Thursday, February 4, 2010

Ocean Beach, CA: Ocean Beach man to go on trial for murder of estranged wife

Posted: Feb 03, 2010 10:13 PM EST
Updated: Feb 03, 2010 10:13 PM EST

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) - Jury selection is underway in the trial of an Ocean Beach man accused of killing his wife.

The body of 50-year-old Rosa Lisowski has never been found nearly two years after the mother of four went missing, but her husband Henry is charged with her murder.

Jury selection started Wednesday morning. It will be up to the panel to determine if Henry Lisowski, 60, is guilty of killing his wife.

Rosa Lisowski, 48, went missing March 24, 2008. She was last seen dropping her son off at Bernard Elementary School in Point Loma.

Rosa's oldest son testified an an earlier hearing that his mom lived in fear of Henry.

At that same hearing, police testified Lisowski had noticeable scratch marks on his face the day he was questioned for his wife's disappearance.

Investigators also stated they found blood on the kitchen counter in his Ocean Beach home along with traces of blood in the cargo area of his SUV.

Legal analyst and defense attorney Robert Grimes says there are a couple of angles the defense can take to help prove Lisowski's innocence.

He cites a letter forensic teams declare was written by Henry Lisowski detailing how his wife died. According to the five-page document, Lisowski claimed Rosa suffered a head injury when she fell outside his Ocean Beach home and died on the way to the hospital.

The letter continues, stating Lisowski decided not to call authorities and instead dumped her body in a trash bin near a Mount Hope neighborhood.

"If the defense agrees he wrote that, then they might argue that's what happened and it's not a murder," Grimes said.

Jury selection for Lisowski's trial is expected to continue into Friday. Opening statements could come as early as Monday.

Lisowski is charged with a special circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

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