Opening Statements Commence in Campbell Trial

Opening statements commenced Monday in the trial of Isaac Campbell, 36, a San Gabriel man accused of killing his former girlfriend, stuffing her body in a trash can, and hiding it in the garage of a friend's Arcadia home.

Campbell is charged with one count of murder in the death of Liya "Jessie" Lu, 31, and faces life in prison if convicted. He is being held in lieu of $1.275 million bail.

Prosecutor Steve Ipsen laid out in detail the series of events that took place the night Lu died and in the weeks immediately following her death.

The two met as nursing students at Pasadena City College and dated for 3 1/2 years. Lu had moved out of the couple's shared Alhambra apartment but returned late in the evening of Aug. 11, 2007 to collect her television set, Ipsen said.

No one ever heard from Lu again.

Days later, Campbell rented a U-Haul and closed out his storage unit. Campbell asked his friend Michael Darby for permission to keep the items from the unit, along with a large royal blue trash can, in Darby's garage, Ipsen said.

Darby agreed, and Campbell instructed him not to open the trash can. A month later, Darby heard Lu had gone missing. He became suspicious and opened the trash can — despite Campbell's admonitions.

"It smelled bad. Really bad," Ipsen said. Inside, was "cat litter, women's clothing and the deceased body of Liya Lu."

Calling prosecutors "desperate," defense lawyer Jim Duffy said they lack the evidence to prove Campbell murdered Lu.

"They have no cause of death. They have no motive," Duffy said.

The coroner could not determine a cause of death due to the state of Lu's decomposed body, which Ipsen described as "mummified." Campbell, Duffy said, had no reason to kill Lu. The two had split amicably and he had even helped her move.

Doctors had begun the process of diagnosing Lu with a serious seizure disorder, which Duffy implied may have caused her death inside her ex-boyfriend's apartment.

"How Isaac Campbell reacted to this tragic incident is why we're here today," Duffy said, adding that Campbell had won a scholarship to PCC's advanced nursing program and had no history of violence.

His only previous conviction was on a marijuana charge.

The first witness took the stand following opening statements.

George Molina worked with Lu at Kaiser Permanente in Hollywood. He had agreed to help Lu move her television set from the Alhambra residence to her new apartment.

Molina said he waited for Lu outside Campbell's apartment until around 3 a.m. When she didn't report for work the following Monday, Molina said he assumed Lu had called in sick.

However, Molina said he parked his car out of view from Campbell's apartment because Lu told him her ex-boyfriend "was the jealous type."

Ipsen said Campbell ignored repeated requests from detectives to talk about Lu's whereabouts because he had nursing exams to study for. Campbell was arrested in Minnesota less than two weeks after Lu's body was discovered. Minnesota authorities transferred him back into the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The trial continues at 10 a.m. Check Patch later for more on the Campbell case.