Sister wants closure in "Boots" murder

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Wesley Williams is on trial for the murder of Sandra Brady, also known as "Boots." Opening statements began around 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

Brady's sister, Sharon Roberts, was in court for the first day and plans to be there for the entire two week trial. She said even with Williams on trial, she has many unanswered questions.

"Why, just, why, why did it happen, you know," Roberts said. "Why not just walk away."

When Brady was found in 2000, no one knew who she was. The victim's daughter claimed law enforcement agencies she called declined to take a missing person's report. After that, Brady's murder investigation went cold.

During the first day  of the trial prosecutors told jurors that the case against Williams is circumstantial. The defense emphasized the point, and said there was no solid evidence against Williams.

The defense argued that Williams had no motive to kill Brady. The attorney said investigators "lied" to Wiliams during questions, saying they had evidence linking him to the scene.

Williams claimed he and Brady went separate ways in Gallup, New Mexico. He went to Oklahoma for work and she continued traveling with a trucker, according to Williams.

The prosecution then called Jason Jones to the stand, the man who found Sandra "Boots" Brady in 2000.

"I noticed a boot tip sticking out of the ground," recalled Jones.

At first, Jones said he thought the boot tip was a "sick joke." He left the scene with friends and later went to the police with his story.

The body was not identified as Sandra Brady until an America's Most Wanted report ran. Brady's daughter recognized her mom's tattoo and called authorities.

Soon after police arrested Williams for allegedly using Brady's credit card for two years after her murder. Investigators said he was the last to see Brady alive.

Roberts said that her sister befriended everyone, and thinks that's what happened when she met Williams. Her last postcard to her a relative, which was her daughter, was in January 2000.

Three months later, her body was found.

Prosecutors said Brady wanted to move to the southwest to become a rancher.

"A loving, caring person," Roberts described her sister. "She loved her grandkids.

"She was always outside playing.

"She was just, you know, just a good person."