OVIEDO, Fla. — Prosecutors said new testimony proves an Oviedo woman killed her husband out of more than self-defense.
Anita Smithey said she was defending herself when she shot Robert Cline to death back in 2010.
Smithey, a mother of two, met 41-year-old Cline in 2005. She said as soon as they got married in 2007, her husband became abusive and controlling, even telling her what underwear she was to wear to work. She said he was also obsessed with sex.
Smithey said she'd had enough and filed for divorce in 2010, then moved into an Oviedo home with her two young children.
One day, she said Cline showed up unannounced and she agreed to have sex with him because she was afraid not to. But when she asked him to leave, Smithey claims Cline pulled a knife on her and raped her.
Smithey’s neighbor told jurors Wednesday how Smithey pounded on her door and asked her to call 911 after the shooting.
“There was a banging and screaming at the door. She told me she shot her husband and I needed to call 911,” said Emma Reichert to the 911 dispatcher. “My next door neighbor just came to my house. She shot her husband.”
But, prosecutors said their evidence shows that it was not a case of self-defense. They claim Smithey killed her estranged husband in a moment of anger because he did not want to stop having sex with her.
Prosecutors said there's no evidence to support that Smithey tried to get away.
The first witness was Detective Daniel Mattingly, who rode in an ambulance with Smithey. He said she gave two very different stories about what happened.
Mattingly said Smithey initially said her husband had a knife and then failed to mention it in another version.
"She said, at one point, she was able to get her firearm from the nightstand and place it under the pillow. She said, at one point Robert lowered the knife from her throat down by his side, at which point she was able to retrieve the firearm from her pillow and point it at him. She said that she was only going to shoot to scare him," said Mattingly.
Smithey is charged with second-degree murder.
WFTV
