IA - Emily Fazzino, 32, bathtub drowning ruled a homicide, Boone, 29 Jan 2012

A high-profile murder trial will begin later than expected this year in Winneshiek County...

Alexander Fazzino, 41, claims his wife drowned in a bathtub, and police found her body on the bathroom floor.

An autopsy report, however, revealed deep tissue injuries on Emily's neck and multiple bruises. A forensic pathologist ruled her injuries are consistent with strangulation and those on her head suggest a struggle. The doctor concluded Emily died because of asphyxia and the manner of death was homicide.

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Reports also show Alexander Fazzino told police “his wife Emily had an addiction to prescription medication” and that “Emily had served him with divorce papers last week.”

The report also shows “Alexander Fazzino told investigators that a large deposit ($200,000) was made to their account but was immediately withdrawn a few days later. Alexander Fazzino stated he did not know where the money came from or where it went.”

Search warrants show investigators seized cell phones, computers and hard drives from the couple’s home.

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Former Boone man Alexander Fazzino is asking a judge to delay his first-degree murder trial so that he can spend time helping his daughter recuperate from a risky March bone marrow transplant...

The couple's 5-year-old daughter, C, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in November, an aggressive blood and bone marrow cancer, according to a motion filed Wednesday by Fazzino's defense attorney. Chemotherapy has not worked to stop the cancer cells, and C will undergo a bone marrow transplant...

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Fazzino was arrested in April 2013 in Missouri, after moving out of state with his children. His arrest came more than a year after the body of his 32-year-old wife Emily was found in the upstairs bathtub of the family’s Boone home.

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During the investigation Fazzino told detectives his wife was addicted to pain medication and admitted Emily had filed divorce papers about a week before her death.

Results of an autopsy performed by the Iowa State Medical Examiner showed Emily died of undetermined causes, but the report noted she had several areas of trauma on her neck, throat, and the sides and front of her head. No drugs were found in her system at the time of her death.

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A death investigator in New York's Dutchess County, Zaferes testified that she's spent two decades developing her method for investigating water deaths and reviewed hundreds of cases involving bodies found in bathtubs.

But defense lawyers raised several doubts about Zaferes' qualifications to testify as an expert witness in their arguments at the hearing, as well as in as in motions filed for District Court Judge Michael Moon.

Zaferes has no degree or certifications in pathology, criminology, forensics or crime scene reconstruction — only a certification in scuba diving, Kutmus wrote in a September motion.

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Officers had responded to a domestic dispute call at the Fazzino’s home Jan. 22, 2012, just a week before Emily Fazzino’s death, police said. No arrests were made.

Alexander Fazzino allegedly took the children out of the state following the dispute without Emily Fazzino’s knowledge or permission and didn’t return until Jan. 24 under court order, court records show.

Emily Fazzino filed for divorce Jan. 23 and Alexander Fazzino asked for full custody of their children...

on Jan. 29. At 5:10 p.m., Emily Fazzino called her father and told him she was scared to go home and be alone with her husband. Emily Fazzino’s father was the last person to speak with her, officials said.

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A defense attorney is objecting to the Winneshiek County Sheriff's plan to add security during an upcoming high-profile murder trial...

A judge granted a change of venue in December 2013, moving the trial from Boone County to Decorah. It's scheduled to start Monday.

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Testimony has started in the trial of a Boone man charged with killing his wife.

Alexander Fazzino is accused of killing Emily Fazzino in January of 2012. Her body was found on the bathroom floor of their home.

Both sides agree she had a struggle with addiction to prescription medication, but prosecutors contend there were no drugs found in her system at the time of her death.

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Officer Korie Barber told jurors he arrived at the Fazzino’s duplex with two colleagues for what they thought was a suicide. He spent much of his time with Alexander Fazzino. “He said his wife was trying to drown herself,” Barber testified.

Initially, Alexander Fazzino and his three children were “running around in circles crying.” Fazzino later punched a hole in a kitchen cabinet door, according to Barber.

Kolacia asked Barber what else he noticed about Fazzino. “I found it odd that he was crying a lot but I didn’t notice any tears,” Barber said.

Barber added Fazzino seemed to develop a pattern: When someone new arrived at the house or he took a phone call, Fazzino appeared to get upset and to sob. “Moments later he would be back to normal,” Barber testified.

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Catellier, a forensic pathologist for the state of Iowa, conducted the autopsy on Emily Fazzino, who displayed bruises on her forehead, arm, thigh and neck. She noted what others described as a “goose egg” on the woman’s forehead also had parallel lines through the bruise, suggesting Emily Fazzino’s head struck something with an edge.

Catellier said she discovered more bruises over a wider area on the woman’s head. Bruising was evident on her forehead, above her right ear and on the back of her skull on both sides.

Prosecutor Scott Brown asked how those marks occurred. “Something hit the head or the head hit something,” Catellier said.

“I would probably favor more than one blow,” she added, adding, “It would be hard to imagine how they would have happened at the same time because they surround her head,” Catellier testified.

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Brown talked at length about Emily Fazzino's injuries. He reminded jurors she suffered bruises on all sides of her head and deep-tissue injury to "strap" muscles in her neck.

"There is a real problem for the defense with that neck injury," Brown said.

Alexander Fazzino's defense lawyers during the trial advanced the theory Emily Fazzino suffered a seizure or something withdrawal symptom and accidentally drowned...

Kutmus in his final comments to the jury also took prosecutors to task, particularly for ignoring Emily Fazzino's "crystal clear" addiction. Brown and Kolacia developed "tunnel vision" on the case, according to Kutmus, and their failure to acknowledge Emily Fazzino's inability to kick her habit was "shameful."

"The hammer only sees the nail," Kutmus added...

In his closing argument, Kutmus also talked to jurors about bruises found on Emily Fazzino's head and neck. He suggested police officers, firefighters, paramedics and even the ride in the ambulance caused some of the injuries.

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