MILWAUKEE — Witness testimony continues Thursday on day 3 of the Maxwell Anderson murder trial. He is accused of killing and dismembering Sade Robinson last year after a first date.
Anderson is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, arson of property other than a building, and hiding a corpse.
Witness testimony on Thursday
Thursday morning, jurors heard from Sade's close friends. Both said they shared locations with her and noticed her phone was at Warnimont Park in the early morning hours the day she was reported missing.
For part of the morning, state prosecutors reviewed those shared locations. One friend used Life360 — a phone app that tracks location data through cell tower pings — to share locations with Sade.
WATCH: Sade’s friend (off camera) takes the stand, describes Sade as ‘very kind.’
Both friends testified they called police to report Sade missing.
“Very kind, very welcoming, very understanding, very strong, very smart, hardworking. Probably just the strongest, kindest, most charismatic person I’ve ever met,” said Evelyn Geurts of her friend Sade, whom she met while working at the Wisconsin Club.
Law enforcement officers testify
Jurors also heard from several law enforcement officers who investigated the missing persons report. One detective, who conducted a welfare check at Sade’s apartment, said she was able to connect the welfare check to the news about a human leg being found at Warnimont Park.
WATCH: MPD detective testifies about welfare check at Sade’s apartment
"It was more just a funny feeling. When I clicked on that call, I saw this suspicious car fire. The owner hadn’t been located. The owner was Sade," Milwaukee police Detective Nora Donegan said in court.
We also learned that suspected drugs found in Sade’s apartment will be entered into evidence by the defense. The state argued the drugs were not relevant to the trial, but the judge sided with the defense.
Thursday afternoon, we could learn why — and how — the defense plans to use that evidence in its case.
WATCH: Jurors hear testimony from Sade’s friends, detectives
Clothing Sade was wearing when she went missing consistent to what was found in her burned car
Clothing found in Sade's burned car was presented as evidence. The clothing was consistent to what she was wearing when she went missing.
Detective Alexis Krusic of the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department went through evidence bags while on state. The evidence included ripped jeans, a black puffer jacket, white shoes and light yellow bed sheet.
The state presented a picture of Robinson taken the day she went missing. She was wearing ripped jeans, a black puffer jacket and white shoes.
During cross examination, Krusic acknowledged that there was no indication Anderson had been in the vehicle.
Updates from Wednesday, May 28
On Wednesday, opening statements were made, and the first witnesses took the stand.
So far, jurors have heard from 11 witnesses — including the man who found Sade Robinson’s severed leg, several law enforcement officers, Cudahy’s water superintendent at the time, Robinson's property manager, a maintenance worker, and a co-worker from Pizza Shuttle.
In court, body camera footage from Milwaukee County Sheriff's Deputy Leon Martin was shown, showing him responding to the lakefront portion of Warnimont Park after Osyrus Terrell and his friend reported the gruesome discovery.
WATCH: Police bodycam shows discovery of human leg at Warnimont Park
After deputies and Cudahy police confirmed it was a human leg, they called in crime scene investigators from the Sheriff's Office.
In court, Detective Joann Donner described what she observed when her team arrived at the location.
“When the leg was being removed, the fold of skin and flesh had moved away from the bone. You could see that it was severed below the top ball of the femur,” Donner explained. “It looked like it was a tool mark. It was very smooth. I noticed that the skin had kind of a long zigzag pattern to it. That’s why I was able to determine that it was probably not from, like, an accident—a boating accident or anything like that.”
WATCH: Detective Joann Donner describes what she saw when her team arrived at Warnimont Park
Prosecutors also showed video of what they say is a silhouette walking down the bluffs at Warnimont Park.
A detective testified that the individual, who they think is Maxwell Anderson, walked up and down the bluffs to the waterfront between 3 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. But the defense argued that the individual could not be identified.
WATCH: Maxwell Anderson's attorney questions detective
For about an hour, the state and defense questioned detectives about phone records. Detectives went through the locations where both phones pinged. Prosecutors also showed surveillance video from several areas throughout Cudahy.
However, the defense argues that while there was extensive data presented on Wednesday, it does not definitively prove Anderson’s guilt. Both parties will likely focus on the interpretation and impact of technological and surveillance evidence in the case.
More witness testimony
Sade Robinson’s property manager was very emotional on the stand, saying that a friend contacted her after Robinson didn’t show up for work.
That friend—her co-worker from Pizza Shuttle, who also testified, said Sade didn’t come to work, and she was scared. She said it was unlike Sade to not respond, and she called the police.
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