Jessica Kelley testifies on what happened the night Victoria Martens was killed
[anvplayer video=”5122191″ station=”998122″]
To watch the full day of testimony, here is part one and part two.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jessica Kelley, a main witness in the killing of Victoria Martens, was back on the stand Thursday in the trial of Fabian Gonzales. He’s on trial for child abuse and multiple counts of tampering with evidence in the death of Victoria.
On Thursday, Kelley continued to lay out what happened the night Victoria was killed. There was also a focus on the “John Doe” who Kelley claims is the one who killed Victoria.
The day wrapped up with the defense trying to poke holes in Kelley’s credibility.
Kelley told the jury how she was on a meth bender for multiple days – in a troubled, paranoid state leading up to the day Victoria was killed.
In fact, in the early morning hours on Aug. 23 – less than 24 hours before Victoria was strangled to death – Kelley said she was feeling guilty about her drug use after she was “fresh out of prison.”
Kelley: “I got really paranoid ’cause I was using, I felt guilty. I ended up texting my mom.”
“Are you close with your mom? So you told her what happened?
Kelley: “Yeah, I let her know I was messing up and that I needed to go back home. I went and woke up Fabian because I was tripping out and asked him to read the Bible or something because I was really paranoid and I was really scared.”
However, the defense noted how the story that Kelley told Thursday did not crystallize until after the district attorney made a public announcement – shocking the community – that DNA found on Victoria led them to believing there was a fourth person, the unidentified killer.
After that announcement, Kelley gave a confession and got a plea deal. They said part of the plea deal is Kelley can cut her time in prison in half with good behavior, and she figures she can be out in about 17 years.
Kelley’s testimony on Thursday lasted more than five hours. She explained her thought process, why she helped clean up after the murder, and told the jury that Gonzales was the one who was cutting up Victoria’s body to make it look like someone else did it.
Kelley also said she decided, in that moment, to kill her cousin and Michelle Martens, Victoria’s mother, and burn the whole place down.
KOB 4’s Ryan Laughlin was in the courtroom all day. Check out his thread on today’s testimony here.