Alan Helmick, a former longtime resident of Delta, was described as lonely and vulnerable when he met Miriam Helmick, the woman prosecutors believe responsible for his murder in June 2008. Helmick, 62, was found on the floor of his Whitewater home, killed by a single shot to the head.

Miriam Helmick was charged with the murder about six months later. She’s now on trial for first degree murder, attempted murder and 11 counts of forgery. Opening arguments took place at the Mesa County Justice Center last week, as 12 jurors and four alternates settled in for what’s expected to be a lengthy trial.

Alan Helmick was born in Delta and graduated from Delta High School in 1963. After attending Adams State College, he returned to Delta where he owned Helmick Mortgage and pursued land development projects. He and his wife Sharon raised their children in Delta. Her death from heart disease in December 2003 sent Alan Helmick into depression, chief deputy district attorney Tammy Eret told the jurors. In January 2005, he met Miriam. A month later she had moved into his home; in June 2006 they were married.

“Some people will tell you she was in love with him,” Eret said. “More people will tell you she was in love with his money.”

Eret methodically outlined the state’s case against Helmick, describing how Alan, a man of integrity who always paid his bills on time, was suddenly faced with loans coming due, past due bills and credit cards that were maxed out — the cost, she said, of funding a dance studio, horse arena and the beautiful home he shared with Miriam. The signature on checks written on an account at American National Bank did not match Alan’s. Eret said a handwriting expert would testify that those checks — made to either Miriam herself or her business, Dance Junction — were signed by Miriam using Alan’s name. She allegedly removed the check stubs as well, so no checks appeared to be missing from the ledger.

Friends, family members and business associates had trouble contacting Alan; Miriam was ready with excuses about why he couldn’t come to the phone. In the last few weeks of his life, some family members began demanding to speak to him.

When Alan complained of feeling ill, Eret said, family members suspected the defendant had a hand in the deterioration of his health. After his death, friends and family members were quick to tell law enforcement authorities they believed he was being poisoned.

Alan recovered, but a strange incident occurred in Delta in April 2008. Alan and Miriam were in Delta to complete a business deal when someone stuffed rags into the gas tank of their car and set the rags on fire. The scene was directly from “No Country for Old Men,” a movie Alan and Miriam had watched three days previously, Eret alleged. Miriam had reportedly retrieved a pair of sandals from the trunk, then went in to use the restroom, claiming she felt ill. That’s when Alan realized smoke was pouring out of the back of his car. Employees later reported the “overwhelming” odor of lighter fluid in the bathroom. DPD officers investigated the incident, but no charges were filed.

It’s now late May, early June, Eret continued. Alan has survived a car fire, he’s feeling healthy, but the bank is sending out registered letters about the pending loans. “It’s coming to crunch time,” Eret said. “Miriam is going to be exposed.”

She spent a considerable time describing Miriam’s movements the day before Alan’s death and the morning of the murder itself. The day before, they had planned to drive to Delta to pick up Alan’s granddaughters for horse riding lessons. When daughter Portia called her dad to find out when they’d pick up the kids, Miriam said the lesson had been cancelled because the horse was ill. Portia demanded to speak to her father; Miriam said he had gone to Montrose for an appointment but planned to stop in Delta on his way back to Whitewater.

Eret said testimony would prove that Alan was actually outside working on his property when Bob Isom stopped by to chat. They made arrangements to play golf, an appointment Alan later cancelled because he said he was taking his granddaughter to her riding lesson.

When Alan didn’t show up in Delta, Portia called again. No, Miriam said, she couldn’t speak to her father — he’d stopped at the Elks Lodge, had too much to drink and was now in bed sleeping it off. Portia called her husband Josh, who was staying in the lower part of the Whitewater home during the week, to shorten his commute to work. Josh told Portia Alan was not in bed — he was down at the stable with Miriam feeding the horses. Other witnesses will further illustrate discrepancies in Miriam’s account, Eret said.

On the morning of Alan’s death, Miriam left their home in Whitewater to run errands. She and Alan reportedly planned to meet for lunch in Grand Junction. Eret outlined Miriam’s movements from Orchard Mesa Market, to Wal-Mart on North Avenue, to the Safeway on Horizon Drive, and back to Orchard Mesa. From the restaurant where she and Alan were to meet, she left a message on Alan’s cell phone, asking where he was, before heading back home. She called dispatch at 11:47 a.m. to report she’d found her husband on the floor.

Six days later, Eret said, Miriam called Alan’s insurance agent asking about a $25,000 life insurance payout. The agent said the premiums hadn’t been paid, so there were no benefits. Later in June, she reportedly started selling off the horses, an ATV and other possessions. By July she was “hightailing” it out of town, Eret said. In Florida she began using the identity of Sharon Helmick, Alan’s first wife, and by November 2008 had created an Internet dating profile under that name.

Deputy public defender Jody McGuirk told jurors that Miriam herself would testify as to why she left the state. With no means of financial support and no support within the community, Miriam headed for Florida where family members lived. That’s where she was ultimately arrested, McGuirk said, because law enforcement believed she was guilty from day one. They ignored other leads, including a white truck that was reported in the neighborhood. And while family members contend that Alan was being poisoned, nothing in the autopsy report supports that accusation. Alan was sick because he suffered from serious heart disease, she said.

Because she wanted so desperately for law enforcement to start looking for the person who had killed her husband, Miriam came up with a “horrible idea,” McGuirk said. She purchased a card, penned a threatening note, and left it on the doorstep of her home. When she “found” the card, she turned it over to her attorney who in turn handed it to law enforcement authorities. Through the manufacturer, prosecutors traced the card to several stores in Grand Junction and ultimately to the City Market on Orchard Mesa, where video shows Miriam picking out the card and paying for it at a self-serve kiosk.

The presumption of guilt caused errors in judgment, from law enforcement, from prosecution and from Miriam Helming herself, McGuirk said. She urged the jurors to turn the case around and look at it with the presumption of innocence.

If Miriam were interested in collecting life insurance proceeds upon Alan’s death, McGuirk pointed out, she would certainly have made sure the premiums were paid. A prenuptial agreement was also found months after Alan’s death. Miriam could have hidden or destroyed that document, McGuirk said.

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