip came in from Sander’s Markets. He was with his girlfriend, Lamaria M. Franklin. Jeans tested from the Venango County residence came back with traces of Halterman’s DNA, Pitchford said in her opening statement.

Miller regularly bought drugs from Halterman, and was upset that Halterman owed him money, according to Robby Dunbar, a mutual acquaintance and friend of Halterman’s who also testified Monday.

Dunbar said he facilitated drug deals between Miller and Halterman. He said he had met Miller about a month prior to the murder at “a local drug house” and that he knew Halterman’s family.

He said he and Miller would buy drugs from Halterman, sometimes selling them. Dunbar said Miller had told him about a falling out between him and Halterman, and that Halterman owed him money.

Dunbar read a screenshot of a text conversation on the night of March 20, around 9 p.m. in which Miller confessed to allegedly killing Halterman.

The screenshot did not include a date, and was a portion of a larger conversation Dunbar deleted, Popovich said. The defense questioned whether the messages could be proven to have been sent by Miller.

In response, Dunbar said he didn’t know Miller’s real name, and that his contact was saved under the name “Breeze,” which was Miller’s moniker.

“’I went to Max house and smoked him’,” Dunbar read from a screenshot saved on his former phone, which was seized by police as evidence.

“He disrespected me and ignored me,” another text read. “So I went to his house and handled it.”

Dunbar said he deleted the texts, but not before taking a screenshot. He deleted the texts because he was shocked and afraid, he said, but took a screenshot because he wanted to at some point approach Halterman’s family with the information.

He then made plans to meet up with Miller at his brother’s apartment on Jefferson Street to get high with Miller.

He could not recall how much time passed after he received the text.

The prosecution played Ring camera footage showing three figures leaving a porch that Dunbar recognized as his brother’s. He identified one figure as himself, a hooded figure as Miller and a third person to possibly be Miller’s girlfriend.

Dunbar stepped down from the witness stand to be able to see and identify the figures shown on the footage.

When questioned by the defense about why he chose to meet with Miller despite learning of his friend’s murder, Dunbar said he was high, and “was not in the right state of mind.”

He said the defendant had many more drugs in his possession than he normally would have.

Dunbar, whose nickname is “Red,” has since completed drug court and has been sober since December 2019, he said.

Dunbar was charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution for driving Miller to Jefferson Street in Butler after the homicide. Dunbar confirmed to defense counsel Jennifer Marie Popovich that he testified against Miller in a preliminary hearing in August 2022 and took a plea deal.

Miller was not the only person to enter the residence the night of March 19. According to surveillance footage, a vehicle seen earlier that day drove up to Halterman’s rental home a second time around 12:30 a.m. on March 20. At different points, a driver and a passenger get out.

The people did not call 911. After being asked by Miller’s lawyer, Charles Nedz, DeLuca confirmed police were never able to identify the two people, and a report was not made for them.

Dunbar denied being present at Halterman’s residence on either March 19 or March 20.

The trial continues Tuesday, Nov. 14.