LINCOLN — Aubrey Trail was back in federal court Friday, this time contesting statements he gave to authorities after he was initially apprehended for questioning in connection with the disappearance of Sydney Loofe.
Trail, 51, and his 24-year-old girlfriend, Bailey Boswell, are persons of interest in the death of Loofe, a Lincoln Menards clerk whose body was found Dec. 4 in a rural area north of Edgar, Nebraska.
U.S. Attorney Joe Kelly said Friday that he could not comment on the Loofe case as the four-month investigation continues. Neither Trail nor Boswell, who were living in Wilber, Nebraska, have been charged in the death of Loofe, who was last seen after arranging a date over the Internet with Boswell.
Trail, in phone calls to reporters, has said he suffocated Loofe on Nov. 16 during a sexual role-play fantasy, but that her death was an accident.
On Nov. 30, Trail was questioned by a Lincoln police investigator about the Loofe case as well a theft case involving a Kansas couple who were allegedly duped into thinking they were purchasing an antique coin from Trail.
During the interview at a sheriff’s office in Branson, Missouri, Trail told investigator Matt Franken to “ask away” and later said “let’s party.”
Franken testified that he took the “let’s party” remark to mean that Trail was willing to provide statements about both the death and the fraud case.
Trail’s attorney, Korey Reiman of Lincoln, asked the investigator about money that was deposited in Trail’s “books” following the interview, an apparent reference to the accounts jailed inmates have to purchase snacks and personal items from a jail canteen. The question implied that Trail was rewarded for talking to investigators. When was that money deposited? he asked.
Franken said he could not recall.
The investigator testified several times that Trail’s comments during the interview were voluntary, and that Trail never once asked to talk to an attorney or asked for the questioning to stop.
He and Boswell are scheduled to stand trial in U.S. District Court on May 14 on multiple theft charges in connection with a scheme in which the Kansas couple gave them $400,000.
U.S. Magistrate Cheryl Zwart said Friday that she will rule later on whether to allow Trail’s interview on Nov. 30 as evidence at the trial.
