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Suitcase Murder Trial
Alcoholism. That's how Sarah Boone's defense began their opening statements. Her lead attorney James Owens told jurors about the alcohol addiction she and her Jorge Torres dealt with and how it often mixed in with domestic violence. Owens argued that the suitcase Torres was zipped in was a physical restraint to block a potential attack in Boone's attempt at self-defense. Domestic violence was a running theme in the relationship between the defendant and the victim.
S1, EP16 "Suitcase Carrying Death"
I'm always afraid and always scared. That's what Sarah Boone told jurors on the witness stand. She tried to explain away the cell phone video she recorded while Jorge Torres was inside the suitcase pleading to get out because he couldn't breathe. Battered women's syndrome was a big part of her case. Boone testified that initially it was funny when her boyfriend was able to even fit inside that small suitcase. But then she claimed that she only left him in it because she feared for her life.
S1, EP17 "Physical And Psychological Abuse"
The jury's attention shifted from the death of Jorge Torres to the years of domestic violence he and the defendant dealt with. Sarah Boone testified that she was a woman in fear of her life when she and Torres played a deadly game of hide-and-seek. Next, large images of Boone's bruises were displayed for jurors. She was testifying about the constant physical violence she claimed to have endured at the hands of her allegedly abusive boyfriend.
S1, EP18 "Domestic Violence Allegations"
Domestic and alcohol abuse came to define the violent relationship between Sarah Boone and Jorge Torres. On the stand, Boone gave jurors a timeline of events where Torres allegedly attacked and abused her. But, the defendant never mentioned any alleged abuse while she was being interviewed by police. Yet on the stand, she told the jury that zipping her boyfriend up in that suitcase and leaving him in there to die was the first time she fought back against him.
S1, EP19 "Defendant Faces Cross-Examination"
In her murder trial, Sarah Boone told the jury that she was shocked that she was arrested for the murder of Jorge Torres. Even though she never talked about any abuse in her interview with police, she told jurors that her actions that day was her way of defending herself from being killed. It was the State's turn to question the defendant on the stand. They wanted to discredit her claim that she zipped up her boyfriend in a suitcase and left him there for hours because she feared for her life.
