COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — On Monday, Marion County attorney Ed Bull called several witnesses to the stand who helped fill in the blanks of Jason Carter’s day on June 19, 2015, when his mother was murdered.

Witnesses discussed some of his texting conversations leading up to the moment he claims he found his mother dead on the kitchen floor.

That day, Jason was texting Tara Kauzlarich, the woman he had an affair with in 2015.

She only explained the time of their conversation that morning and did not go into details of their affair.

Bull asked, “Was your conversation that morning, without telling us any of the details, such that you expected it was at a logical stopping point?” And she responded, “No.”

Marion County Dispatcher Shannon Ritter was also called to the stand.

She was the one who took the extremely emotional 911 call from Jason Carter.

Jason Carter said in the phone call, “It looks like she’s been laying here for two hours. I don’t know what happened. There’s a hole through the floor and the refrigerator. I don’t know what she was trying to do. I don’t get what happened.”

Sheriff Jason Sandholdt was called to the stand this afternoon.

Sandholdt talked about law enforcement and emergency personnel response on the day of Shirley Carter’s death and a phone call he received from Jason Carter days after the murder asking about what is believed to be the rifle that killed Shirley.

“I don’t remember that there was a statement about a high powered rifle before that,” Jason Carter’s attorney, Christine Branstad, asked, “Do you know when that was first disclosed?” and he responded, “The first I had heard about a .270 or high powered rifle was from your client.”

Sandholdt also talked about how the Carter family reacted when they found a variety of items around the house they believed should have been taken during the investigation.

He said most of them were very upset with how the investigation was handled.

Iowa State Patrol Trooper Jon Thorup also talked about Bill and Jason’s emotions and spoke with both of them on the day of the murder.

Bull asked him, “How would you describe Bill Carter’s demeanor that day?” And he replied, “It kind of switched from one moment to the next. It was kind of bewildered at times it was tremendously sad at times and he was angry at times.” Bull then followed up with, “How would you describe Jason Carter’s demeanor?” And Thorup responded, “He was very animated, kind of loud wailing and screaming, that type of thing.”

Attorneys were not finished questioning Thorup and they plan to pick up where they left off on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.