WACO, Texas — On the second day of the trial of Seth Sutton, Sutton's attorney is aiming to prove that his client was coerced by an undercover officer to commit murder.
Both Sutton and another Waco attorney, Chelsea Tijerina, were charged with criminal solicitation of capital murder in 2020.
Sutton was indicted in August 2020, alongside the late Tijerina, for an alleged plot to kill Marcus Daniel Beaudin, Tijerina's ex-husband.
In Dec. 2020, an undercover police officer had been investigating Red Mouse Cult MC, a motorcycle club based out of Waco that Sutton was the president of at the time.
The goal of the investigation was to collect information on the motorcycle club and learn if the club had been involved in gang-related activity.
That was until the officer says Sutton told him he wanted to kill Beaudin.
A relative of Sutton reportedly told him they were sexually assaulted by Beaudin.
Sutton's attorney is working to prove the officer tried to coerce Sutton into committing the murder. An audio conversation between Sutton, Tijerina and the officer revealed Sutton never brought up the conversation about murdering Beaudin.
The officer admitted he initiated a conversation about the ways he and Sutton could murder Beaudin and that he never told Sutton he shouldn't go through with it.
The officer can also be heard volunteering to kill Beaudin himself.
Waco Assistant Chief of Police Robert Lanning was a witness on Aug. 16 and told the jury the undercover officer was not supposed to continue with the investigation after it was closed and that was against protocol.
The father of the relative who claimed to be sexually assaulted was another witness at the trial. He is also the ex-husband of Kate Sutton.
The witness shared how it was a dark time when his relative told him what Beaudin had allegedly done to them. He went on to say the relative told him the sexual assault happened inside the Sutton home.
The day after he found out, Seth Sutton was arrested.
The father of the alleged victim says they are now okay and living well but they do plan to pursue Beaudin criminally for the sexual assault.
Prosecution testimony will continue on Aug. 17.