TECUMSEH  – The state rested its case Saturday against 54-year-old Kimberly Bohling, a former Tecumseh Poultry employee who is accused of burning down a company barn and killing 20,000 chickens in April of 2019.

In testimony Friday, fire investigator Andrew Kreikemeier of the state Fire Marshal’s Office explained his opinion of “undetermined” regarding the cause of the fire.

The state introduced evidence suggesting that the heaters used to keep chickens warm were raised toward the roof because the chickens were going to be shipped out. Prosecutors say if the heaters were raised to the roof and then turned on, it could start a fire.

Prosecutors say controls were tampered with on various barns on several occasions with fans being shut off and heaters turned on.

Prosecutors provided the jury with a mapping information using Google data. Kreikemeier provided location information as Bohling’s cell phone journeyed down roadways and returned to her garage.  Michael Guinan of the attorney general’s office sometimes followed with a pen on the display screen to show the jury the accuracy of the data on trips to Walmart and an office appointment in Beatrice.

He also followed the cell phone to the chicken farm northeast of Tecumseh to a wooded area. To duplicate a possible route Bohling may have taken, Kreikemeier said he walked from the wooded area to the barns and back to his vehicle in 33 minutes. 

Defense Attorney Steve Lefler pointed out that there appears to be consistency in the time between when controls were tampered with and when an alarm is sent to  farm manager Steve Helser.

Lefler noted that the times Google data showed Bohling’s phone near the farm on Feb. 2, Feb. 23 and March 30 do not positively correlate with the times controls might have been tampered with.

The defense called its witnesses Saturday afternoon. The case is expected to go to the jury on Monday.