Ex-deputy accused of murdering wife cries in court
GREELEY, Colo. -- Prosecutors portrayed a former Colorado sheriff's deputy accused of killing his wife in 2012 as a husband angry at his wife and her family, while defense attorneys told jurors his wife was a depressed, self-destructive woman who had in the past contemplated suicide. "48 Hours" investigated the case in the episode, "Death after Midnight."
WATCH: "48 Hours:" Death after Midnight
Attorneys presented both sides as the trial of former Weld County sheriff's deputy Tom Fallis, who is charged with second-degree murder, got under way on Wednesday.
Fallis cried in court as his attorney described the moments when police responded to the death of his wife, reports CBS Denver. Ashley died from a gunshot wound to the head in the master bedroom of their Evans home after a New Year's Eve party.
Investigators originally ruled Ashley Fallis' death a suicide, but new evidence led a grand jury to charge Tom Fallis with second-degree murder in 2014. He had moved to Bloomington, Indiana with his three children by that time.
READ: "48 Hours:" Investigative missteps in death ruled suicide?
"Ashley wasn't on her mental health medication. She was intoxicated. She had just suffered a miscarriage. She was a pressure cooker," defense attorney Iris Eytan said in opening statements, reports CBS Denver.
But prosecutors contended Fallis as an angry man who was set off when his wife wanted to step outside and smoke a marijuana joint.
The Greeley Tribune reports that after opening statements, the prosecution called its first witness, Evans police officer Brad Rodriguez, to describe the scene and the evidence.
Prosecutors are expected to call many more witnesses in the coming weeks, including the Fallis' children who prosecutors say were in the home at the time of Ashley's death, the station reports.