Jury Shown Morales Interrogation Video On Day Six Of Murder Trial

ANSONIA – During an interview the morning after Christine Holloway was found beaten to death in her residence on Myrtle Avenue, detectives repeatedly pressed Jose Morales about why he didn’t seem concerned that his daughter, Vanessa, was missing.

“The whole ride here you didn’t talk about your 1‑year-old daughter missing,” Ansonia Detective Stephen Adcox said to Morales inside the Ansonia police department.

Vanessa Morales, now 6, has not been seen since Nov. 29, 2019. Her mom’s body was discovered Dec. 2, 2019. 

Morales is now on trial for murdering Holloway and tampering with physical evidence. He was arrested Feb. 7, 2020. He has not been charged in connection to Vanessa’s disappearance.

Monday (April 14) was day six of the trial in Superior Court in Milford. The prosecution played video footage of his interview with Ansonia police.

“We’re worried about a 1‑year-old child who has zero control over her life. Zero,” Adcox, one of two officers to interview Morales, said in the video.

The interview occurred around 6 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2019, about ten hours after officers found Holloway dead.

Officers didn’t tell Morales that they knew Holloway was not alive. They were investigating her death – while simultaneously trying to find Vanessa.

Throughout the interview, Morales said he had no idea where Holloway or Vanessa were. He said that he and Holloway weren’t ​“that close.”

“We have a baby, but it’s not like she’s my girlfriend girlfriend,” Morales said.

Toward the end of the interview, Adcox said Morales’ answers weren’t adding up. When Adcox asked whether Holloway had recently bought a new car – she had – Morales said he didn’t know. 

Morales said that he wasn’t at Holloway’s residence a few days prior. Detectives told Morales his father told him he was.

“I told my father I went to see Christine?” Morales said, repeating what the detectives said. ​“You wrote that down?” he said, leaning forward across the interview table as if trying to read the detective’s notepad.

Police pointed out the contradictions.

“We’re trying to find your one-year-old kid and some of this information isn’t adding up, it’s not making sense,” Adcox said.

“OK, so take me home,” Morales responded, then stood up.

“We want to find your daughter,” Adcox said, again. There’s a pause, then Morales said ​“OK, let’s find her.”

Officers then asked Morales to hand over most of his clothes – including his sweatshirt, two T‑shirts, his sweatpants, his socks, and his sneakers.

“This is crazy,” Morales said.

Morales asked why he was being asked to take off his clothes. Police said it was because a neighbor saw him leave Holloway’s home – despite his own statements that he hadn’t seen her in three or four days.

“You know why we want your clothes, right?,” an officer said. ​“You know.”

Detective Brian Harte, a former Ansonia detective who came in to take Morales’ items, also pointed to a bruise on Morales’ chest and asked how he got it. Morales said he had been in a fight, before saying he didn’t know how it got there.

Harte, now with the FBI, also testified April 14 regarding his role in the investigation.

Morales’ attorney, Edward Gavin, questioned the circumstances under which officers took Morales’ clothes and cell phones. He asked Harte whether Morales had been free to leave without handing over the items.

“Morales couldn’t walk out of the Ansonia Police Department at 4:35 or 5 o’clock in the morning on Tuesday the third, absent providing his cell phone and clothes to the officers, is that fair?” Gavin asked.

“He was free to leave at anytime that he wished is my understanding, but again, I was not part of that interview.” Harte said.

“He was free to leave as long as he provided his clothes and his cell phone, is that fair?” Gavin asked.

Harte reiterated that he wasn’t part of the interview process himself. He said he was simply there to seize the items.

Morales’ claim that he hadn’t seen Holloway in the weekend before her death appeared to be contradicted by evidence seized from his Facebook account, according to Harte’s testimony.

According to Harte, he obtained a search warrant for Morales’ Facebook records. Facebook provided him with about 400 pages of documents from Morales’ Facebook accounts, he said.

Facebook’s logs said Morales’ profile connected to its servers from the area of Holloway’s home on the morning of Nov. 27. It was last detected at that location on the morning of Dec. 2 – just hours before police attempted to conduct a wellness check at Holloway’s home.

Morales’ Facebook profile said he and Holloway had been dating since 2016.

Text records from an iPad belonging to Morales, which were shown to the jury, also showed multiple angry texts to Holloway’s phone in the days before her death.

“Your stupid ass is mad because I told you to keep an eye open because I dropped a pill in the house. F*** you, I just care for Vanessa,” said one of the messages, which was sent from Morales’ iPad on Nov. 21, 2019.

Another text, sent from Morales’ iPad to Holloway’s phone on Nov. 25, allegedly said ​“This stupid relationship is done.”

Harte also testified about a blood-covered diaper bag that was recovered as evidence. He said one of the items that stuck out to him was a child-sized pink Croc shoe. He said he had recognized it, because a matching pink Croc had been recovered previously from the St. Michael’s donation bins in Derby.

He said the bag also contained things that would be needed to care for a small child.

“Then my question became, ​‘If the diaper bag is here, then where is Vanessa?’” Harte said.

The trial is scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. April 15. The prosecution is expected to call witnesses Tuesday and into Wednesday.

Ansonia Detective Sergeant James Frolish, who interviewed Morales with Adcox and testified in the morning April 14, was dismissed halfway through the day due to an administrative issue. Judge Shari E. Murphy, who is presiding over the case, told jurors she expects the state to call him back to the witness stand in the future.

Vanessa Morales, now six years old, remains missing. The investigation into her disappearance is ongoing. Morales has not been charged in connection to that case.

There is a court order limiting mention of that open investigation during this trial.

The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children released an age-progressed photo of Vanessa:

A $10,000 reward has been offered for information that leads to finding her. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Vanessa should call the Ansonia Police Department at 203 ‑735‑1885.

The following comes from a timeline previously provided by Ansonia police.

Nov. 29, 2019 – Last confirmed contact with Christine Holloway.
Dec. 2, 2019 1 p.m. – Holloway’s employer requests welfare check, no contact.
Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. – Holloway’s family requests welfare check. Holloway is found deceased in the home, Vanessa Morales missing.
Dec. 2 – Vanessa Morales listed as missing, silver alert issued.
Dec. 3 – Search warrant executed at Jose Morales’ New Haven residence. Morales is arrested by New Haven PD for allegedly possessing two stun guns and held on a $250,000 bond.
Dec. 4 – Amber alert issued for Vanessa Morales.
Dec. 4 – State of Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner rules Christine Holloway’s death a homicide by blunt force trauma.
Dec. 17 – Jose Morales identified as suspect in the death of Christine Holloway and disappearance of Vanessa Morales.
Feb. 7, 2020 – Morales charged with murdering Christine Holloway and tampering with evidence.