Opening statements were delivered, in the trail against a man accused of murder in the 2014 death of a Southern Illinois University student in Carbondale. A Special Prosecutor was brought in on Wednesday, where he told the jury that Gaege Bethune committed 2 crimes in February 2014. Those crimes, which were robbery and aggravated battery, led to the eventual death of Pravin Varughese, who was a student at SIU-Carbondale. The Prosecutor stated that Bethune was intoxicated and drove Varughese around Carbondale to look for cocaine, with Varughese contributing $25 towards the effort. After an unsuccessful search, the two argued, with Varughese taking back most of his $25. Varughese then got out of the car, with only a T-shirt and blue jeans on in the middle of winter weather, where Bethune punched Varghese several times. The Defense attorney stated that hypothermia was the only cause of the death in the case, with Bethune having nothing to do with the death. The 22-year-old Bethune was arrested 3-years after Varughese’s body was found in the woods, just off of Illinois Route 13 on February 18th, 2014.