CLEARWATER, Fla. — The murder trial of John Jonchuck continued Thursday when the defense called six witnesses to testify about his history of mental health issues.
The St. Petersburg man is accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter when he threw her off the Dick Misener Bridge in 2015.
Heart-wrenching testimony was given from some of the last people to see John and Phoebe Jonchuck before her death.
Genevieve Torres, the custody lawyer Jonchuck was consulting in 2014 and 2015 got choked up on the witness stand when she recalled the last time she saw Jonchuck and Phoebe.
Torres said Jonchuck and Phoebe came to her office the morning of January 7, 2015, roughly 14 hours before Phoebe's murder.
Torres testified that Jonchuck was eager to move forward with custody paperwork because he was worried Phoebe's mom and new boyfriend would take Phoebe away from him.
While the encounter started out normal, Torres said Jonchuck had a huge Swedish bible with him and started to act odd and said things that didn't make sense. According to her testimony, Jonchuck was telling Torres she was God and demanding she read his Swedish bible. When she refused, Torres remembered Jonchuck saying then he must be God.
Torres said, "He told me when Phoebe touches the bible that she starts chanting."
Torres also recalled feeling fearful and was eager for Jonchuck to leave her office knowing she was going to immediately call 911 as soon as he and Phoebe left.
The defense also brought five other witnesses to the stand to talk about their encounters with Jonchuck in the hours leading up to Phoebe's death.
A Catholic priest who met with Jonchuck about twelve hours before the murder says Jonchuck showed up to Saint Paul Catholic Church in Tampa with Phoebe. Father Bill Swengros described Phoebe as a “healthy, vivacious little girl”. He remembered Jonchuck had a huge bible with him, looked disheveled, and demanded to be baptized.
Later in the afternoon, Jonchuck’s lawyers put doctors on the stand. They treated Jonchuck following Phoebe’s death and said he showed symptoms of many metal illnesses, including hallucination and paranoia.
Jonchuck's lawyers are arguing he did not know what he was doing when he threw his daughter off the bridge making him not guilty by reason of insanity.
Jonchuck's defense team argues he was insane and not aware of what he did when he threw his daughter off the St. Petersburg bridge. The prosecution believes Jonchuck knew what he did because he refers to daughter Phoebe in the past tense.
Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday after calling a stream of witnesses, who they believe establish that Jonchuck is guilty of murdering his daughter.
The trial continues Friday at 9 a.m. You can watch the livestream on the 10News Facebook page.
Timeline: John Jonchuck Murder Trial
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