Jury deliberation underway in Jose Morales trial

The jury has started deliberating after closing arguments were delivered in the trial of Jose Morales, the man who is accused of killing his girlfriend, the mother of his missing daughter, in her Ansonia home in December 2019.

Morales has been charged with the murder of Christine Holloway five years ago and tampering with evidence, and he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The state and the defense gave their closing statements on Monday and the jury was brought back in after lunch to be given their instructions.

During closing arguments, the prosecution said Morales testified that home invaders killed Holloway and “left the only eyewitness to a brutal killing alive for some inexplicable reason and then kidnapped Vanessa Morales.”

They argued that Morales, sometime between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Dec. 1, hit Holloway in the head no less than  eight times, causing her death, then spent more than 36 hours cleaning up the scene to erase evidence.

Morales’ defense attorney, Ed Gavin, said the state has not proven a murder case against Jose Morales and told the jury that their doubts do not need to be unanimous.

Gavin then had the 911 call played.

“Use your good common sense. Who calls 911 before committing a homicide? No one,” Gavin said. “And don’t forget, that’s Christine Holloway’s voice in the background on the call. Christine was there.”

The closing arguments followed a surprising turn of events in the trial when Morales took the stand last week in his own defense.

Police found Hollway's body on Dec. 2, 2019 in her home on Myrtle Avenue in Ansonia.

The couple’s daughter, Vanessa Morales, was 14 months old at the time and she was not in the home when police found Holloway. There has been no sign of her since.

Morales was arrested in connection with Holloway’s death on Feb. 7, 2020.

On Wednesday, Morales testified that he and Holloway had a good relationship and had spent the Thanksgiving holiday together with their families.

On Thursday, the ninth day of the trial, state’s attorney Howard Stein cross-examined Morales and tried to poke holes in the story Morales told about that relationship and about two men coming into Holloway’s apartment -- one who beat Holloway with a crowbar while the other who took their daughter.

The prosecution showed a series of text messages between Morales and Holloway and asked Morales if he ever called Holloway names and he responded, “sometimes.”

At one point, Stein became very direct.

"Mr. Morales, did you kill Christine Holloway?" he asked.

"No," Morales replied.

During his testimony, Morales told the jury that he was high on PCP (phencyclidine, which is also known as angel dust) when Holloway was attacked, and their baby was taken and he heard screams and sounds of a struggle.

He told the jury that he saw a man in the house repeatedly hitting Holloway with a crowbar, but that he couldn't help because of the effects of the PCP.

He also testified that the unknown man told him if he called the police, his daughter would suffer the same fate.

"Mr. Morales, were you so intoxicated on a substance -- PCP or alcohol, or any other substance -- that you do not remember killing Christine Holloway?" Stein asked.

"I did not kill Christine Holloway," Morales said.

While questioning Morales, Stein said people who were in the garage underneath Holloway’s apartment on Myrtle Avenue heard banging noises coming from above, and claimed that was Morales dropping Holloway into the tub.

“No,” Morales said.

He responded that he was banging on the floor to tell the person underneath to stop the noise.

“Christine Holloway is dead in that apartment, you are cleaning up a gruesome crime scene and you’re concerned about the noise coming from the garage downstairs,” Stein asked.

“It was driving me crazy,” Morales said.