BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Chad Allen Reed, 56, was brought in to a Calhoun County courtroom Tuesday morning to begin his murder trial.
Reed is accused of killing two people who were living in a property he owned at 203 Post Avenue in Battle Creek.
He is facing two counts of open murder.
A jury was seated before court broke for lunch at 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday.
Investigators say he killed both Joseph Soule, 34, and his girlfriend, Jaclyn Lepird, 31, after an altercation in October 2020.
Soule and Lepird were initially reported as missing persons, before police say Reed confessed to their killings.
Reed allegedly told detectives that he shot Soule in self-defense after he pulled a knife on him.
After he shot Soule, he allegedly claimed that Lepird tried running out of their house.
Reed allegedly admitted to shooting her as she tried to escape, and then beating and strangling her in the backyard.
Investigators believe he left their bodies at the 203 Post property for several days, before wrapping them up in plastic and placing them in the back of his truck.
As family members of Soule and Lepird began coming around the home, Reed allegedly decided to move the truck in which they were hidden.
Reed is alleged to have then driven the truck into a nearby abandoned garage, to keep it away from search crews.
He wouldn’t be arrested in the killings until Battle Creek Police received a tip from “a source” saying that Reed was responsible.
Reed would end up turning himself into police.
