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CT (WFSB) - Several search warrants were executed in neighborhoods in Ansonia on Wednesday morning
The Ansonia Police Department said the warrants were executed on Wakelee Avenue
Police said distraction devices were used during the Wakelee Avenue operation
They said no shots were fired during any of the searches
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CT (WFSB) - The trial for a man accused of killing the mother of his child in Ansonia continued on Tuesday
Jose Morales was due back in Milford Superior Court around 10 a.m
a juror was excused after that juror received a job offer for a position that started this week
Before starting the trial this morning, a juror had to be excused after a getting a job offer, that starts this week. An alternate will now replace that juror. Now 12 jurors and 3 alternates for the trial expected to take about 4 weeks. #WFSB
Morales was charged with murder and tampering with evidence in the death of Christine Holloway back in 2019
Jurors heard from those who started to worry when they couldn’t get into contact with her
including her boss and the first police officers on scene
hoping nothing happened to her,” said Rosie Jones-Clarke
the owner of the day care center where Holloway worked
A welfare check from police at a home on Myrtle Avenue in Ansonia by Lieutenant Alex Barreira and another officer led to the discovery of Holloway’s body
A police investigation eventually led to Morales being charged with her murder
Jurors also heard from police officer Paul Smith
who had reached out to Morales that night to see if he knew where Holloway and Vanessa were
Bodycam footage revealed that he first said that he saw Holloway that morning
told jurors that back in December of 2019 she was working for a non profit it Hamden
clearing out the “kiducation” donation bins outside a Derby church
She testified that that is when she and a co-worker noticed a number of objects with a red substance on it
Those items were discovered two days after the murder and roughly 2 miles from the Myrtle Avenue Apartment where Ansonia police found Holloway’s body
“I told her to bag it up and to bring it back to the warehouse,” said Mary Ann Tettelbach
testified that when unloading the bags the next day she noticed a piece of mail addressed to Holloway
She quickly learned of the ongoing police investigation
“I told them I had a letter on top of some stuff we collected from a clothing bin
and I was very concerned,” Tettelbach said
The states last witness today was Connecticut state trooper Kevin Duggan
He was on the state police major crime van
tasked with processing the scene and collecting evidence on Myrtle Avenue the night Holloway’s body was discovered
the state introduced as evidence graphic crime scene photos
including the bathroom where police found Holloway’s body
Detective Duggan will be back on the stand tomorrow morning
Morales declined a plea deal last summer and elected to take the case to trial
He is charged with murder and tampering with evidence
Jury selection got underway in February
The trial is expected to take about four weeks
Before starting the trial this morning, a juror had to be excused after a getting a job offer, that starts this week. An alternate will now replace that juror. Now 12 jurors and 3 alternates for the trial expected to take about 4 weeks. #WFSB
Ansonia/Milford Judicial District State’s Attorney
announced that a jury today found Jose Morales
guilty of Murder, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-54a
in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-155
The trial in the Superior Court of Milford was presided over by the Honorable Shari A
Evidence at trial showed that the defendant struck Christine Holloway
in the head not less than eight times with an instrument that caused severe fractures of her skull and other blunt force trauma that resulted in her death
The attack occurred in the early morning hours of December 1
Holloway. The evidence presented during trial also focused on the extensive clean-up and destruction of physical evidence that the accused engaged in over a 37-hour period of time until he finally fled the scene
Morales presented alternate defenses of third-party culpability and intoxication which were summarily disregarded by the jury which delivered a verdict in less than four hours of deliberations following a two-week trial
The case was prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Howard S
Stein and Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc R
with the assistance of Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Kalthoff
Inspector Warren “Butch” Hyatt
Inspector Robert Winkler and Paralegal Specialist Chelsea Meehan
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