TYLER, Texas — The trial for a Tatum man accused of killing a Tyler woman entered its fifth day of testimony on Monday.
Jesse Lee Williams is charged with murder in the death of Paula Belonga, 51, who was last seen in April 2023. He pleaded not guilty to the charge on Tuesday.
Williams was arrested after officials obtained evidence allegedly pointing to his involvement in Belonga’s disappearance last year. Belonga was last seen on April 7, 2023 leaving her apartment complex on Paluxy Drive in her Chevrolet Impala. She hasn’t been heard from since.
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Dennis Matthews, who works at the digital forensics division at the Financial Crimes Intelligence Center in Tyler, testified that he conducted a download on Williams' phone.
Upon initial download, it appeared that there were only a few messages between Williams and Belonga in April 2023 around the time she went missing. Matthews later found 200 recently deleted messages between Williams and Belonga.
The first message was from Belonga, saying "it's Paula from FB," which Matthews assumed to likely be Facebook. Williams asks Belonga to tell him a little bit about herself, and they continue on with basic chatting.
Belonga and Williams exchanged photos of each other. On Dec. 25, 2022, Belonga said her son was leaving and she invited Williams over, but he responded he was sick. In the new year, their regular conversations continued.
In early 2023, a person claiming to be Williams' mom texted Belonga saying Williams was robbed and shot several times. In February 2023, Williams asked for $80 for money. Belonga said she couldn't as she was moving into her new apartment and helping her son.
Belonga said she was disappointed with him as Williams hasn't even called her yet. Later on, their regular conversations continue. Around April 3, Williams asked Belonga to pick him up at a Tatum address, which she agreed to.
From the text messages, it would appear that Belonga picked Williams up from the address he texted her, Matthews testified. The next texts after that conversation that were on April 6 had not been deleted.
In another text thread with a contact called "My Baby," Williams and the person seemed to be arguing and in a relationship. The messages began on March 31, 2023.
At one point in those messages, Williams said he never slept with any of them, which seemed to refer to other women, but he just communicated with them for money. The other phone number texted that Williams "cyber cheated."
On April 6 at 10 p.m., Williams texted about cleaning rooms at a nursing home in Longview. On April 7, he told the person he was staying at a hotel. That day, they were talking back and forth with Williams wanting to get back together with the person. Late at night, Williams asked for sex multiple times.
Williams had an app on his phone that allows a person to send messages as if they're coming from someone else's phone number.
In the app, a detective texted the number believing it was connected to Belonga. The app on Williams' phone said to leave Williams alone and that Belonga paid him to watch her dog. Calls from that detective also went to the number associated with the app and none were answered.
The texting app sent Williams' an image of Belonga's credit card. When contacted by another detective, the app again responded saying that Belonga paid Williams to watch her dog and also to call Williams because he would say where she's at. Another message told police to leave Williams alone.
Data shows that Williams had his phone's location data turned over on April 7, 2023. Williams spoke with someone on Facebook about buying a truck on April 7, 2023.
A photo of Belonga's license, debit card and the front of her checkbook were on Williams’ phone.
On April 6, in a conversation about buying a truck from someone online, Williams told the seller that he had money for the truck from his sugar momma.
Williams on March 31 googled how to muffle the sound of a gun and “will hitting a person in the head with a gun kill them?”
He latter googled how do the cops trace a cell phone. Several searches on April 7 about the New London school explosion.
On April 9, he googled body found in Rusk County, Texas. He also searched Henderson News and Rusk County breaking news.
That same day, he googled how to write check of different amounts.
On April 10, he again searched body found in Rusk County. He also searched how long does it take for a body to decompose in the heat.
On April 11, Williams searched for missing woman Tyler, Texas. He googled the same thing a few times on April 12 as well.
The jury is on lunch until 1:30 p.m.
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