The mother of co-defendant Kiara McCulley testified in the Santa Fe, New Mexico sword slaying trial Thursday, providing insight into the couple’s relationship. Evidence also revealed that the couple accused of murdering 21-year-old Grace Jennings purchased the murder weapon from Amazon just days before the incident.
Murder Charges
Isaac Apodaca, 30, is charged with murder in the death of Grace Jennings, who was found dead in a detached garage on October 29, 2022. Apodaca’s co-defendant and girlfriend, Kiara McCulley, 24, pleaded guilty to murder and conspiracy and agreed to testify against the defendant at trial in the case.
Opening Statements
In the prosecution’s opening statement, Haley Murphy described the alleged murder weapon used to cut up the victim. The 36-inch blade double-handed broadsword was purchased by the couple after they plotted to kill Jennings.
Prosecutors read text messages in court on Wednesday from Apodaca to McCulley which read, “I’m just saying, swing and don’t regret the aim,” “I’m not playing games, I’m wanting to see you do this,” and “I’m wanting you to kill her. You have to end your suffering by ending her joy.”
The Defendants’ Relationship History
The couple was living in a detached garage on McCulley’s mother, Lani, property in October 2022. Lani testified on Thursday that the pair had been dating off and on for several years, but their relationship was “rocky.”
Lani said after they got into an argument on April 4, 2022, she had to take her daughter to the hospital because “she was bruised from top to bottom and had a broken thumb.” McCulley’s mother proceeded to tell the jury that Apodaca had a strong negative influence on her daughter that led her to prostitution.
“I always thought of her as a sweet person, very caring,” Lani said, barely able to get the words out, adding that her daughter “really liked pets and animals.”
“I think she was easily persuaded into doing things that she otherwise wouldn’t,” she said of her daughter. “And then she would also have moments when she tried to stand up for herself, and she was good at it. She was very much a teenager.”
Planning a Murder
Investigators say that the couple lured Jennings to their living quarters the day she died. The victim said she and her cats needed a place to stay that evening, and Apodaca welcomed her. Both defendants had dated Jennings at some point and were familiar with her.
In Murphy’s opening statement on Wednesday, she argued that Apodaca used McCulley’s mental health issues to coerce her into committing the atrocious murder. He even went so far as to convince her she had other mental disorders, such as dissociative identity, and helped her name her other personalities.
She alleged that Apodaca manipulated her for months and convinced her he “was part of a secret vigilante organization called ‘Ghost’ that was created for the purpose of killing sex traffickers. … She believed him when he told her that if she, Kiara, killed Grace, who was on a kill list chosen specifically for Kiara, that she would move up the ranks and have perks in the black market.”
Wielding The Murder Weapon
On the day Jennings was murdered, Apodaca was not in the room, prosecutors conceded. He had been in the main house at the time, as his defense team argued in opening statements. However, prosecutors allege that Kiara McCulley was acting under his orders to attack the victim with the sword, violently enough that Jennings was almost decapitated.
Lani testified that the sword arrived in the mail from Amazon two days before the killing and that she does not know who paid for the weapon, but that it was purchased through her daughter’s account.
Lani is familiar with swords and how dangerous they can be, having participated in multiple medieval reenactments, but did not believe her daughter would be violent. Her only concern was the safety of a pet that needed to be kept in a scabbard.
