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Provo • In the early morning of May 16, 2011, Nikki Purcell and her adult daughter, Kimberly Purcell, were awakened by a loud noise.
The daughter knew it had been four distinct gunshots. Her mother didn't know exactly what it was — the pops were so quick she thought it might be firecrackers.
Nikki Purcell said Monday on the witness stand in 4th District Court that she expected to hear cheers after the pops, as she had many times before after the neighbors lit fireworks. But that morning, there was silence.
"There was absolutely no noise," she said. "I couldn't hear anything. It was absolutely quiet."
Neither mother nor daughter left their beds to look for the source of the noise. About four hours later, Nikki Purcell left the home to go to work and discovered her 32-year-old son, Andy Purcell, lying on the porch, bleeding from his head. She ran inside the house and asked her daughter for help.
"I jumped out of bed quite quickly," Kimberly Purcell said. "I ran to the front porch, where I saw Andy lying on his back. … I saw that he had a bullet hole … and there was a pool of blood dripping down his head."
The two women testified about the traumatic discovery during the second week of trial for Danny LeRoy Logue, who is accused of shooting and killing Andy Purcell.
Logue, 49, is charged with first-degree felony aggravated murder and second-degree felony possession of a dangerous weapon, along with three other drug-related felony charges.
Logue allegedly shot Andy Purcell in the forehead, just days after a drug dealer offered another man, Darrell Wayne Morris, drugs in exchange to beat up Purcell, who he thought was a "snitch."
During opening statements last week, Logue's defense attorney, Scott E. Williams, told the jury that Logue had nothing to do with the 2011 murder.
Williams said his client wasn't there when Yuri Sanchez Lara offered Morris an ounce of methamphetamine to injure Andy Purcell, and that he wasn't there when Purcell was shot on the porch of his mother's Provo home.
"Danny Logue did not commit this murder," Williams said. "… Mr. Logue denies that he was involved in this."
Deputy Utah County Attorney Curtis Larson told the jury that events were put in motion on May 5, 2011, when Lara got busted by for methamphetamine distribution. The drug dealer thought it was Andy Purcell who "snitched" to the police, the prosecutor said. (Police, however, have said that the person who snitched on Lara was a woman caught with methamphetamine.)
Larson said Lara asked a friend if he knew someone who would beat up someone for him. That friend connected Lara to Morris, who knew Logue.
On the day of the shooting, Morris brought a bat and Logue brought a gun, as they headed to Purcell's home.
Larson said Purcell was likely shot at around 2:15 a.m. on May 16, 2011, at which time Provo police responded to a "shots fired" call.
The officers found nothing amiss in the area and left.
"[But] Andy Purcell was laying mortally injured on his porch," Larson said. "He had been shot in the forehead."
Nikki Purcell found him about four hours later, still alive, but he died the next day at a hospital.
Morris later told police that Purcell saw them and said, "I know why you're here" and threatened to call police.
"All of a sudden, according to Mr. Morris, Mr. Logue pulls out a gun and shoots several rounds," Larson said.
Morris, 41, pleaded guilty last July to second-degree felony counts of manslaughter and obstruction of justice, along with felony possession of a weapon by a restricted person. He was sentenced to spend up to 15 years in prison for the crimes, according to court records.
Lara, 35, pleaded guilty in October 2012 to manslaughter and four counts of first-degree felony drug possession with intent to distribute. He is serving up to life in prison.
If convicted of the murder charge, Logue faces a maximum of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
Logue's trial is expected to go into mid-February.