The frequently-delayed trial of the man accused of the 2009 murder of an Alliance teenager whose body was never found is now underway.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney is presiding over the case of Robert Moore, who will turn 54 years old this week. A jury was seated on Monday.

Opening statements kicked off shortly after 9:00 a.m. with the prosecution giving the backstory. The prosecution painted the picture of the victim Glenna Jean White spending the night at Moore's home in Mahoning County with Moore and some others.

At one point in the night, the prosecution said Glenna said she wanted to go back home with Moore saying he'll take her home alone. The prosecution said Glenna never came home, but Moore did and was covered in blood and muddy from the knees down.

The prosecution says one witness who was still at the house said Moore said he was in a bar fight, which is why he was covered in blood. However, the only injuries found on him were injuries to his knuckles, which would not have caused that much blood.

The prosecution went on to say Moore had killed before in a similar way in 1993. with him offering to take another woman home from a bar, making unwanted sexual advances, chasing her down and beating her to death and dumping her body.

The defense was up next and said because there is no body, there is no evidence of a cause, manner or place of death. 

"They have absolutely no scientific evidence to substantiate what they're saying," defense attorney Lou DeFabio said.

DeFabio suggested that Glenna had run away from home and was never seen again rather than being murdered. DeFabio cited mental health issues and trauma in Glenna's life.

DeFabio brought up certain witnesses and stated that they weren't consistent during interviews with investigators on what did or did not happen during the night of the alleged crime.

The defense also brought up another witness who he claims said Moore was not covered in blood and the only blood found at the scene a year later by BCI did not have Glenna's DNA on it.

DeFabio then mentioned "multiple sightings" of Glenna following the night of the alleged murder.

After opening statements from attorneys Tuesday morning.  As many as 22 witnesses are expected to testify during the trial. Ten of those subpoenaed are described as witnesses. A dozen others are police officers, special agents, and experts from Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The first witness called was Glenna's mother Elizabeth White. White testified that she was not always a good mother to Glenna and that she herself had suffered mental issues and alcoholism in the past. Because of this, Glenna stayed with her grandmother, who is now deceased.

Elizabeth described Glenna's relationship with her grandmother as very good.

"She loved my mother more than anything else in the world," Elizabeth said.

Glenna's mother testified that Glenna started living with her when she was 10 years old and their relationship was good aside from some arguments.

Attorney's brought up an obituary published for her grandmother in 2020 that stated she was survived by Glenna. Elizabeth testified this was put in there in the hopes that Glenna was still out there, would see the obituary and come home.

Glenna's mother testified that some people told her they had seen Glenna since the night of the alleged murder, but there has been no proof of these sightings.

Glenna's mother testified that after the night of Glenna's disappearance, she was in jail for a period of time, so Glenna would have had to be in the care of her grandmother, who told Glenna's mother that she had not seen her since attending the party the night of her disappearance.

Following the disappearance, Glenna's mother testified that flier had been put up about Glenna asking if anyone had seen her. Only one person had said they spotted her at a restaurant, but it was never proven she was actually there.

After a short break, DeFabio pressed Glenna's mother about a written statement she had made to law enforcement regarding her daughter's disappearance just before midnight the night of the incident.

Glenna's mother testified that she told police that Glenna ran away from home. She testified that around 7:23 p.m., she had received a phone call asking for permission to go to a party, which she and her father figure both denied.

This was followed by her hanging up and never coming back home according to the testimony. Glenna's mother testified that this was the night she was arrested by police for unpaid fines. 

Glenna's mother testified that this was not the first time her daughter had run away, testifying that she was known to run away to other friends' houses in the past.

According to her testimony, Glenna's mother called the house multiple times from jail asking her mother if Glenna ever came home, which never happened.

When pressed about the fliers and people claiming to have seen Glenna, Glenna's mom testified that the person who claimed to have seen Glenna had a special needs daughter who complimented her hair and Glenna complimented hers which stuck with her.

Glenna's mother testified that police were notified about this conversation.

At one point, Glenna's mother was told that her daughter was coming back home at night to sleep, which led her to check her room. It was here she found that some of her favorite clothes were missing, which police were also notified about.

Glenna's mother testified she was also told by a friend of Glenna's that she was spotted at the Belden Village Mall in Canton and was also told that she lived at an address in Alliance.

Another claim made was that Glenna was seen driving a beat up red pickup truck in Alliance.

She testified that all of these claims were purely hearsay and were never proven to be true or false. However, she told DeFabio that she doesn't know if the police actually checked these locations, just that they said the claims were "unsubstantiated."

She further testified that up until at least 2017, she believed her daughter to still be alive but said this was "likely wishful thinking." Glenna's mother told the prosecution that she no longer believes her daughter to still be alive.

This case goes back fourteen years when police say Glenna Jean White, who was 16 years old at the time went missing after visiting Moore's home to meet with a friend. Police say she left a home with Moore that night and was never seen again.

There has been no trace of White since then, so the prosecution must convince a jury that White was murdered, and Moore was the one who committed the crime.

After numerous continuances of the case, a jury found Moore “not guilty” of aggravated murder following a trial in May 2022.  However, since the jury couldn’t decide Moore’s guilt or innocence on a second, less serious count of murder, he still faces trial on that charge.

Since then, there have been further continuances of trial dates, the latest of which was in January.