Opening statements were given and testimony was heard from witnesses Thursday in the trial of a Pella woman accused of killing her estranged husband’s girlfriend nearly one year ago.

Michelle Boat, 56, faces a charge of first degree murder for the death of Tracy Mondabough of Ottumwa.

Marion County Attorney Ed Bull detailed the night of May 18th, 2020, accusing Boat of following Mondabough and Nicholas Boat throughout the evening, eventually confronting and stabbing Tracy.

“Scorned. Obsessed. Seething,” were the opening words of Bull as he attempted to present Michelle as planning the killing ahead of time.

“At the conclusion of this case and based on the evidence, we will stand before you and ask that you return a verdict of finding the defendant guilty of Murder in the First Degree,” Bull stated. “The facts will support it, the law will compel it, and justice will demand it, because by then, we will have all learned that Michelle Boat was so scorned, so obsessed, and so seething, that on May 18th, 2020, in Marion County, Iowa, she hunted, she gloved up, and she plunged a knife into Tracy Mondabaugh’s heart — murdering her.”

The defense admitted that Boat was responsible for the death of Mondabough, but attorneys are arguing the charge should only amount to manslaughter. Attorney Jill Eimermann says the heightened stress of her husband Nicholas leaving her and the loneliness brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic were, in part, to blame for Michelle’s actions.

“Sixty-nine days before May 18th, 2020, was when Michelle Boat realized that the home that they shared, the small house they had together at 135 Prairie Street, 69 days before, he walked out the door, 69 days before, Michelle’s life fell apart.”

“She wasn’t scorned — she was devastated; she wasn’t seething, but she was heartbroken. Her husband was gone, and she was suddenly alone in the midst of chaos.”

Nicholas testified for the prosecution, saying he had met Tracy on Facebook earlier that month, and that he had moved on from Michelle — who during that time, was keeping a calendar that marked every day since the two had separated, according to now retired Marion County Lt. Brian Bigaouette. Bull argued that Boat followed Mondabough from Burger King to Vermeer Corporation, and followed Tracy home before ambushing and stabbing her.

Testimony from witnesses will resume this morning in Marion County District Court.