Trial continues for Lake County man accused of strangling pregnant stepmom to death
A Lake County man accused of strangling his pregnant stepmom to death faced a jury Tuesday, five years after the mom was killed in Eustis.
Ian Anselmo, 26, is accused of killing Sue-Ellen Anselmo in March 2019 after police say he got into an argument with the stepmom.
The defendant is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. His lawyers say he was not in the right state of mind when the murder happened.
"You're going to be upset with Ian, but you're going to see that he was a mental health case," defense lawyers said during opening statements.
Ian Anselmo's lawyers said he has relied on medicine for his mental health his whole life.
Lawyers said when he was stripped away from it, he snapped.
Ian Anselmo's father, John Anselmo gave an hours-long testimony Wednesday.
At one point he said he tried reaching Sue-Ellen about his son's medicine.
"[I was trying to] find out where these pills are, because now we have a situation that it's not just an inconvenience, but [Ian's] getting very sick from this," the dad said.
Day two of the trial showed an emotional Ian Anselmo while his dad and siblings took the stand. At times he reached for tissues to wipe his tears.
John Anselmo's hours-long testimony included Ian’s troubled upbringing after his biological mom left him at a young children and apparently kidnapped him once. The dad admitted to keeping his children sheltered and away from everyone.
When the defense attorney asked "Why wouldn’t you want your kids to socialize with other children other than their siblings?" John Anselmo answered, "Because I thought the other children sucked."
John said he believes Ian Anselmo is a child in a man's body.
A psychiatrist testified that the defendant has a social anxiety disorder, ADHD and major depression. His attorneys showed the jury a stuffed animal that Ian Anselmo used to talk to up until Sue Ellen was killed. At one point, Ian kissed the toy in court.
John Anselmo was married to Sue-Ellen. He broke into tears when he spoke about the time he first met her in high school.
"It was love at first sight for me and for her," John Anselmo said. "Even though Sue-Ellen had her problems, she wasn’t a bad person."
Prosecutors shared body camera video of Ian Anselmo sobbing on the ground and apparently saying his dad was "going to be so mad at me."
It was when Eustis police officers arrived at the Greenwood Cemetery after Ian Anselmo allegedly made the 911 call on March 13, 2019.
The jury heard the call, and prosecutors said the defendant admitted to hurting his stepmom.
Sue-Ellen was six weeks pregnant when she was taken off of life-support in the hospital and died.
The jury saw pictures of the stepmom's injuries after she was found in a car bruised, bleeding and with a cord wrapped around her neck.
The state said Ian Anselmo, who had blood on his hands at the scene, strangled her to death.
Prosecutors shared a jail call between Ian Anselmo and his dad after he was arrested.
On the call, the dad is heard saying, "I'm so [expletive] at you" to his sobbing son.
Sue-Ellen Anselmo's daughter, Deja-Thoris Waite, who is Ian Anselmo's stepsister, testified in court how John Anselmo abused her mom and their children.
"My mother was afraid of Johnny and Ian," Waite said.
She said just a few days before her mom was killed, Sue-Ellen Anselmo took the kids to stay with her for safety.
She testified that at one point, one of her stepbrothers, Rajko Anselmo, tried to strangle Sue-Ellen Anselmo after the dad told the child to get out.
"Rajko had a sheet wrapped around my mother's neck," Waite said. "He was trying to pull as hard as he could."
When Rajko Anselmo, 15, was asked about the incident in court Wednesday, he told lawyers, "I don't remember that."
John Anselmo denied the abuse allegations during his testimony.
When the defense attorney asked, "Did you ever beat Ian?" John Anselmo responded, "No."
When asked if he beat Sue-Ellen in front of the children, he responded, "I’ve never hit Sue-Ellen... she hit me."
John described the victim as being self-destructive, struggling with substance abuse and attempting suicide in front of the children.
During cross-examination, the defense asked Waite, "Even though Ian caused your mother's passing, you believe the catalyst was John, right?" Waite answered, "yes."
The defendant's siblings Rajko and Nico Anselmo, took the stand Wednesday and talked about their biological mother, Sue-Ellen.
Rajko Anselmo said he recalled feeling fearful when Sue-Ellen took him and his siblings away from his father.
Defense attorneys played a video in court of the children crying to their dad on the phone after Sue-Ellen took them from the home.
In the video, a then 10-year-old Rajko Anselmo said to his dad, "The only reason I’m not killing her is because of the new baby," referring to Sue-Ellen.
When he was asked about it during testimony, Rajko said, "[I was in] extreme distress and fear. Again, I didn’t know a world without my father."
John said he tried reaching Sue-Ellen to get his kids.
"I was trying to call Sue-Ellen. She wouldn’t answer my phone calls, but I knew where they were," John said. "That was my number one priority to try to get my children back!”
Ian is facing second-degree murder and killing an unborn child by injury to the mother. His lawyers are expected to call their witnesses to the stand on Wednesday.
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