YOUNGSTOWN — A Mahoning County judge is going to decide today whether to allow some damaging text messages a defendant allegedly made about his wife two weeks before she was slain at a Coitsville motel.

Testimony is expected to continue in the aggravated murder trial of Francis Rydarowicz in the courtroom of Common Pleas Judge Anthony Donofrio.

Donofrio halted testimony Tuesday afternoon as prosecutors were questioning an investigator with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation who extracted information from both cellphones of Rydarowicz and his late wife, Katherine.

Rydarowicz, 50, of Hubbard, is accused of killing his wife, Katherine, 41, on June 22, 2019, at the Kings Motel off U.S. Route 422. He is charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and domestic violence. She was found stabbed to death on the driveway outside the motel. The defendant also had stab wounds to the neck and left wrist.

During opening arguments, assistant Prosecutor Caitlyn Andrews said the couple had been estranged with the woman living in Pennsylvania and the defendant at the motel. Andrews told jurors testimony will show that she needed a car part and the defendant called her to come to the motel that June afternoon.

“He viciously murdered his wife,” Andrews told jurors, saying the man had stabbed his wife in the back.

A woman who lived in a mobile home park behind the motel testified she saw Katherine Rydarowicz walking with her husband as they tied up dogs to a tree, and then saw the woman taking baskets of personal items to a truck parked near the driveway of the hotel.

“Everything seemed to be fine, but the next thing you know, she is running across the field,” said Carolyn Zarlingo of Coitsville.

About 10 to 15 minutes later, Zarlingo said she saw a police car drive up to the motel.

“I saw an officer pull a white sheet over something,” she said, telling jurors she later learned it was the body.

Lawyers on both sides stipulated that the defendant had been convicted three times of domestic violence, with Ohio Adult Parole Authority officer Donald Jones testifying that he had been assigned to Rydarowicz who was also known as “Jerry” after his latest release from prison on June 5, 2019.

Jones testified that the victim in the domestic violence case was Katherine Rydarowicz.

Joann Gibb, a computer specialist with BCI, later testified that she tried to extract data from the motel’s security camera and the two cellphones, but was at first unsuccessful. But earlier this year, Gibb said she found new software that was able to extract data such as text messages and social media posts.

The damaging text extracted from the defendant’s cellphone was dated June 9. Defense attorney John Juhasz objected to a text to a third party — in which the defendant makes a specific threat at his wife.

Donofrio told jurors he would have to study case law to make a decision on whether to allow this text as evidence.

Earlier, jurors heard from the victim’s daughter, Madison, who emotionally told of her mother’s love of animals “and unconditional love for her three children.”

“She was a good mom,” the daughter said as she wiped away tears.

Also testifying was Robert J. Garber, 44, a longtime friend of the victim, who drove her to the motel in a red Chevrolet pickup the day of her death.

“I didn’t think it was a good idea (to see Jerry). I didn’t want her to go alone to that hotel,” Garber told jurors.

Garber said he was at a convenience store across the street from the hotel, while the woman went to “get her belongings.”

He said he texted the woman with no response after he had lost sight of her and “froze” when he saw a police officer pull a sheet over something in the driveway.

“I thought (that was Katherine) but I didn’t want to believe it,” Garber said.

Several police officers who were part of the initial investigation also went to the witness stand.

Coitsville officer Troy Fares said he encountered a female lying on her back in the driveway. “I checked for vital signs… I found no pulse and there was no gunshot wound,” Fares said.

When he attempted CPR, the officer testified he saw a large amount of blood come out of the victim’s mouth and nose.

Brooke McCon, who responded that day for Lowellville police, testified she went to the motel to find the defendant with stab wounds. McCon said the defendant testified he was being attacked and “had to do it.”

In his opening, Juhasz suggested that his client was involved in a struggle with his wife and used self-defense.

“Two people were involved in a deadly struggle. It’s up to you to sort out the facts,” Juhasz told jurors.