BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Brianna Parish may have thought a little flirting might persuade Troy MacDonald to provide cocaine Nov. 12, 2008, at a Bay House Pub parking area.

Instead, MacDonald, 47, raped and sodomized the 21-year-old female before beating her in the back of the head and strangling her, according to Baldwin County District Attorney Judy Newcomb.

In opening statements Tuesday in MacDonald’s capital murder trial, Newcomb said MacDonald threw her body in a drainage ditch where heavy rains washed her half-naked remains downstream.

A search party comprised of family and friends found her decomposing body two days later near the Daphne Utilities sewage plant.

Upstream, authorities found her shoes, jeans and shirt.

MacDonald has confessed to the murder and accepted a guilty plea with the stipulation that the death penalty is off the table.

Alabama law stipulates that a jury must convict a suspect in a capital case, rather than a judge accepting a guilty plea.

The abbreviated trial is expected to end early next week. Defense attorney Pascal Bruijn waived opening statements Tuesday.

Within 48 hours of the search, MacDonald told authorities he met her at a Fairhope lounge and they proceeded, in separate cars, to Bay House Pub in Daphne, Newcomb said.

MacDonald said Parish walked to his car around midnight, and they “kissed and petted” about 45 minutes.

Then he left to visit a Fairhope friend and spend the night. His last view of her was when she was entering the bar. He said he went to work the next day.

Newcomb said MacDonald’s story was rapidly unravelled by Daphne investigators. A cell phone triangulation study showed he was in the vicinity of the bar until 3:30 a.m. He called in sick the next day.

“When he did go back to work, co-workers said his demeanor had changed and that he had unexplained scratches on his face,” Newcomb said.

A forensic pathologist examined the body at the scene and conducted anal and vaginal swabs, connecting MacDonald’s DNA.

Newcomb described Parish as “the love of her parent’s life.” They were in Texas the night of the murder, but headed back to Alabama when Parish did not come home or call.

Newcomb said Parish was not “a drug addict,” and was in an experimental stage of life.

“While he was in jail, you will hear from people he talked to,” Newcomb told the jury. “He says she thought a little flirting would get her cocaine.

“Instead, she was beaten and strangled and left in a ditch in Daphne.”