Testimony wrapped up Tuesday in the case against an Orange County man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend's daughter.
Sanel Saint Simon is charged with murder in the death of 16-year-old Alexandria Chery, whose body was discovered in July 2014 on a road near the Osceola-Polk County line.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Read: Day 1 of Saint Simon trial
Saint Simon's interrogation video with investigators from 2014 was shown in court Tuesday.
In the video, Saint Simon claimed to be a good stepfather, who was concerned about Chery.
The video shows Saint Simon sitting behind a table in an interrogation room, but he was not under arrest.
Detectives told him that he could leave if he wanted to, but he chose to answer questions for hours.
"Did you notice scratches or marks on the defendant's hands?” asked a prosecutor. “How did that come to your attention?”
“He was moving his hands up and down on the table. It looked to me like he was trying to stop me from seeing his hands," Detective Ricardo Lee with the Orange County Sheriff's Office testified.
After the detective finished his testimony, prosecutors called to the stand a woman Saint Simon was working with at a Boston Market the morning in question.
The detective asks Saint-Simon how he got home from Boston Market that day. Saint-Simon claims Joseph picked him up there at the end of his shift. She testified yesterday that he had her pick him up at a Burger King instead. #WFTV
— Field Sutton (@EFieldSutton) February 6, 2018
During cross-examination, she said Saint Simon could have cut his hand opening boxes that day, but never reported it.
Her statement gives the jury an alternate explanation for any markings on Saint Simon’s hands.
The defense claimed Saint Simon's phone was erased before it was brought to the Sheriff's Office and that investigators handled the phone improperly.
"There was nothing (in the contacts or call log). There was nothing at the time," Cheryl Inigl with the Orange County Sheriff's Office testified.
Joseph said she returned home the day of her daughter's disappearance to discover a blood-stained teddy bear and a pair of men's underwear that appeared to be Saint Simon's in the girl’s bedroom. She also told jurors she found bleach on the floor around her daughter’s bed.
Saint Simon wanted to make it appear as if Chery ran away from home, court records said. He told investigators that Chery might have moved in with friends, but they said that wasn't true.
Defense is trying to show Chery was running away from a bad relationship with a secret boyfriend.
Chery's cousin and friend testified Chery had a fight with her boyfriend two days before she disappeared.
Saint-Simon contents it appeared Chery had simply moved out.
— Field Sutton (@EFieldSutton) February 6, 2018
Det: “What would have made her move? Was she upset with her mom or something? Was she upset with you?"
SS: "I don’t know.” #WFTV
Detectives said they interviewed Chery’s best friend and boyfriend and learned that she told them Saint Simon had done something to her that made her feel uncomfortable, the details of which haven't been released.
If convicted, Saint Simon could face the death penalty.
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WATCH LIVE: Testimony continues in trial of Orange County man accused of killing daughter's girlfriendWATCH LIVE: Testimony continues in the trial of an Orange County man accused of killing his girlfriend's daughter. Read: at.wftv.com/2ELgHZU
Posted by WFTV Channel 9 on Tuesday, February 6, 2018
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