Over a year and a half after the body of Paul Clifford was found shot and burnt next to a smoldering stolen truck on Christmas Eve 2024, closing arguments were made in the trial of the man accused of killing him, and the jury has begun deliberating.
Clifford was last seen alive by his family at about 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2024.
In the still of the night, a knock came upon the door of the family's secluded home in the Redington area east of Tucson, startling Sabrina Vining, Clifford's daughter.
Vining, who testified earlier in the trial, called her mother, Christina, who then woke Clifford.
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Half asleep and donning pajamas, Clifford sauntered over and answered the door.
The unexpected visitor told Clifford their vehicle had broken down and they needed a jumpstart.
Eager to help, Clifford grabbed the keys to Vining's Ford Ranger and jumped into the driver's seat, with the supposedly stranded motorist in the seat beside him.
The body of Paul Clifford, 53, was found early on Christmas Eve hours after investigators say he went to help a man who went to his home and claimed he needed help with a broken vehicle.
The two made their way down the roughly quarter-mile driveway into the night as Clifford set out to do what would be his last good deed.
When he didn't return after a while, his family became concerned and called the Pima County Sheriff's Department. As day began to break on Dec. 24, 2024, deputies found Clifford's body on the passenger side of a still smoldering GMC Sierra, which had been reported stolen the day before.
Since July 14, prosecutors have worked at trial to prove to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Jack Upchurch, 42, was not only the man who knocked on the door of the Clifford home but the man who shot Clifford before setting his body on fire.
Supporting the state's evidence has been the testimony of Upchurch's two alleged accomplices, Elmer Smith and Wendy Scott.
Smith, who was 19 at the time of the incident, and Scott, who was 16, received plea deals in exchange for testifying against Upchurch.
Scott pleaded guilty to vehicle theft and evidence tampering. Smith pleaded guilty to burglary vehicle theft. The two initially faced first-degree murder charges.
"It's a slap in the face and a slap on the wrist," said Michael Harwin, Upchurch's defense attorney.
The bulk of the case against Upchurch, Harwin argued, lies in the testimony of two suspects who were given overly gracious plea deals, and evidence that was sloppily handled on investigators' part.
The fingerprint and shoe impression evidence, which is foundational to the case, is not reliable, he said, calling into question investigators' ability to analyze shoeprints and a lack of accreditation status for the crime lab that handled forensic evidence.
The account of two "veteran liars and drug addicts" is not a sufficient basis for a murder charge, he said.
The prosecutors, in turn, argued the witness testimony merely serves as corroboration for the physical evidence exhibited during the trial.
'Don't even think about it'
During her testimony, Scott told the court they had been driving the stolen GMC when it broke down because they had mistakenly filled it with diesel fuel.
Upchurch then set off alone to find someone, she said.Â
Footprint impressions show Upchurch walked up a different driveway before getting to the Clifford residence. He stopped after seeing a sign that said there were security cameras, prosecutors said.
After luring Clifford out of his house, Upchurch directed him back to where Scott and Smith were staying with the broken-down GMC, Scott said.
Clifford parked head-to-head with the dead truck and got out to help jumpstart it.
At one point, Clifford walked back towards his daughter's Ford. Upchurch then pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Clifford's face, Scott testified.
"Don't even think about it," Scott recalled Upchurch saying.
"Why are you doing this?" Clifford reportedly replied.
Scott said she then heard a single shot ring out.
Defendant Jack Upchurch in court on Thursday, July 23.
In an attempt to destroy evidence of his slaying, Upchurch set fire to Clifford's body and the GMC, she said.
Upchurch then drove the stolen Ford along Redington Pass Road around Mount Lemmon back to Tucson, she said.
Paranoid there was a tracker in the truck, Upchurch told his nephew to take apart the dashboard, Scott told the court.
Still fearful they were being tracked, Upchurch ditched the truck at an apartment complex near West Prince Road and North Romero Road, she said, where the PCSD later located it.
Upchurch then frantically called his girlfriend and asked her to pick them up, Upchurch's girlfriend told the court last week.
Unsure what had happened or why she needed to pick them up, she said, she took the three to her friend's house where she had been staying.
For six days, Upchurch, Scott and Smith laid low in the house near East Benson Highway and South Country Club Road.
Then, on Dec. 30, 2024, the PCSD tracked them to that location.
After barricading themselves inside, Upchurch took apart the gun he used to shoot Clifford, Scott said. She said he hid the parts around the house and flushed the bullets down the toilet.
The three ultimately surrendered and were taken into custody.
Through searching the home, investigators found the dismantled pistol. While the fingerprints of Scott and Smith were found on other parts, Upchurch's fingerprints were the only ones found on the trigger, prosecutors said.
Upchurch is on trial on 11 charges, including first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, vehicle theft, burglary, arson and evidence tampering.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for justice," Deputy Pima County Attorney John Strader told the jury in closing. "It's time to hold him accountable."
