No testimony from victim’s daughter

TOLEDO (AP) — Jurors weighing a murder charge against a man accused of strangling his wife and stuffing her body into a car trunk in 1991 will not hear from the woman’s daughter, who was 3 at the time of the killing.

But the jury did hear testimony that the defendant, Thomas Zich, told police two years ago that the marriage had been fine, contradicting what he told others. A woman who briefly dated Zich said he told her several times before his wife’s body was found that his marriage was over and that his wife wasn’t coming back.

Zich, 62, of Swanton, Ohio, faces life in prison if he is convicted of murdering his wife, Mary Jane Zich.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case Tuesday without calling Zich’s former stepdaughter to testify.

When she was 3 years old, Desiree Andaverde told police she saw the killing. The woman, now 20, told police before her mother’s body was found that she watched “daddy put mommy in the trunk,” prosecutors said before the trial began.

Prosecutors did not say why they decided not to use Andaverde as a witness. The judge has ordered those involved in the trial not to discuss the case publicly.

Defense attorney Alan Konop had unsuccessfully argued in pretrial hearings that her testimony should not be allowed because the memory of such a young child is unreliable and that her impressions of what happened may have been influenced by family members over the past 17 years. The defense also said she made inconsistent statements.

Zich’s attorney on Tuesday ended his defense without calling any witnesses.

Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments and begin deciding the case today.

On Tuesday, they listened to a recording of a police interview with Zich in which he told investigators that he and his wife never talked about divorcing. He also said that he had no idea his wife was seeing another man and never caught her with someone else.

But witnesses who testified earlier said that Zich once found his wife with another man and knew she was cheating.

Luann Urbanski, who became friends with Zich before his wife disappeared, said that the two often talked about the Ziches’ worsening relationship. Urbanski said that Zich knew they would divorce and was worried that his wife would get half of his money and the rental properties they owned.

“He said he wasn’t going to let that happen again,” she said.