Defense wants computer evidence kept out of Abaroa trial
A Superior Court judge in the upcoming trial of a man accused of fatally stabbing his pregnant wife in their Durham home nearly eight years ago is considering a defense request to keep prosecutors from presenting specific computer evidence in the case.
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Raven Abaroa, 33, goes on trial Monday for first-degree murder in the April 26, 2005, death of Janet Abaroa, 25, who was found dead in an upstairs room of the couple's home on Ferrand Drive.
Police arrested Raven Abaroa, who moved away shortly after his wife's death, at his home in Montpelier, Idaho, on Feb. 1, 2010.
Defense attorneys have asked Judge Orlando Hudson to disallow at trial evidence retrieved from computers that were seized from the Idaho residence. They claim the search warrant for the equipment was invalid.
Hudson did not say when he would rule on the matter.
Authorities have not publicly offered a motive for Janet Abaroa's death, but Raven Abaroa has maintained his innocence, saying he had nothing to do with it.
He has said that he was at a soccer game in Morrisville when she was killed and that when he returned home, he found her on the floor and called 911.
The couple had a 6-month-old son who was home at the time. He was not harmed.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Raven Abaroa faces a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.
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