Just weeks before Cynthia Irving was murdered, she took steps to make funeral arrangements and remove her husband, Joseph Irving as a beneficiary on her life insurance.
Joseph Irving is charged with second degree murder in her death in March of last year.
The court heard from Cynthia Irving’s family about how she loved her job and her children. She had tried to leave her husband, Joseph, repeatedly in the years leading up to her murder. Numerous family members testified to Joseph Irving’s controlling behaviour toward his wife: not allowing her to carry a cell phone, breaking her tablet, and watching over her shoulder whenever she went online.
Her mother described calling her daughter repeatedly on the morning after her daughter’s death and speaking to Joseph Irving, who told her Cynthia was at work: in fact, she had already been killed.
A forensic pathologist also took the stand earlier in the day and offered the opinion that the cause of death was strangulation, both with the assailant’s bare hands and an electrical cord like one that was found at the scene.
The trial resumes tomorrow.
