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Prosecutors on Thursday morning rested their case against alleged killer Johnny Brickman Wall, making way for his defense team.

Wall, 51, is accused of drugging his ex-wife Uta von Schwedler and then drowning her in a bathtub at her Sugar House home. The 49-year-old woman, a University of Utah scientist, was found by her boyfriend the evening of Sept. 27, 2011.

But Wall's attorneys maintain that von Schwedler's death was either a suicide or an accident, and asked 3rd District Judge James Blanch to dismiss the prosecution's case on Thursday.

Defense attorney G. Fred Metos argued during his motion for a directed verdict that a medical examiner was unable to rule von Schwedler's death a homicide, there was insufficient DNA evidence to put Wall at the death scene, and a proposed scenario for how Wall would have forcefully injected his ex-wife with drugs "is just simply unreasonable and not believable."

But the judge ruled against Metos, allowing the trial to continue.

With that, Metos called two witnesses Thursday: a crime scene technician who photographed the scene, and a private investigator.

With the technician's testimoney, Metos pointed out some red pills scattered around von Schwedler's closet.

The private investigator, Richard Montanez, testified that Xanax — the drug found in von Schwedler's system — apparently can be bought illegally online without a prescription. He added that gift cards, such as Visa gift cards, can be bought in a store without providing personal information and later be used to make online purchases.

However, Montanez said he did not go through with purchasing the pills, since that would be a crime.

Prosecutor Matthew Janzen questioned whether those websites might be scams, and brought up that Montanez's investigation was last month — years after von Schwedler died — and that the investigation did not include von Schwedler's online purchase history.

Prosecutors have said that von Schwedler's death was the culmination of a messy divorce and custody battle over their four children.

Wall was charged and arrested in April 2013 and has been held in jail in lieu of $1.5 million cash-only bail.

The lag in the time between von Schwedler's death and charges being filed was explained, in part, on Tuesday by Salt Lake City police Detective Cordon Parks, who testified that a sergeant said von Schwedler's death was a suicide and ordered him to close the case in January 2012. Police Chief Chris Burbank later reopened it, Parks said.

The trial is scheduled to resume Monday morning.

mmcfall@sltrib.com