Nunez Had 2nd-Degree Burns On Leg, Nurse Testifies
NEW RICHMOND, Wis. (WCCO) -- When Courtney Bradford and 10-year-old daughter, Jasmine, were found stabbed to death last year, their New Richmond, Wisconsin, home had been set on fire.
When Bradford's ex-boyfriend, Cristian Nunez, was finally arrested, he was given a medical exam at an El Paso, Texas, hospital.
Kathy Justice, the nurse that treated him, told jurors in a Wisconsin courtroom Wednesday that Bradford, who is facing murder charges, had abrasions and second-degree burns on his left leg.
Records show that Nunez then told the medical staff that he was starting a fire when his boots caught the flame.
Prosecutors believe Nunez, after killing Bradford and her daughter, planned to escape into Juarez, Mexico, just 2 miles from the hotel where he'd checked in.
A hotel clerk told jurors that Nunez checked into the hotel using a driver's license and credit card belonging to Bradford.
To explain the burns on Nunez' leg, an arson expert with the state of Wisconsin testified that gasoline was used to set the house on fire.
"I could smell the odor of gasoline," said Michael Reimer, a Wisconsin arson investigator. "There was a 5-gallon gas can on the floor."
The testimony suggested that Nunez burned his legs when the gasoline was poured on Bradford's house and ignited.
The defense begins calling witnesses by Friday. The case could go to the jury as early as next week.