Bobby Hoppe, former Auburn football star on...

Bobby Hoppe, former Auburn football star on trial in Chattanooga, Tenn., for a murder committed nearly 31 years ago, threatened to kill his sister’s ex-boyfriend just a few hours before the man was shot to death, a key witness in the first-degree murder trial testified.

Hoppe, 53, is on trial for the shotgun slaying of Don Hudson, a 24-year-old moonshine runner who was killed early in the morning of July 20, 1957.

Prosecutors contend that Hoppe, then 22, was angry because Hudson beat his sister, Joan Hoppe Voiles, with whom Hudson was romantically involved.

Odene Neal, 58, testified that when she told Hoppe that she saw Hudson “smacking on” Voiles, Hoppe became angry and said he had a shotgun in his car and would shoot Hudson.