Opening statements in the Derrick Thompson murder trial

Derrick Thompson trial starts with opening arguments

Opening statements started Thursday in the trial of Derrick Thompson, the son of a former Minnesota lawmaker charged with murder in a deadly crash in Minneapolis that claimed the lives of five young women nearly two years ago.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The opening statements were short and to the point.  A Hennepin County prosecutor told jurors the evidence is clear that 29-year-old Derrick Thompson was the one behind the wheel.  The defense attorney said the evidence will show it could have been someone else, namely Thompson’s brother.

Not a crash, an explosion

Derrick Thompson trial: Prosecutor says victims 'never stood a chance'

Prosecutor Joseph Paquette in his opening statements said Derrick Thompson killed the five women by taking a 6,000 pound Escalade and driving at 'extreme speeds,' swerving, going close to 100 mph in a 20-mph zone, before he hit the vehicle and killed the five women in a Honda Civic. "They never stood a chance," Paquette said, noting it wasn't a crash, "it was an explosion."

What we know:

Thompson is charged with 15 counts of criminal vehicular homicide and third-degree murder. There are three counts for each of the five young women who were killed: Salma Abdikadir, Sahra Gesaade, Sagal Hersi, Siham Odhowa and Sabiriin Ali.

During opening statements, jurors saw a video of the rented Cadillac Escalade slamming into the car the young women were in. The prosecutor told them they would see more during the course of the trial.

"They never stood a chance," said Joseph Paquette, a Hennepin County Assistant Attorney.  "The defendant T-boned the Honda Civic. What resulted isn’t sufficiently described as a crash or a collision.  It was an explosion."

The video brought gasps and tears from the courtroom gallery, filled with family and friends of the five victims.

An alternate perpetrator

Derrick Thompson trial: Defense says Thompson wasn't acting with 'depraved mind'

The defense attorney for Derrick Thompson, Tyler Bliss, said in his opening statements that the state cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Thompson was the driver in the crash that killed five women, nor can they prove he committed murder.

The other side:

Thompson’s defense attorney, Tyler Bliss, told jurors the state can’t prove the case. In fact, he told them, the evidence would show someone else may have been driving. In a court filing earlier in the week, they named Thompson’s brother as an "alternative perpetrator."

"When the dust settles, the smoke clears, you’ll see multiple doors to this vehicle open," Bliss said in his opening statement.

"You will see the DNA of multiple people in this car who are seen renting the vehicle 35 minutes before this occurs."

Evidence points to Thompson

Dig deeper:

Thompson rented the SUV at the airport less than a half hour before the crash.  His brother was there to drop him off, prosecutors say, but security cameras showed only Thompson inside when he drove off.

Jurors will also hear from an eyewitness who will testify they saw Thompson get out of the SUV driver’s seat and walk away, as well as another who recorded Thompson approaching him and asking for a ride.

The first witness on the stand was an ex-girlfriend of Thompson, who said he told her he was driving.

The second witness was the state trooper who clocked the SUV at 95 miles per hour and was trying to catch up to make a stop.

He testified that at the crash site only one of the SUV’s doors was open. It was the driver’s door.

His testimony continues Friday. The trial is expected to wrap up next week.