Trevino Murder Trial Delayed Until July
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The trial of a man accused in the death of his 30-year-old wife has been delayed until July.
Kira Steger Trevino, of St. Paul, was last seen on Feb. 21 before being found in the Mississippi River last week.
Kira's 39-year-old husband, Jeffery Trevino, appeared in court on Wednesday. He appeared expressionless, not once glancing out at the courtroom observers, where his family and the victim's family both sat.
The criminal complaint says Jeffery knew of a romantic relationship between his wife and another man. Police said Kira and her husband were at the Mall of America on Feb. 21 having dinner — which was the last time Kira was seen alive.
On that day, police learned Kira had exchanged numerous text messages with another man who was on his way to Colorado. At the time of the text messages, he was in South Dakota.
Police say based on the text messages, it was evident that Kira and this other man had engaged in a romantic relationship. Authorities also learned that inside Kira's purse, which was found in her abandoned vehicle at the Mall of America, there were blank court divorce forms, which looked to be downloaded from the internet.
Jeffery has been in custody ever since police found blood spatter in the couple's bedroom, and Kira's DNA in the trunk of her car, and in Keller Lake near their home.
On Wednesday, the defense tried to stop the state's motion for a continuance of the trial that was requested to have sufficient time to complete DNA and evidence analysis of Kira's body. The defense argued that prosecutors had sufficient time to test Kira's body for DNA without needing to delay the trial date past the 60-day limit that originally had Jeffery going to trial on May 28.
The defense's attorney said some parts of this case at this point are "factually insufficient" due to not being able to prove Jeffery was the one who hid the body or being able to identify the exact cause of Kira's death.
Ultimately, the judge decided to extend the trial date, as Kira's body was found just last week. The trial will now begin on July 22.
He faces two counts of second-degree murder charges.
