Defense in Villarreal trial says hotel surveillance blacked out day of murder

GRAND FORKS — The jury in the Vincent Villarreal murder trial was sent home at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday without a verdict. As deliberations continue on Thursday, jurors will have to consider a key piece of evidence with significant flaws: a hotel surveillance system with multiple broken cameras and a complete blackout the day of the fatal shooting. Villarreal, 34, is charged with Class AA felony murder with extreme indifference, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty. He is accused of fatally shooting his father, Jeffrey Allen Shulzitski, at the Budget Inn Express in December 2020. In a motion filed in November, the defense, represented by Ward Johnson and Christian Clapp, asked the court to dismiss the charge against Villarreal, arguing the state had violated due process by failing to preserve and disclose the entire video record from the Budget Inn. The state failing to gather evidence doesn t go to the state. It goes to the defendant, Johnson