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Howland husband disputes wife's assault, kidnapping, burglary allegations in court
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Dellick
By Ed Runyan
warren
Christopher Dellick of Howland took the witness stand Wednesday to dispute allegations from his wife that he cut her with a knife, choked her and kidnapped her last October at their home on Clearview Drive in Champion.
Dellick, 36, is on trial in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, charged with felonious assault, kidnapping and aggravated burglary. His wife, Rebecca, says he choked her unconscious three times, cut her leg while wearing gloves, then put the knife in her hand so her DNA would be on it.
He spent about two hours on the witness stand Wednesday afternoon, telling jurors he came home Oct. 17 and found Rebecca in the shower with a knife, a gash on her inner thigh and bruises on her neck.
She wouldn’t tell him what happened, just kept saying, “I’m sorry,” Dellick testified. She was barely conscious, but he applied a wash cloth to the wound, and in about a minute, she started to regain consciousness, he said.
Christopher Dellick wanted to call 911, but Rebecca Dellick wouldn’t let him, instead saying he should drive her to the hospital. He agreed because he wanted to keep her calm, then helped dress her and led her to the car.
They drove toward state Route 45, but she wouldn’t let him drive into Warren to the hospital, because she wanted him to pick up their 5-year-old daughter at her ex-husband’s house about six miles away in Bristol Township, he said.
When they got there, Christopher went to the door to ask Rebecca’s 15-year-old daughter for the child, and Rebecca yelled to her daughter, “Call 911. He cut me," Christopher testified.
That led to a tussle at the door involving Christopher and Rebecca’s ex-husband, Robert Holland. Christopher’s coming into the house resulted in the aggravated burglary charge, though Christopher testified that he ended up inside the house because Holland pulled him in.
Chuck Morrow, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, cross-examined Christopher Dellick extensively, asking about an engagement ring Dellick ordered prior to the Oct. 17 incident and flowers he ordered for another woman he dated while he and his wife were separated. Dellick said the ring was for his wife.
Christopher Dellick had been several places before the incident at their house, he testified under cross-examination — the Champion Police Department, where he reported that someone had taken his medication between 5 and 10 a.m. that day; and to the Legal Aid office to talk to an attorney about a divorce.
Evidence presented by a scientist with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation indicated the presence of Rebecca’s DNA on a knife but none of Christopher’s DNA on the knife or other objects tested.
If he’s convicted of the charges, he could get nearly 30 years in prison. The trial resumes today.