TYLER, Texas — The trial for a Tatum man accused of killing a missing Tyler woman in 2023 entered its seventh day on Wednesday.
Jesse Lee Williams is charged with murder in the disappearance of Paula Belonga, 51. He pleaded not guilty to the charge last week.
Belonga was last seen on April 7, 2023 leaving her apartment complex on Paluxy Drive in her Chevrolet Impala. She hasn’t been heard from since.
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Tyler Police Department Detective Cory Chamberlain testified he and the other detective had only heard lie after lie from Williams, and they decided to introduce a new strategy of giving him an "out," such as suggesting that something must've happened between him and Belonga even if it was an accident.
Williams told police he bought Belonga a necklace when they exchanged Christmas presents. He also said he got her a piece of jewelry for her most recent birthday.
Williams again described the man, Cory Smith, he claimed Belonga ran off with by giving different details about his appearance and saying the road he lives on in Chapel Hill. Williams said his brother's wife had a baby with Cory Smith about 12 years ago.
Williams told Chamberlain that Belonga went with Smith to go off to Mexico. He called Belonga an energetic person who loved to laugh and he never had a problem with her. He said he asked Belonga for money two or three times, and the most he asked for was $70 or $80 via CashApp to pay a bill.
Williams said he knew Belonga was also helping her son at the time and he said she never used this as an excuse not to loan Williams money. However, deleted messages from Belonga showed she denied his request for money.
He claimed Belonga hit a deer with her car and he planned to fix the car with Belonga paying for him doing the repairs.
Williams said Belonga wrote the checks that were found in Williams wallet, and Chamberlain disputed this fact based on handwriting documentation from other documents belonging to Belonga.
Williams maintained the checks were written by Belonga. He told police that Belonga would do cocaine, but he never did any of the drugs. Williams said Belonga doesn't take the dog everywhere she goes, which was contrary to what her family and friends said in court.
He told police he has no reason to lie and he's not the type to hurt anybody.
Williams said he met Belonga in New York and he helped her when she was moving from there. He claimed they reconnected via Facebook in 2021, and there was never any romantic relationship with Belonga and him.
Regarding the deleted messages in his phone, Williams said he deleted them because his wife would be jealous when he saw him text any woman.
Williams told the detectives he was at Belonga's apartment on April 7, 2023, because he was fixing his her air conditioner. He claimed he left after that, but the detective said he knew that wasn't true.
Upon further questioning, Williams said he left with Belonga on April 7, 2023, to get cigarettes at a gas station and they went back to her place with a group. Williams said he and Belonga went to his house in Tatum, then to Zavalla and came back to Tyler. He claimed Belonga followed him in her car to these locations.
Williams told police Belonga is not a violent person and she was never violent with him. Police asked what Belonga may have done to make him upset. He became loud and said that investigators were trying to pin something on him.
"I wouldn't kill nobody. I don't know what happened to Paula. I don't know what happened," Williams said while crying. "I don't know where she's at."
As in past interviews, he said if he knew where Belonga was, he would tell the police. He said he went out to Chapel Hill to look for Belonga.
The detective theorized that Williams became upset and Belonga ended up dead.
He argued with police over his cell phone records, saying he transferred his phone number to another device. He said his DNA would not be on the necklace that she was wearing and was found in a rural Rusk County area.
In response to the detective asking why he searched “how long does it take for a body to decompose in the heat,” he said, “it’s on TikTok.” He claimed he Googled “body found Rusk County” because it was on the news that two people were arrested after a body was found.
He claimed he bought her a necklace that had the initials BF for best friend. The town in New York where Williams said he lived could not be found by the detective. Details of Cory Smith’s appearance and his vehicle changed when Tyler police spoke to him, Chamberlain said.
Williams painted the picture of him, Belonga and a group leaving her apartment, going to his home in Tatum and then to Zavalla. Chamberlain said phone data proved that to be false, the detective testified.
He claims that Belonga told him to download the app that manipulates where a text message comes from.
CashApp records show a revoked transaction of $80 on April 6, 2023 and $40 on April 7, 2023. The money came from the debit card found in Williams' car belonging to Belonga, which was photographed on his cell phone.
Williams doesn’t have a driver’s license. DNA found Williams' semen on Belonga's bed after he said they had no sexual relationship, the detective said.
Chamberlain was not aware that Belonga attempted to end her life years ago and received medication for bipolar disorder. Chamberlain agreed that a suspect does not have to tell the truth to police. At the time of the third interview, no DNA test results had been returned.
The defense made a claim that Williams purchased Belonga an iPhone, but Chamberlain didn’t know anything about it.
Some details stayed the same, some changed and others were added, Chamberlain said. He told the defense he didn’t check any place in Louisiana for Cory Smith.
Chamberlain said if a person took a car like Belonga's on the dirt road where the necklace was found, the general public would say that car went mudding. He recalled speaking to oil workers in the area to see if they smelled anything that seemed foul.
Williams' ex-girlfriend never mentioned to the detectives that she had game cameras on her Tatum property, where Belonga's car was found, Chamberlain said.
Despite phone data saying Williams and Belonga traveled together and Google searches, the police just have not been able to tell where Belonga died, Chamberlain said.
To this day, Belonga has been into the missing persons database and she hasn't been heard from since. To Chamberlain's knowledge, Belonga did not survive from April 7 to April 8, 2023.
The state has rested its case. Williams has decided not to testify on his behalf.
The defense called Chamberlain back to the stand to ask about a voicemail in May 2023 that said someone may have seen Belonga at a dollar store in Sulphur, Louisiana.
There was so much information showing she did not survive April 7, 2023. So police did not find it viable to pursue the vague tip. Financial records would've shown that she was shopping there if it were true, Chamberlain said.
The defense rested its case and the jury was dismissed until 8:30 a.m. Thursday for closing arguments, which will then be followed by jury deliberations.
Following the dismissal, the defense asked for a directed verdict of not guilty, saying there is not sufficient evidence for a jury to find him guilty. Judge Austin Reeve Jackson denied this request.
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