The judge presiding over the murder trial of Rodney Owens threatened to restrain him today if he could not avoid gesturing that he was beaten by Fort Worth police following his arrest last year.

Rodney Owens

Mr. Owens, 41, is on trial accused of murdering his former neighbor Glenda Furch.

Ms. Furch, 51, was reported missing Sept. 28, 2007 and is presumed dead. Her body has not been found. She was last seen leaving work at the General Motors assembly plant in Arlington. Police believe she was accosted as she entered her upstairs apartment in the Woodhaven neighborhood in east Fort Worth.

Mr. Owens became animated while jurors viewed a videotaped police pursuit led by him in through parts of Fort Worth and Forest Hill.

State District Judge Mollee Westfall ordered a recess and threatened to have the defendant handcuffed to his chair.

Glenda Furch

Mr. Owens said he would refrain from making gestures.

In testimony that began Tuesday, investigators described a large stain in the master bedroom and said officials immediately determined the apartment was a crime scene. Fort Worth police Officer Ernest Pate said the carpet appeared to have been thoroughly cleaned and the vacuum cleaner, comforter and top sheet were missing.

"The apartment was chillingly clean," Officer Pate said, adding that it reeked of bleach.

Ms. Furch's 1999 Mazda Millenia was missing after she vanished, prosecutors said.

Five days after Ms. Furch disappeared, the car was found burned at an abandoned car wash in Dallas.

If convicted, Mr. Owens could face a life sentence.