HAMPTON, Va. — Video exhibits played for jurors in the high-profile Cory Bigsby trial are now available through court, after the conclusion of the fourth no-body trial for the Hampton Roads region.
In 2022, Cory reported his four-year-old son Codi missing to the Hampton Police Division (HPD) but was later arrested for separate child neglect charges and ultimately charged with Codi's death.
More than two years after the initial missing person's report, a days-long trial resulted in a guilty conviction for second-degree murder and concealment of a body.
Bigsby, now awaiting a June sentencing, has maintained his innocence in an interview with 13News Now.
Three of the video exhibits played in the courtroom are now being released through Hampton Circuit Court.
Exhibit 3 | Initial law enforcement response
The body camera footage of one of the first responding officers on the case shows Cory's earliest statements to police, as he proceeds to tell officers that he had not seen his son Codi since waking up on the morning of January 31, 2022.
Officer: You saw him last night right?
Bigsby: Yes.
Officer: Where was he at?
Bigsby: He was upstairs in the room, I'll show you.
Cory brings officers to the bedroom, claiming he first noticed Codi missing after preparing breakfast for his other children.
"When I came up here to get my coat, my son wasn’t in the room," he says.
Bigsby would eventually be named a person of interest in the case, and arrested on child neglect charges separate from the disappearance of his son Codi.
Defense Exhibit 5 | Police questioning
The video clip, taken from an overhead camera inside a room, shows investigators casting doubt on the explanation of Codi's disappearance provided by Cory.
Investigator: My gut feeling is that something happened to Codi, I believe it was probably an accident. I believe it was probably while the boys were upstairs for an extended period of time. I believe something happened, that he either had some kind of medical emergency, he fell down the stairs. Kids play hard, we both agree with that okay? Nobody is going to argue with you. I believe something happened to Codi, he either slipped down those stairs, hurt himself, fell out that window. One of the kids--you said they fight--I don't know if it got taken too far. That's what I think happened, I think something happened and you're trying to be a good dad and help your kid. That's what I think happened okay? I think the reason that the K-9's did not alert on the house, I think the reason the bloodhound did not go past that front door is because when a body is wrapped in multiple big 55-gallon drum bags, and there are a bunch accounted for...
Bigsby: Is that your theory?
Investigator: Absolutely, that's my theory so far.
Exhibit 11 | Written confession
Taken from the body camera of an officer, Cory is seen writing what would be one of several confession letters in which he states he found Codi unresponsive and then drove the body away from his home.
"I can write it myself," he tells the officer before they hand him paper and a pen.
Bigsby told 13News Now he felt coerced into writing that confession.
"Whatever I have to do to get out of here then. They said, 'Write a confession letter.' I told them I'm not confessing to anything because there is nothing to confess to,'" Bigsby said.