Ex-girlfriend was killed in ‘vicious attack and calculated cover-up’ by Marion man, prosecutor says

CEDAR RAPIDS — The fatal stabbing of a Marion woman in 2017 was a “vicious attack and calculated cover-up” by Greg Davis, who armed himself with a knife and stabbed his former girlfriend 26 times.

“He stabbed her over and over and over,” Assistant Linn County Attorney Molly Edwards said in her opening statement Tuesday.

The girlfriend, Carrie Davis, 29, who had the same last name but wasn’t married to Greg Davis, had stab wounds in her back, arms, legs and skull, and one thrust punctured her lung.

Davis then concealed her body in a roll of carpet and moved it onto a utility trailer that was left at his parent’s vacant rental house in Marion, Edwards said. Police found the body Oct. 2, 2017.

Greg Davis cleaned the murder weapon, which was never found, and the crime scene — a Marion house the couple had shared before breaking up. Davis also used a mattress to conceal blood that was found in the house, she said.

Edwards said Davis even left a written confession that stated he had stabbed Carrie “three days ago,” on Sept. 28, 2017. In the note, Davis said he was on drugs and that Carrie Davis was the “love of his life.”

Davis, 30, charged with first-degree murder, was granted a new trial in 2020 when the Iowa Supreme Court overturned his 2018 jury conviction. The justices, in a 4-3 opinion, ruled the trial judge erred in giving an instruction to the jury on the insanity defense.

Davis waived his right to a new jury trial, choosing a bench trial — meaning a judge will determine the verdict. The trial started Tuesday in Linn County District Court. Davis is again claiming insanity or diminished capacity as his defense. The trial is expected to wrap up next week.

Davis also will have one or more experts testify that he was in a meth-induced psychosis at the time of the incident, but Edwards said there was no sign of drugs or drug paraphernalia found at the scene, on the trailer or on Davis himself.

The defense will claim Carrie Davis died from a drug overdose, but that explanation ignores the 26 sharp force injuries to her body, Edwards said. Davis’ defense of insanity also can’t overcome the evidence that his actions before and after the murder weren’t those of someone insane. He knew what he did was wrong, and he tried to cover it up, Edwards said.

Defense arguments

Alfredo Parrish, Davis’ lawyer, in his opening statement said Carrie Davis wasn’t alive before the stabbing began. Expert testimony will show that only three of the wounds are in question of being serious injuries and the wounds to her back were not fatal.

The state witnesses only talk about blood stains found at the scene, not the volume of blood which one might expect with 26 wounds, Parrish said. The experts are perplexed by the lack of blood at the scene, and there was no evidence that the scene was cleaned up, he said.

The prosecution also can’t prove Carrie Davis was alive before the stabbing, Parrish said.

The defense will have six experts testify about drugs in Carrie Davis’ body and that Greg Davis didn’t have specific intent to harm her because he was suffering from a meth-induced psychosis.

Parrish said experts will say Davis was “out of his mind” on methamphetamine at the time of her death.

Lab testimony

Tara Scott, a state crime lab criminalist with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation in Ankeny, testified most of the afternoon about the items and clothing found at the house that tested positive for Carrie Davis’ blood that matched her DNA.

The body was wrapped in a comforter, blankets and a sheet that had reddish-brown stains that appeared to be blood, Scott said. Carrie’s clothing — a pink T-shirt, black tank top and gray hoodie — had multiple cuts and holes where she was believed to be stabbed.

Scott said there was a mattress on the floor in Davis’ Marion home that was covering a stain in the carpet, which was blood that matched Carrie’s DNA.

Knives also were found in the home and tested positive for blood that wasn’t human, Scott said.

The prosecution will continue its case Wednesday and the defense may start Thursday.

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