Trevino Will Not Testify In Murder Trial Of Wife
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Jeffery Trevino will not testify in the murder trial, where he's accused of killing his wife earlier this year.
Trevino, 39, of St. Paul is on trial in Ramsey County, accused of killing his wife, Kira Steger, at their St. Paul home in February.
Her body was found in the Mississippi River roughly three months later.
On Monday, Trevino's defense team rested its case without calling a single witness, after three days of the prosecution calling several witnesses.
Both families -- Trevino's and Steger's were in court as the defense again asked that the case be dismissed, seeming very confident that the circumstantial evidence in this case is not enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt Trevino murdered his wife.
The state says Steger was trying to leave Trevino and that set him off.
They argued the blood found in the St. Paul couple's home is enough to assume the crime happened there.
But the defense says there's not enough blood -- less than a thimbles worth -- to prove the crime happened there.
Without that crime scene, they argued it can't even be proven Steger was killed in Ramsey County before her body was dumped in the river.
The court had expected more time for the defense to make its case. The judge seemed surprised with their decision.
In court Friday, family members heard from a St. Paul police officer who interviewed Trevino after his wife's disappearance.
The officer said Trevino asked twice what he should do with his wife's belongings.
Closing arguments are set to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
