Donald Rolle planned to kill his former girlfriend when he met her at Butch's Bar on Nov. 3, 2007, Natrona County District Attorney Michael Blonigen argued Monday.

Rolle's attorney, public defender Randolph Hiller, countered that Rolle was in love with Randel and was not guilty of first-degree murder.

Monday was the first day of testimony in Rolle's trial. He was charged with killing Jennifer Randel, a mother of two children, after her body was found in his truck outside of Casper.

Calling it an "orgy of violence," Blonigen told the 15-person jury that Rolle "battered and beat and hit and kicked her 4-foot-11 frame until it couldn't take it any more."

Rolle went to Butch's Bar "with the intent to kill" Randel, Blonigen said, and "confined her until he achieved his goal."

Rolle, 47, was jealous of a man he believed Randel was sleeping with because she had the man's business card, Blonigen said.

In reality, Blonigen said, Randel gave the man a ride home from the bar one night because he was drunk and he gave her his card. They weren't having an affair.

Hiller, on the other hand, painted a picture of a man in love with his former girlfriend, despite the volatility of their relationship.

Rolle "duded up" to go out with Randel the evening she was killed, Hiller said, and Randel wore a black dress and black high heels.

"They loved one another," he said. "Both of them tried to hurt one another and get them in trouble … He cared about her."

Blonigen began the trial after opening statements by playing a 911 call made by a woman who identified herself as Jennifer Randel.

The call was made the night Randel was killed and includes pleas for help, screams and cries.

Rolle scratched his beard and looked unemotional as he listened to the tape. It was played in the courtroom in its original version and again in an enhanced version.

The prosecution then began introducing witnesses who were at Butch's Bar on Nov. 3 and who saw Rolle and Randel before she died.

All seven witnesses from the bar described Rolle as angry and most said Randel was "very upset."

Tiffany Davis, a cocktail waitress for the bar, said when the couple entered the bar, she didn't see anything unusual. But shortly after, she said, Rolle became "angry" and "agitated," insisting that Randel was sleeping with a man named Keith.

The man, Keith Rumell, was also at Butch's Bar that night. He told the jury that he and Randel were not having an affair, but Randel gave him a ride home when he was drunk several weeks before she was killed. Rumell said he gave Randel his business card when she dropped him off and didn't see her again until they were in Butch's Bar on Nov. 3.

Davis, along with two other women in the bar, tried to offer Randel both money for a cab and a place to stay for the night. Each of the women said Randel seemed upset and scared, and none of them thought she should leave the bar with Rolle.

One witness said Randel told her Rolle had hurt her before and was going to hurt her again.

Several of the witnesses said they heard Rolle order Randel to leave the bar and get in his truck. None of them said they saw Rolle physically assault Randel.

After recreating the last time most people saw Randel alive, Blonigen called his final two witnesses of the day. The first was a revegetation expert who found items from Rolle's truck on the ground as well as a pool of blood and glass.

The final witness was Natrona County Sheriff's Cpl. Chad Frimml. Frimml was the first law enforcement officer to find Rolle's truck.

When he found the truck, Frimml said, Rolle was standing outside and had what appeared to be blood stains on his pants. Rolle then climbed back in the truck, and despite verbal commands to exit the truck and the deployment of eight canisters of nonlethal gas by officers, Rolle wouldn't leave.

Frimml said ultimately officers shot Rolle in the thigh and hand with nonlethal ammunition, and they were able to wrestle a knife away from Rolle's wrist and pull him out of the truck.

Rolle was still difficult to subdue, Frimml said, but was ultimately hand-cuffed and taken into police custody.

The trial will continue at 9 a.m. today.

Contact city reporter Christine Robinson at (307) 266-0639 or christine.robinson@trib.com