CENTENNIAL — Tucked among the soup bowls and brightly colored coffee mugs, investigators found a 2-foot-long handsaw on the top rack of the dishwasher.
The dishes looked clean, but between the teeth of the rusty saw, police spotted a small piece of what appeared to be a tendon or muscle fiber. They also found human hair in the drain.
Those are among the discoveries investigators say were in the Centennial home that Ari Liggett shared with his 56-year-old mother, Beverly, before authorities say he killed and dismembered her.
Liggett faces one count of first-degree murder in his mother’s death. He pleaded in July.
Liggett was , days after family members reported him and his mother missing. Officers spotted Liggett, then 24, driving his mother’s Honda CRV. Her remains were later found in in the back of the vehicle.
On Monday, the trial against Liggett moved into in Arapahoe County District Court. Prosecutors called several crime-scene investigators to the stand, including Erinn Dominguez, who is a criminalist for the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
One of the chemicals investigators use to test for the presence of blood will glow in the dark when it tests positive, Dominguez said. In a dark courtroom, prosecutors showed a photograph of the back cargo area of Beverly Liggett’s car. It was covered in neon purple spots.
The drain also tested positive for the presence of blood, Dominguez said.
