ORLANDO, Fla. — Testimony continued Tuesday during the second day of the trial of an Orlando man accused of killing an 83-year-old woman and burning down her home.
Juan Rosario is charged with first-degree murder. His ex-girlfriend, Janet Gutierrez, took to the stand Tuesday.
Prosecutors said they're relying on Gutierrez because they said she came forward after a year and told them Rosario killed Elena Ortega.
She admitted to helping him clean up the mess and hide the evidence, prosecutors said.
"He said he hit her in the face until she passed out," Gutierrez testified Tuesday. "He said he was going to go back to the house and set it on fire."
Gutierrez said she waited so long to come forward because she was scared of Rosario She said she only felt comfortable ratting him out once he was jailed for another crime.
Gutierrez is in a drug treatment program in Texas, something Rosario's defense attorneys seized upon during cross examination.
Lawyer Roger Weeden asked her why she was visiting Rosario at the Orange County Jail and sending him love letters.
"So that time that he was in jail, you really weren't afraid of him were you?" Weeden said.
"I was nervous about him," Gutierrez said.
"You were nervous, but not afraid, correct?" Weeden said.
"I feel like I was afraid, but I wouldn't put it in those exact words," Gutierrez said. "I was scared."
Rosario's case is the first murder case to go to trial since State Attorney Aramis Ayala was inaugurated.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott removed Ayala from Rosario's case and about two dozen others after she announced that she wouldn't pursue the death penalty during her tenure.
Scott instead appointed State Attorney Brad King to prosecute the case.
Closing arguments in the case were expected to take place Wednesday.
Cox Media Group
