Opening statements were given Wednesday morning in the trial of a Brownsdale man charged with murdering a rural Freeborn County man last August.

David Michael Easter, 27, faces one count of second-degree murder — a felony — and one count of carrying or possessing a pistol without a permit in a public place — a gross misdemeanor. He is accused of shooting to death 23-year-old Spencer Daniel Brown of rural Freeborn County last August.

Freeborn County Attorney David Walker described the incident as murder and said Brown was shot twice in the face with a pistol. Brown was unarmed at the time of the incident, Walker said.

“Spencer Brown did not deserve to die, but the defendant killed him,” he said.

“His death was not a tragic accident.”

Public defender Michael Francis Ryan said the case was difficult because it involved a tragedy with two good people.

“We’re not here to slander Spencer Brown or insult his memory,” he said.

“These are two good guys.”

Ryan described Easter as a family man with no history of violence who has remained law-abiding in Minnesota.

According to Ryan, proper context is needed to evaluate Easter’s claim of self-defense and misconceptions about the incident are evident. He said law enforcement jumped to the conclusion that Easter was a cold-blooded killer after parts of his story did not add up.

Ryan said Easter was trying to access help when he called dispatchers after the incident and noted dispatchers told him to calm down during the phone call.

“This is a man who is trying to do the right thing after he had shot somebody,” he said.

“He did everything he was supposed to do.”

Walker said Brown tended to go to the state park at off-hours. At the time of his death, Brown was living with his ex-girlfriend’s family.

Walker presented a timeline of the incident and read text messages Brown exchanged within minutes of his death.

According to Walker, Easter shot Brown from close range — a couple of inches to a couple feet — burning his face with powder and particulates. Both shots struck Brown in the left side of the head, Walker said.

Brown was found dead in a locked 2001 Audi station wagon in a parking lot near Big Island pavilion at the state park. Walker described the details of the scene.

“Brown was not looking at his killer when he was shot,” he said.

Easter and Brown did not know each other, and alcohol or tobacco were not a factor in the incident, Walker said.

According to Walker, Easter called 911 to report the death as he was leaving the area, not at the scene. He described Easter as having a “chilling lack of emotion” after the shooting. He questioned Easter’s account of the incident that Brown had approached him with the bat and noted that a bat was not found at the scene.

Ryan said two golf clubs were found in the station wagon, including one in Brown’s hand. Walker said Brown used a golf club to prop open the hood of his vehicle.

Ryan questioned whether Easter could see inside of the vehicle because of the tint of the vehicle’s window and said that when Brown’s vehicle arrived at the park with no headlights on Easter felt “very real fear.”

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Authorities investigating homicide at state park