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YOUNGSTOWN -- Juror spent the day Wednesday listening to dozens of transcripts of text messages and reports from forensic experts in the aggravated murder trial of a man accused of stabbing his estranged wife to death at a Coitsville motel two summers ago.
Jurors will find out first thing this morning if the attorney for Francis "Jerry" Rydarowicz will put on a defense. Rydarowicz, 50, of Hubbard, is charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and domestic violence. He is accused of killing his wife, Katherine, 41, on June 22, 2019, at the Kings Motel off U.S. Route 422. She was found stabbed to death on the driveway outside the motel. The defendant also had stab wounds to the neck and left wrist.
Early in the day Wednesday, Common Pleas Judge Anthony Donofrio ruled that text messages extracted from the defendant's cellphone would be admissible as evidence.
Despite numerous objections from defense attorney John Juhasz, BCI forensic expert Joann Gibb spent over two hours on the stand reading more than 125 transcripts of texts between Rydarowicz and his two sisters and between the estranged couple.
One text sent June 9 by the defendant made to a sister stated: "I'm out of jail, and I'm ready to bash the (expletive) out of her."
The texts between Rydarowicz and his wife depicted a love-hate relationship in texts made between June 7, 2019 -- shortly after Jerry Rydarowicz was released from prison on a domestic violence charge -- and the day of the stabbing.
Two texts on June 7 sent by the defendant to the victim stated: "I'm sorry. I'm just worried sick about you and the car"… and … "I love and care about you."
Then after the defendant posted derogatory slurs on June 9 about his wife on social media, the victim texted him back twice: "Grow up! What is the (expletive) wrong with you, Jerry?" and "Don't ever ever text me or go on myFacebook. The police are aware of your harassment. This is your final warning."
The texts on the day of the shooting reflected that both wanted to talk about their relationship and perhaps come to some sort of decision, because Katherine Rydarowicz texted about coming to the motel and getting some of her belongings.
The texts continued that day until 5:28 p.m. about an hour before Katherine Rydarowicz was found dead in the driveway of the motel.
Dr. Joseph Felo, a forensic pathologist working for the Mahoning County Coroner's office from Cuyahoga County, testified the autopsy on the victim showed a deep stab wound in the back that punctured a lung and allowed a large amount of blood to pool internally.
"Yes that was the fatal wound," Felo told Assistant Prosecutor Caitlyn Andrews, saying Katherine Rydarowicz only survived a matter of minutes.
During cross examination, Juhasz, in noting a small amount of cocaine byproduct in the victim's system, asked whether the presence of that and another prescription painkiller found would have speeded up or slowed down the process of death. Felo answered that neither would because she was not under the influence of cocaine.
"The only thing in her system that may have speeded up the process was the nicotine that usually speeds up a person's heart rate," he said.
If Juhasz does not put up a defense, the jurors could be deliberating the case sometime today.