CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- A bombshell occurred Friday during the opening statements in a trial of a man accused of killing his daughter.

All along Aaron Thompson said he been looking for Aarone Thompson, his 6-year-old daughter whom he reported missing in November 2005.

But on Friday, his defense attorneys admitted he was lying. They admitted that Aarone is dead, and Thompson covered up her death, but they claim he didn't kill her.

"Mr. Thompson did not kill his daughter, Shely Lowe did ... By that time he was in so deep, it was too late for him to change his story," said defense attorney Lucienne Boyd.

The defense is pointing the finger at Thompson's live-in girlfriend -- Lowe. Lowe died six months after the couple reported Aarone missing, so she never faced a trial.

"Shely Lowe had something to hide. Something terrible. Something she doesn't want anyone else to know about ... Shely Lowe died and she took to her grave the information about what happened to Aarone," Boyd said. "She was a tyrant, controlling. She was manipulative.

The defense doesn't elaborate on exactly how Aarone died, where her body is located, or Thompson's role in the cover up.

"Nobody here is going to ask you to believe that Aarone is alive today," Boyd said.

Aaron Thompson faces 60 charges, including fatal child abuse, in the disappearance of his daughter Aarone. Aarone's body has never been found.

Prosecutors' To Show Abusive Household

Meanwhile, the prosecution painted a horribly abusive household, showing pictures of belts, electric cords and a bat -- saying these items were used for so-called "beatdowns" or "whoopings."

Prosecutors say Aarone was likely dead two years before her father reported her missing in 2005.

Before opening statements were given, Call7 Investigator Tony Kovaleski and another reporter were kicked out of the trial because they may be called as prosecution witnesses.

Kovaleski had conducted an exclusive interview with Thompson and his girlfriend and asked them directly if they were responsible for Aarone's death. The two talked with Kovaleski -- saying neither of them was responsible for Aarone's death -- but both never submitted to a formal interview with police investigating the case.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Chappell said Kovaleski is one of the "backup foundation witnesses" for prosecutors, but Kovaleski said he had never been told he was a potential witness.

Kovaleski and the other reporter were allowed to return to court Friday afternoon.

A portion of 7NEWS' exclusive interview will be played during the trial.

Prosecution: Evidence Will Show Girl Had Been Dead

On Friday morning, Chappell showed jurors videotapes of interviews and said testimony will demonstrate that Aarone may have been dead for two years when she was reported missing. He also showed slides of the children's area of the Thompson home, which showed seven of everything, including beds, toothbrushes and Halloween candy bags. Aarone would have been the eighth child in the home.

The prosecution also showed photos of a baseball bat, belt and electrical cord that Chappell said was used in the "beat downs" of children in the home. He showed a pole in basement that he said Thompson would tie a child to so he could beat them.

Aurora police suspected foul play when among other things, Thompson couldn't provide recent pictures of the girl when he reported her missing in November 2005.

The most recent picture he provided was of his daughter at the Grand Canyon two years prior to her disappearance. After finding no bed, or personal belongings of Aarone in the home, and no school enrollment, police later said they believed she may have been gone up to 18 months prior to her disappearance.

"This was the last indication of a live child," Chappell said of the picture, telling jurors there were no doctor's visits since 2002 and she wasn't enrolled in school.

When police asked for an article of clothing so they could develop a DNA profile, the family produced a pair of purple pants that appeared too small for a 6-year-old.

Chappell said the family also provided a pair of tennis shoes.

There was an audible gasp in the courtroom when Chappell showed a picture of the tennis shoes next to an enlarged portion of the Grand Canyon picture showing Aarone's shoes -- apparently the same ones.

Prosecutors also played phone conversations between Lowe and a friend where they repeatedly mentioned putting flowers on the grave of Aarone, conversations that took place after she was reported missing.

Other Kids In House Will Testify

Chappell also showed jurors videotaped interviews with the other six children living in the home. One child, a then 15-year-old boy, couldn't remember Aarone's name.

"The missing one," the teen said, stumbling on Aarone's name when asked to name all the other children in the home.

The teen, the brother of Thompson's live-in girlfriend Shely Lowe, later admitted that he had not seen Aarone since moving into the house in August 2004.

Chappell said jurors will hear testimony from the children, who describe Thompson, whom they called Big A, whipping them with a baseball bat, belts, and cords as punishment. They will also describe how Thompson would beat Aarone and lock her in a closet for hours for wetting the bed.

He said evidence will show that Aarone's DNA was found on the underside of the door because she would stick her fingers out of the bottom to show she was there. She would wait for her siblings to touch them so she would know someone was there, Chappell said.

The oldest son told investigators that he heard Aarone screaming, prosecutors said.

Other witnesses will describe how Lowe told them that Aarone died during one of the punishments and how Lowe and Thompson conspired to make up a story to cover up her death.

The children were removed from the house and placed in foster care shortly after Aarone's reported disappearance.

Thompson's neighbors said they had no idea how many children lived in the house because they hardly ventured out. Chappell said Thompson had told the children he had sent Aarone to Michigan to live with her mom.

Aarone would have been 6 when she was reported missing.

Thompson told police that Aarone ran away when he refused to give her a cookie.

The report of the missing girl prompted a massive police search, with dozens of officers checking fields, searching in trash bins, going door to door in the neighborhood and checking with registered sexual offenders.

First Witness Called

Both sides have wrapped up opening statements on Monday and the prosecution has the first several witnesses.

The first witness was a 911 operator who took the call saying Aarone was missing and said she thought it was strange there was no urgency in Thompson's voice.

According to Thompson's own defense -- that's because he knew she had been dead for a long time.

Thompson faces 54 years in prison if convicted on all counts, which include allegations that Aarone was malnourished, beaten, and not given proper medical care.

The trial, which started Monday, is expected to last nine weeks.