MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Testimony began Tuesday morning in the second murder trial of a Mobile man accused of raping and murdering a 19-year-old girl in 1980.

Sept. 11, 1980, 19-year-old Sandra Williams was found dead in Toulminville at the end of Clementine Court, which is now a cul-de-sac, nearly 8 miles from her apartment complex on Azalea Road.

Investigators say that she was raped and stabbed to death. But due to the lack of technology, the case remained cold for nearly four decades.

Later, investigators discovered DNA on the jeans Williams was wearing when found. Technology revealed that it was not the other men who were previously accused and that it belonged to Alvin Ray Allen.

In September 2019, Allen was arrested and charged with the murder of Williams. Hours after he was booked into jail, Allen was released on a $100,000 bond.

Allen took to a five-day trial in March 2020. A jury deliberated for three days and could not reach a verdict. Judge Brooks ruled it a mistrial.

Allen was given an ankle monitor and told he could not interact with the victim’s family, and could only go to church or his three rental properties.

Now, over 40 years after Williams was found dead in Toulminville, Allen is in court again for a second murder trial.

Tuesday afternoon, prosecutors made their opening statements to the new jury, arguing the history Allen had with harassing Williams, making her uncomfortable while her family was visiting, and then damaging her property when she turned him away.

The defense countered the DNA evidence by saying that the two had been in a causal relationship. They say that the DNA could have come from a previous encounter and that Williams had not washed her pants.

Four people took the stand for testimonies, including a friend of the victim and the construction worker who found her.

The other two testimonies were transcripts of previous testimonies from the first trial. Both Richard Micheal Barton and James Gill were officers called to the scene in 1980, but they’ve since died.

The trial will resume Wednesday morning.