Jury hears wife tell what she heard but could not see

Though blind, she reinforces the case against Joshua Engel, accused of slaying two relatives.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD, Times Staff Writer
Published September 20, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [BRENDAN FITTERER | Times] Joshua Engel, 30, is accused of stabbing to death his aunt and grandmother in 2004.

NEW PORT RICHEY - Kelly Engel couldn't see the deathly struggle going on between her husband and his aunt and grandmother.

She had lost her sight years before.

And she couldn't hear much of that fight back in 2004 because the TV was blaring.

But on Wednesday she told jurors in Joshua Engel's murder trial that after the yelling subsided, she could hear the shower running.

And then her husband told her they had to leave.

Authorities soon found the couple in a motel next to the interstate in Georgia. After a standoff, Joshua Engel was arrested and charged with two first-degree murders. Dorothy Thompson, his grandmother, and Debra Thompson, his aunt, had been found with multiple stab wounds inside the home on Runnel Drive where the four lived.

Joshua Engel, 30, is on trial this week, facing a life sentence if convicted.

Kelly Engel was helped to the stand Wednesday with the aid of her mother and a cane. She said that while she sat eating dinner on the couch late on April 9, 2004, her husband began arguing with his grandmother over $10.

His aunt got involved, and the fight moved to the bathroom - the room where the women were later found in pools of blood.

Kelly Engel said that as she rode north with her husband, he stopped several times to use a pay phone and an ATM.

The state produced bank records of Dorothy Thompson's ATM card being used at a gas station near Lake City. And earlier in the trial, Kelly's mother Shirlene Orr, told how Joshua Engel called her that morning and said he'd killed two people.

He was trying to deliver his wife to her family when the law caught up to him.

He gave two recorded interviews to detectives, admitting the killings. Jurors heard those tapes Wednesday afternoon, just before the state rested its case.

"Josh, I'm going to ask you an important question," the detective said. "Did you kill your grandmother and your aunt?"

"Yes sir, I did," Engel replied.

Then, moments later, "I admit that I did it, and I can't believe that I did."

Engel may testify in his own defense today, his lawyer said.

Molly Moorhead can be reached at moorhead@sptimes.com or 352 521-6521.

[Last modified September 19, 2007, 21:50:11]