Jarka videotaped interview played for jury in Murrieta murder case
Moments later, he found his wife, Isabelle, dead in the entryway to their bedroom, Kelle Lee Jarka told Murrieta police in a videotaped interview.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Kelle Lee Jarka
An elder at a local Jehovah Witness congregation told police he was alarmed when he pulled into the garage of his Murrieta home and spotted two doors ajar.
Moments later, he found his wife, Isabelle, dead in the entryway to their bedroom, Kelle Lee Jarka told Murrieta police in a videotaped interview.
Jarka, 41, made these statements during an interview with Murrieta police Detective Phil Gomez on April 28, 2008 – the day she died.
The tape was played in court this morning during Jarka’s trial at the Southwest Justice Center.
Jarka faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder and if the jury determines the killing was committed for financial gain.
Jarka called Murrieta police before 9 a.m. April 28, 2008, reporting his Tamarisk Street home was burglarized and his wife appeared lifeless on the second-story hallway floor.
Isabelle Jarka, 40, was bludgeoned in the head 11 times with an unidentified blunt object. The couple’s infant son was only feet away in his basinet.
Jarka told Gomez he got out of his sport utility vehicle and heard his infant son crying so he left the coffee and baby formula he just purchased in the vehicle.
Jarka said when he saw his wife of nearly 20 years on the floor, he grabbed her by the shirt and tried to turn her over. For the majority of the interview shown in court this morning, Jarka sat with his arms crossed and appears uneasy.
His voice cracked a few times and he dabbed his eyes with the tissue Gomez hands him.
Kelle Jarka stood to gain $1 million from the three life insurance policies taken out on his wife in the weeks before she was savagely beaten to death inside her bedroom, according to police testimony earlier in the trial.
Tags: kelle lee jarka, Murrieta, SWRNN
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