MANATEE COUNTY, FL -- Testimony began Tuesday in the case of a man accused of kidnapping a Manatee County teen and then holding him for ransom.
Vicente Beltran-Moreno is accused of kidnapping Clay Moore at gunpoint in February 2007 at a bus stop near his home in Parrish.
The jury had heard from 10 witnesses by midday. They were shown pictures of items they say Beltran-Moreno used in the abduction.
Investigators say Beltran-Moreno drove Moore, who's now 15, to a wooded area 20 miles from the bus stop, tied him to a tree and planned to demand $40,000 in ransom.
Beltran-Moreno left the area for a while and Moore managed to free himself by using a safety pin to break through the duct tape that bound him. He walked for several hours before coming across a farm house where he asked for help.
Beltran-Moreno, who's now 24, fled to Mexico but later returned to the U.S. and surrendered.
The case received nationwide media attention.
Prosecutors are hoping to put Beltran-Moreno in prison for life.
Beltran-Moreno's girlfriend, Ana Pureco Tinoco, is serving a three year prison term for helping in the kidnapping.
