Janel Showers, Dennis Day's niece, testifies on Tuesday about the state of her uncle's Phoenix home in June 2019, two months after his body was discovered beneath a pile of clothes during the first day of a four-day civil trial. The family is suing Phoenix police for $2.2 million on claims of tortious interference with a corpse, negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Lawyers representing Phoenix police sought to explain to a jury Tuesday how former Mouseketeer Dennis Day’s corpse evaded detection inside his home for nearly nine months into the spring of 2019.

A civil trial pitting Day’s sister, nieces and nephew against Phoenix police and Lt. Jeffrey Price began Tuesday and is expected to last throughout the week in Jackson County Circuit Court. Judge Tim Barnack is presiding over the trial, in which the family is seeking $2.2 million.

Erin Gould, a lawyer representing Day’s family, outlined “fairly horrific” evidence that attorneys intend to present to the jury — including claims that Phoenix police Lt. Jeffrey Price stepped on Day’s remains and it was captured on police bodycam video.

“I believe the evidence will show that Lt. Price stepped on Day’s body,” Gould said in her opening statement.

Day was best known for his childhood acting role as a founding member of Walt Disney’s “The Mickey Mouse Club.” His home on Pine Street, which he shared with his husband Henry “Ernie” Caswell and live-in handyman Daniel Burda, was less than a third of a mile from the police station.

Day was 76 when he was last seen alive in mid-July 2018, but the family didn’t find out about his disappearance until nephew Fred Richardson of Roseburg saw a KOBI-TV report on the case the following January.

Burda was sentenced earlier this summer to more than six years in prison after pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide — the least severe homicide charge under Oregon law — and second-degree abuse of a corpse in connection with Day’s death and for hiding his body. 

Day’s family is seeking monetary damages from Phoenix police and Lt. Price on claims of tortious interference with a corpse, infliction of emotional distress and intentional infliction of emotional distress on grounds that the state of Day’s remains prevented the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office from determining a cause of death — thus drastically limiting the charges prosecutors could pursue against Burda.

During Phoenix police’s opening arguments, lawyer Thomas Armosino outlined the numerous out-of-area tips and leads Phoenix police worked between Day’s disappearance in July 2018 and when the multi-agency Major Assault and Death Investigation Unit took over the case as a homicide in April 2019. 

“My job is to let you know the rest of the story,” Armosino said.

He explained that the stench typically associated with a decomposing corpse was difficult to discern because of the state of Day’s home. He described Day and Caswell as “hoarders,” and said there was cat and dog feces “all over the floor,” and the house was infested with rodents and flies. Further, the dwelling had multiple used colostomy bags from Caswell, whose health was declining at the time. 

“There were piles everywhere,” Armosino said, adding that police believed the odors stemmed from colostomy bags and dead rats.

Janel Showers, daughter of Day’s sister Nelda Adkins, testified in tearful, grisly detail about the rank scent of death in the home more than two months after her uncle’s body was recovered.

She submitted photos of the home taken June 27, 2019, as evidence in the trial, and pointed out a dark spot that lingered on the floor where Day’s remains were recovered. Clothes Burda used to hide the body were still present at the time and stained black.

She described the odor as “to where I couldn’t breathe and I felt like vomiting.”

“We covered our faces the smell was so horrible,” Showers said. Adkins, sitting in the audience, wept.

Armosino sought to discredit the family’s involvement in Day’s life. He pointed out that many of them had not seen Day in person since 2011 and highlighted that the family “didn’t even know about the situation” until January 2019 — not noticing that Day was gone during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“They are here for 2.2 million reasons,” Armosino said.

Showers testified that her uncle grew reclusive as he aged, but the family loved him. She recounted handmade Christmas gifts that Day and Caswell made at Renaissance fairs. He did not like visitors because his house was “filthy,” she said.

“We were proud of him as a Mouseketeer. We were proud of the man he became,” Showers said.

The four-day trial is expected to continue through Friday.