Ashburnham dominatrix on trial for murder: 5 things you should know
In Worcester Superior Court, the murder trial of Julia Enright, 24, is underway. She is charged in the killing of former classmate Brandon Chicklis, 20, in June 2018.
Authorities says she stabbed her former boyfriend and left his body by the side of the highway in Rindge, New Hampshire.
A closer look
On Monday morning, jurors were expected to travel north from Worcester to get a look at sites referenced during testimony.
A bus will carry jurors, lawyers and court representatives.
Spots referenced in the case include: an area near 171 Packard Hill Road in Ashburnham, where Enright lived and allegedly attacked Chicklis; a wooded area off Route 119 in Rindge, north of the Massachusetts border, where Chicklis' body was found on July 10, 2018; and a Hannaford supermarket on Route 202 in Rindge, where his car was found more than a week earlier.
The defense
Lawyers for Enright are saying she was a victim of a sexual attack by Chicklis. In recent months, lawyers said, he had reached out to her multiple times. Each time, she rebuffed him, lawyers said.
The pair had once dated. Both graduated from Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical High School in Fitchburg in 2015.
Cellphone records
Chicklis had been missing for a week when his car was found at the Hannaford supermarket in Rindge on June 29, 2018. He had he told family members on June 23 he was going to visit a relative in Windham, but he never arrived.
During a court proceeding in 2019, authorities said an analysis of the victim's cellphone led investigators to Enright's address and showed he was was there on June 23.
Dominatrix business
Prosecutors say Enright was a phlebotomist who had a side business as a dominatrix. She allegedly lured Chicklis to a treehouse near her home and murdered him to satisfy a growing urge to kill.
Entered into evidence were business cards and other items that were recovered from her house in Ashburnham.
One of the cards featured a suggestive photo of a woman who appeared to be Enright wearing a wig. It advertised the services of “Mistress Jasmine,” a “professional dominatrix.”
COVID-19 case
The trial is expected to continue into Thanksgiving week.
Last week, on the third day of testimony, Judge Daniel M. Wrenn revealed that a juror had tested positive for COVID-19.
A delay was sidestepped when other jurors assured the judge that they were comfortable with continuing on the panel. The initial jury had 16 members, four alternates. One juror was dismissed on the first day (not related to COVID-19). There are 14 jurors left, with 12 of them to issue a verdict.
Day 1: At trial start, lawyer says Julia Enright was being sexually assaulted at time of fatal stabbing
Day 2: Jury in Julia Enright murder trial begins to hear of "deviant" side
Day 3: After COVID-19 knocks out one, jurors start interrogation tape in Enright murder trial
Day 4: 'I want to be able to do something for him,' Enright told police in first interrogation
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Ashburnham dominatrix Julia Enright on trial for murder: 5 things you should know
