Defense attorneys for a 78-year-old New Paris man began making a case for self-defense in the fatal shooting of a trespasser searching for ginseng on his property in 2012.

Trial began Tuesday in Preble County Common Pleas Court for Joseph Kutter, charged with murder in the shooting of Bobby Joe Grubbs, 31. The trial is to continue on Wednesday.

Kutter told the Preble County Sheriff’s Office that he saw a man walking in his yard at 7905 W. U.S. 40.

Kutter told police that when he asked the trespasser what he was doing, the man charged at him, and Kutter shot him in the torso with what prosecutors believe to be an A-K 47. The shooting occurred between May 26 and June 2, 2012.

Grubbs had been reported missing by family members on May 26. His body was found by cadaver dogs in a mulch pile on the east side of the property on June 2, according to the sheriff’s office.

They reported the body appeared to have been concealed and was fairly decomposed.

Officer who testified admitted they did not record the 40-minute interview with Kutter following the discovery of the body because of technical issues, although they recalled the conversation from memory.

Investigators testified that Kutter told them he put the body in a creek bed and moved it several times during the course of a week before he told authorities it was in a mulch pile.

Sheriff Mike Simpson said Kutter did not alert authorities to the trespasser’s presence on his property.

— Staff Writer Meredith Whelchel is a junior at the University of Dayton.