Defense attorneys spent day five of David Dewayne Collin’s murder preliminary hearing challenging the arson report by an Oklahoma State Fire Marshal—claiming it should be excluded.

Collins is accused of murdering Shannon Bryan Southern, 20, of Muldrow. Southern’s body was found Sept. 22 in his burned home on Lee’s Chapel Road, southeast of Muldrow. The prosecution alleges Collins shot Southern in a dispute over a $40 loan.

Collins is represented by Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS) attorneys John Echols and Gretchen Mosley, along with Matt Ordendorff of Sallisaw, who is working with OIDS attorney’s pro-bono.

Echols called David M. Smith of Tucson, Ariz., a fire expert investigator, to testify Thursday. Smith contended the examination of the scene by Fire Marshal Mike Tubbs should be excluded and not considered for use during the trial.

Smith testified that the low-burn patterns Tubbs found inside the home and near the body of Shannon Southern were not reliable enough to be used and that Tubb’s method of examination was basically outdated.

Echols asked for a Daubert Hearing—a rule of evidence regarding the admissibility of expert witnesses’ testimony to exclude the presentation of unqualified evidence to the jury. The judge decides the proposed expert testimony. John David Luton, first assistant district attorney, filed a response to the motion stating the Daubert Hearing request does not apply to a preliminary.

Defense attorneys called four other witnesses’ on Thursday. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Brad Green, Bill Southern, Shannon Southern’s uncle; Joe Southern, Shannon Southern’s dad; and Brian Lasiter, Shannon Southern’s first cousin.

Green is the agent who discovered a black Taco Bell hat at the crime scene. During previous testimony at the beginning of the preliminary hearing, on Jan. 25 state witness April Dillahunty of Roland said Collins stopped by her home about 4 p.m. Sept. 21 to visit with her husband. Dillahunty told Collins defense attorneys that earlier in September, while getting ready for her work at Taco Bell, she was unable to find her all-black Taco Bell hat.

The Taco Bell hat was admitted into evidence after a photo was shown to Dillahunty who said the hat looked like the hat she was missing.