Judge OKs murder trial in young South Windsor mother's death
Jun. 30—There is enough evidence to proceed to trial on the accusation that Tahj H. Hutchinson murdered his wife, Jessica Edwards, in their South Windsor condominium unit on May 10, 2021, a judge ruled Wednesday in Hartford Superior Court.
The ruling by Senior Judge Frank M. D'Addabbo Jr. came after a preliminary hearing lasting most of the day on the evidence against Hutchinson, 24, who formerly lived in the Cinnamon Springs condominium complex off Pleasant Valley Road.
The standard of proof applicable to the hearing was "probable cause," which is among the lowest standards in the law.
MURDER HEARING
DEFENDANT: Tahj H. Hutchinson, 24, formerly of the Cinnamon Springs condominium complex in South Windsor
LATEST: Judge finds enough evidence for trial on charge that Hutchinson murdered his wife, Jessica Edwards.
NEXT: Lengthy negotiations, with plea bargain or trial easily a year or more away
Among the most significant new information that came out during the hearing was the testimony of Dr. James R. Gill, Connecticut's chief medical examiner. Gill didn't perform the autopsy on Edwards' body but reviewed the work of the associate medical examiner who did.
Gill testified that Edwards, 30, died of "asphyxia due to compression of the torso and neck."
He said she had hemorrhages, or bruising, to the "strap muscles" in the front and back of her neck.
Pressure that compresses the carotid arteries in the neck, which carry blood from the major arteries above the heart to the head and brain, causes loss of consciousness in 8 to 10 seconds, Gill said. But he added that the victim can regain consciousness if the pressure is released and blood flow resumes.
To cause death, the pressure would have to continue "on the order of minutes," Gill testified.
Prosecutor Robert Diaz emphasized that testimony in arguing that he had established probable cause to believe that Hutchinson intended to kill Edwards, an essential element of murder.
Hartford Public Defender Damian Tucker, representing Hutchinson, suggested in his final argument that death could happen "in seconds and by accident." But the prosecutor said that was the opposite of Gill's testimony.
In explaining his decision to find probable cause, the judge quoted Gill's statement that it would be necessary to maintain pressure for minutes after unconsciousness to cause death. Between that and other evidence, the judge found sufficient evidence of intent to cause death.
After court, Edwards' brother, Mario Edwards, said, "It was hard to just hear all that stuff, that someone could be so evil, heartless."
"We had to step out" during the graphic testimony, he added.
Mario Edwards said he is "trying to get justice for my sister and my nephew as well." Jessica Edwards and Hutchinson had a baby son, who wasn't harmed physically but lost his mother.
Jessica Edwards disappeared on May 10, 2021. Her body wasn't found until 11 days later, when authorities used location information from Hutchinson's cellphone to focus the search on a wooded area off the cul de sac at the end of Driver Road in East Hartford.
Later that day, May 21, 2021, two South Windsor police detectives spoke to Hutchinson outside his parents' house on Fairview Street in Manchester, partially recording their more than two-hour interview with a cellphone.
In that conversation, Hutchinson dropped his earlier claims that Edwards had left their condominium and disappeared, admitting that she died during a physical fight with him, South Windsor Detective Christopher Poehnert testified Wednesday. He said Hutchinson also admitted that, after Edwards' family came looking for her on the night of May 10, he went to a "random GPS location" and left her body in a wooded area.
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