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Suitcase Murder Trial
Alcoholism. That's how Sarah Boone's defense began their opening statements. Her lead attorney James Owens told jurors about the alcohol addiction she and her Jorge Torres dealt with and how it often mixed in with domestic violence. Owens argued that the suitcase Torres was zipped in was a physical restraint to block a potential attack in Boone's attempt at self-defense. Domestic violence was a running theme in the relationship between the defendant and the victim.
S1, EP17 "Physical And Psychological Abuse"
The jury's attention shifted from the death of Jorge Torres to the years of domestic violence he and the defendant dealt with. Sarah Boone testified that she was a woman in fear of her life when she and Torres played a deadly game of hide-and-seek. Next, large images of Boone's bruises were displayed for jurors. She was testifying about the constant physical violence she claimed to have endured at the hands of her allegedly abusive boyfriend.
S1, EP18 "Domestic Violence Allegations"
Domestic and alcohol abuse came to define the violent relationship between Sarah Boone and Jorge Torres. On the stand, Boone gave jurors a timeline of events where Torres allegedly attacked and abused her. But, the defendant never mentioned any alleged abuse while she was being interviewed by police. Yet on the stand, she told the jury that zipping her boyfriend up in that suitcase and leaving him in there to die was the first time she fought back against him.
S1, EP19 "Defendant Faces Cross-Examination"
In her murder trial, Sarah Boone told the jury that she was shocked that she was arrested for the murder of Jorge Torres. Even though she never talked about any abuse in her interview with police, she told jurors that her actions that day was her way of defending herself from being killed. It was the State's turn to question the defendant on the stand. They wanted to discredit her claim that she zipped up her boyfriend in a suitcase and left him there for hours because she feared for her life.
S1, EP20 "Defending Herself"
The jury listened to more testimony from the defendant on what led up to Jorge Torres' death. Under cross-examination, the State tried to poke holes in her credibility claiming her side of the story was inconsistent with the facts in this case. Next, her Defense called in officers who responded to domestic abuse incidents at the home of the defendant and Torres. The calls were made a year and two years before Torres lost his life stuck in a zipped-up suitcase.
