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Man on trial in Tampa accused of strangling wife; he claims she committed suicide

 
Published June 24, 2015

TAMPA — In March 2012, Felicia Maloney died when a white extension cord cut off her airway. In court on Tuesday, the prosecution and defense argued in front of a jury whether she put the cord around her own neck — or her husband used it to strangle her.

"None of the evidence corresponds with a hanging," Assistant State Attorney John Terry told jurors in the second-degree murder trail of the victim's husband, Colin Maloney, 41, which began Tuesday.

The husband was arrested in September 2012, accused of strangling his wife after the couple, proud of their Irish roots, spent an evening out celebrating St. Patrick's Day and their 11th wedding anniversary in Tampa.

In opening arguments Tuesday, both sides agreed on this much: They had plans to stay overnight in a hotel. But by 3 a.m. Colin Maloney suggested they just return home. Felicia Maloney was upset.

The couple argued, prosecutors told jurors, then returned to their Valrico home. At some point after 5 a.m. on March 18, authorities said, Colin Maloney called 911 to report that his wife was unconscious and appeared to be slightly blue.

The husband did not mention during the 911 call that he found her hanging from the canopy bed, prosecutors emphasized, and omitted that detail when he first talked to paramedics and deputies.

Retired sheriff's deputy Patricia Nelson testified that, as she spoke with Colin Maloney in the kitchen, he mentioned for the first time that his wife hanged herself with the extension cord.

"This is what she hung herself with, over a damn motel," Nelson said Colin Maloney told her that morning.

Then, the retired deputy said, Colin Maloney told this story: he found his wife hanging from the couple's canopy bed, facing the wall. Their 8-year-old son followed him into the room, Colin Maloney said. He asked the boy to leave, then removed the canopy board, unlooped the cord from his wife's neck and began performing CPR.

Defense attorney Jorge Chalela told jurors that their own expert medical testimony will show that Felicia Maloney's injuries were consistent with suicide by hanging.

But the prosecution discounted that story, saying the medical examiner ruled that she died from strangulation. The state added that Felicia Maloney, 38 at the time, died with other bruises and abrasions on her face and body.

"The doctor will tell you this is the sign of a woman who had been physically wounded," Terry said.

Chalela insisted that Maloney loved his wife, who was also his high school sweetheart. That night the two were "happy as can be," the defense said.

"At the end of the case, they will not have proven to you that this was a homicide," Chalela told the jury. "This was a tragedy, and this was the end of Mrs. Maloney's life, but also the end of Mr. Maloney's life as he knew it."

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The trial is expected to run through Friday.

Contact Katie Mettler at kmettler@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3446. Follow @kemettler.