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Luis Toledo trial: Judge sends jurors home early after dispute over interview

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A judge sent jurors home early Wednesday in the murder trial of a 35-year-old Deltona man who is accused of killing his wife and his two stepchildren.

Investigators said Luis Toledo killed Yessenia Suarez, 28, and her children, Thalia Otto, 9, and Michael Otto, 8, who disappeared from their Deltona home in October 2013 and were never found.

Investigators said Toledo confessed to killing Suarez, but he denied killing her children. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the deaths of the children.

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Prosecutors said Toledo killed his wife and his stepchildren after learning that Suarez was having an affair and sought a divorce.

Prosecutors played a recording of investigators interviewing Toledo about his wife's disappearance, but defense attorneys objected six minutes into it.

The judge ordered jurors to leave the courtroom for more than an hour so defense attorneys could read a transcript of the interview. He ultimately sent them home for the day.

Attorneys didn't like that Toledo used the word "lesbian" to describe one of Suarez's cousins because they felt it could elicit juror bias against Toledo.

Prosecutors told the judge that they reviewed the interview with defense attorneys and redacted portions they both agreed were objectionable.

"I don't recall agreeing to anything about a cousin who is a lesbian," prosecutor Ryan Will said. "I just don't recall agreeing to that."

Jurors will continue to listen to an hours long recorded interview Thursday morning.

Jurors will also hear about Toledo's suicide attempt three days after the family's disappearance. Toledo walked out to use the restroom after speaking with investigators and prosecutors said he broke a mirror and tried to kill himself with shards of glass.

Defense attorneys wanted it kept out of the trial, but prosecutors said it shows Toledo was backed into a corner and was looking to run away from his guilt.

Anthony Gorgone, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement DNA expert, testified Tuesday that blood found in a closet and in the master bathroom of Toledo's home matched the DNA profile of Thalia.

Defense attorneys said Tuesday that prosecutors have evidence of a death but not evidence proving Toledo killed anyone or that the crime was premeditated.