Testimony continued Tuesday in the trial of a Deltona man accused of killing his wife and her two children. The trial is being held in St. Augustine.
Prosecutors played a police interview with Luis Toledo that was recorded three days after his wife, Yessenia Suarez, and her children, Thalia and Michael Otto, disappeared from their Deltona home.
Investigators read text messages Tuesday between Suarez and Toledo.
"You will no longer be a part of my kids. I want a divorce," Suarez said.
Defense asked if investigator has evidence Toledo killed the kids. The investigator said "No, sir." #WFTV #LuisToledo pic.twitter.com/drSZibIXl9
— Jeff Deal (@JDealWFTV) October 24, 2017
During the police interview, Toledo admitted to killing his wife, but said it was an act of self-defense. Toledo blamed a neighbor, Tyshawn Jackson, for killing the children, however, Jackson has never been charged in the killings.
Investigators said Toledo talked about the children.
"He replied immediately, 'I'm never going to tell you where the bodies are,'" said an unnamed investigator in court.
During cross examination, attorneys tried to show that Toledo was consistent in his statements that he didn't kill the children, but that his neighbor, Tyshawn Jackson did. He's never been charged in the killings.
The defense asked the investigators, “Who killed the kids?” To which the investigator replied, “Luis Toledo.”
Then, the defense asked, “Do you have evidence of that?”
“No, sir,” the investigator replied.
But later, the investigator clarified to a prosecutor that he meant direct evidence, and went on to say there is a lot of circumstantial evidence that lead him to believe Toledo killed his wife and the two children.
"He has said all the way through that he didn't know where the bodies are?" defense attorneys asked.
"Yes, sir," Sgt. AJ Pagliari told the defense.
"He's never wavered on that?" the defense asked Pagliari.
"No," he responded.
If convicted of the children's deaths, Toledo could face the death penalty.
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WATCH LIVE: Trial continues for Luis ToledoWATCH LIVE: Trial continues for Luis Toledo. He's the Deltona man accused of killing his wife and her two children.
Posted by WFTV Channel 9 on Tuesday, October 24, 2017
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