Morales Takes Witness Stand In Ansonia Murder Trial

ANSONIA – Five years after being charged with murdering Christine Holloway, Jose Morales took the witness stand Wednesday and said that two men he didn’t know killed Holloway and kidnapped his 1‑year-old daughter, Vanessa Morales.

Morales testified he was high on PCP and was unable to do anything as he watched a man beat Holloway to death with a crowbar inside her Myrtle Avenue apartment.

“He said that if I call police, the same thing that happened to Christine would happen to my daughter,” Morales said.

Morales testified for about 90 minutes April 16, on the eighth day of his trial on murder and tampering with evidence charges.

The day ended before prosecutor Howard Stein had a chance to cross examine Morales. That is expected to happen Thursday after Edward Gavin, Morales’ lawyer, finishes his questions. 

Story Changes?

The account Morales gave from the witness stand differs from what Morales allegedly told police previously. 

Both police and the prosecutor have said Morales never expressed concern about where his daughter was and changed his story several times over the course of the investigation.

Authorities said the contradictions include Morales saying he was in Ansonia over the weekend starting Friday, Nov. 29, then saying he wasn’t – and claiming he didn’t know Holloway had purchased a new car despite later acknowledging he was there when she purchased it.

Surveillance video played during the trial placed Morales in Ansonia and in the area of Myrtle Avenue for the weekend starting Friday, Nov. 29.

Holloway’s body was discovered Dec. 2, 2019.

Police and prosecutors allege that Morales beat Holloway to death, left her body in her bathtub, and spent a day afterward cleaning bloody evidence from the home.

Wednesday’s Testimony

The prosecution rested its case Wednesday. 

Edward Gavin, the lawyer representing Morales, then asked Judge Shari Murphy to acquit his client. The judge rejected the motion.

Gavin then said Morales wanted to take the stand. The judge asked a series of procedural questions to confirm Morales’ desire to testify.

Morales took the stand at about 2:40 p.m. and testified for about 90 minutes.

In his testimony, Morales laid out an account of events leading up to Holloway’s death.

Morales said he had been struggling with a relapse on PCP, or ​‘angel dust,’ on the night of Nov. 30 and into Dec. 1. He said he was with Holloway at the time of her death on Dec. 1, but that he was too strung out to defend her.

According to Morales, he had been watching TV with Holloway when he got the urge to smoke PCP. He said the PCP had been given to him by a friend.

“It was going through my mind that I still had two bags of dust (PCP) left, so the craving was getting the best of me. So I told Christine I’m about to go to bed and smoke,” Morales said.

He said he then went into the bathroom to smoke. He said that, while smoking, he saw people moving suspiciously across the street from the bathroom window.

“From across the street, I saw movement first, and then I saw two individuals walking on the sidewalk across the street,” Morales said.

He said he got up and called 911 after seeing the people move toward Holloway’s home.

“One of the individuals started walking across the street towards the apartment, and he did a bit of a jog toward the apartment. When I saw that, warning signs and bells and alarms started running through my head,” Morales said.

However, Morales said he was too high to effectively communicate with police. Gavin played a recording – previously submitted by prosecutors – of a 911 call believed to be from Morales in the early hours of Dec. 1, 2019.

In the recording, a man’s voice can be heard slurring the words ​“Myrtle Avenue” repeatedly. The dispatcher repeatedly asks for a house number, but the man doesn’t give one. A woman’s voice in the background asks who the man is calling.

Morales said he made that call moments before two men broke into the home. He said one of the men hit him and knocked him to the ground. Morales was ​“laid out on the floor” as he watched a struggle play out, he said.

“I see that somehow Christine got away from whoever it is that she was fighting with, and tried to run out the apartment to go after the guy that left the apartment with Vanessa. The guy that she was struggling with was chasing her,” Morales said.

Morales said the man caught up to her and beat her with a crowbar until she died. He said the man then threatened him and his daughter.

He said he then went to sleep because he was still high.

“I went into PCP zone,” Morales said, in a statement that was stricken from the court record.

Morales was the second witness to be called by the defense. 

The first witness, Yale forensic psychologist Eric Frazer, testified about the long-term effects of PCP on the brain. He said PCP usage can cause a variety of effects, including memory loss and psychotic breaks.

In cross-examination, prosecutor Stein said that there wasn’t any evidence before the court that Morales was using PCP when Holloway died.

“You have absolutely no idea what substances, if any, Jose Morales was using the weekend of Dec. 1, 2019,” Stein said.

“I don’t know,” Frazer responded.

The prosecution’s final witness, forensic anthropologist Kristen Hartnett-McCann, told the jury in the morning that she had analyzed pieces of Holloway’s skull that were sent to her office. She said Holloway’s skull showed evidence of at least eight blunt force impacts.

Vanessa Morales, now six years old, remains missing. The investigation into her disappearance is ongoing. 

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, 1 p.m. – Holloway’s employer requests welfare check, no contact.

Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. – Holloway’s family requests a 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 served 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.