In a third interview Feb. 7, 2006, with Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers, David Holbrook explained why he had visited Howard’s home in Crestview two days before her body was found ...

On Jan. 25, 2006, three weeks after Howard’s death, Crestview police interviewed Russell Holbrook and he told them the last time he’d seen Melissa was two years prior to her death.

Holbrook is standing trial for Howard’s 2006 murder. Court ended Wednesday with the defense trying to keep Melissa Howard's lawyer, Janis Burke from testifying, calling her testimony hear say.

Holbrook has been charged in the January 2006 murder of Melissa Howard. She was found beaten and stabbed to death in her Crestview home. Holbrook was arrested in 2016.