Photo: Octavio Jones/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA
Opening statements begin on Monday afternoon in the murder trial of a Florida dad whoadmitted to throwing his daughter off a bridgefour years ago.
Phoebe’s body was recovered from Tampa Bay on Jan. 8, 2015, about an hour after an off-duty police officer heading home said he saw Jonchuck’s white PT Cruiser stop on theDick Misener Bridgein St. Petersburg.
Jonchuck then “reached into the back seat and grabbed the girl,” police spokesman Mike Puetz told PEOPLE at the time. “Then he threw her over the railing and into the water.”
The officer says he heard a splash as the child fell into the bay below. He then radioed for help and climbed over the railing himself, hoping he could rescue the child. But “he couldn’t see her, because the current is extremely strong there,” said Puetz.
John Jonchuck.Pinellas County Jail/AP
Jonchuck’s public defender hoped to have the trial postponed, but a judgeruled him competent to stand trial on charges of first-degree murder. Jonchuck has been in a state mental hospital since Phoebe’s death.
Just hours before Phoebe’s death, police hadquestioned Jonchuck for acting erratically. His attorney at the time — with whom Jonchuck had been meeting in reference to a custody dispute, who is distinct from his public defender — had called 911 after observing Jonchuck’s behavior.
The Department of Children and Families hotline also had received a call voicing concerns that Jonchuck was unstable. DCF placed a notation about the call in a file for a caseworker to handle at a later date. Twelve hours later, Phoebe was dead.
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During his first interview with detectives after the incident, Jonchuck said, “My name is God and you shall address me as such.” His mother told cops that her sonstruggled with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He had not been taking his medicine.
Jonchuck also told the psychiatrist that he has “bad dreams” about his daughter in which he couldn’t “get her to wake up.”
He said of himself: “I was a really good father and she loved me so much and I always promised her that I’m not going to let anything happen, and I did.”
The trial is expected to last at least a week.
source: people.com
