During the Wednesday session, the murder trial of a woman accused of fatally shooting her husband in their Casselberry home in 2021 continued.
According to prosecutors, Sherry Fitzpatrick is charged with the murder of Tim Fitzpatrick. However, she maintains that the shooting occurred as she was attempting to fire a warning shot, citing fear due to her husband’s history of violent behavior towards her.
Jurors were presented with extensive footage from police body-worn cameras, recorded after Fitzpatrick reported her husband’s passing.
One video depicted Fitzpatrick receiving a text message from her husband’s ex-wife, inquiring whether she was responsible for Tim Fitzpatrick’s death.
In another bodycam clip, Fitzpatrick’s daughter discussed the incident, questioning if it was an act of self-defense due to prior altercations between Fitzpatrick and her husband.
A third video captured Fitzpatrick answering detectives’ queries about when she had dyed her hair.
She informed them that she had done so several days prior. They then inquired why there was no evidence of hair dye on gloves discovered in a trash can.
Jurors also viewed a video, recorded several weeks after the shooting, in which Fitzpatrick attempted to provide the state attorney with an honest account of the events leading up to the incident.
Later in the day, a defense attorney queried a detective about when she first identified Fitzpatrick as the primary suspect in the case.
“I would say it’s after speaking with Ms. Fitzpatrick and entering the bedroom and the observations made during that,” the detective testified. “It didn’t seem like there was consistent information coming from Ms. Fitzpatrick.”
The lawyer also inquired with the detective about the hardships experienced by victims of domestic violence, hinting at the fact that Fitzpatrick initially misled investigators about the physical abuse she had suffered.
The attorney said that, “Having dealt with cases like this, is it uncommon for someone who is a victim of domestic violence to hide or conceal their victimization?”.
“No. That is common”, the detective stated.
On Wednesday, the judge removed a juror from the case after someone at a Halloween party the night before approached her and started talking about the case.
