VERO BEACH, Fla. — Michael Jones, a former wealth management advisor in Vero Beach, is charged with killing his one time girlfriend, Diana Duve, in 2014.
Prosecutors contend Jones strangled Duve, put her body in the trunk of her own car, and drove to Brevard County where he left the car in a Melbourne shopping center parking lot.
Monday, Jones told the judge he would not testify on his own behalf.
Michael Jones says he will not testify in his own murder trial. Charged with killing one time girlfriend Diana Duve. @WPTV pic.twitter.com/qwgX6YtmAl
— Jon Shainman (@JonShainman) October 21, 2019
His defense team earlier brought their own forensic expert to the stand.
Dr. William Anderson, a forensic pathologist in private practice, testified that Duve was not the victim of manual strangulation as the medical examiner's office had determined.
“I think the death is related to injuries to brain caused by blunt force trauma… and not strangulation," said Dr. Anderson.
After the defense rested, the state called District 19 Medical Examiner Roger Mittleman as a rebuttal witness. Mittleman, who did not conduct the autopsy on Duve, said that what he saw in autopsy photos indicated that Duve was strangled.
“Dr. Kaiser found four fractures of the neck structure here. That’s one of the things you see in a manual strangulation," said Dr. Mittleman.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday.