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Jury starts deliberations in Valrico strangulation case

 
Published June 26, 2015

TAMPA

Verdict not in yet in husband's murder trial

After nearly two hours of deliberations, a jury had not yet reached a verdict Thursday in the second-degree murder trial of Colin Maloney, the Valrico husband accused of strangling his wife in 2012. They're set to start deliberating again today at 8:30 a.m.

Authorities said that the husband called 911 in March 2012 and told a dispatcher he found his wife, Felicia Maloney, unconscious in their Valrico home. When paramedics arrived at the home, they performed CPR for about 20 minutes. Inside an ambulance, they saw marks around Felicia Maloney's neck.

When the trial started Tuesday, the prosecution's opening argument focused on the story Colin Maloney told retired sheriff's Deputy Patricia Nelson when she responded to his 911 call.

Nelson testified that, when she spoke to Colin Maloney in the kitchen, he said that his wife hanged herself with an extension cord. But the husband did not mention that during the 911 call, the state said, when deputies and paramedics arrived at the house.

The prosecution said that the medical examiner ruled that Felicia Maloney died from strangulation. Defense attorney Jorge Chalela told jurors that their own expert medical testimony will show that her injuries were consistent with suicide by hanging.