MILFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut jury on Tuesday convicted a man of murder and evidence tampering in the 2019 killing of his girlfriend, while the disappearance of their young daughter remains a mystery.
Jose Morales, 48, of New Haven, faces 25 to 65 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 8 for the beating death of Christine Holloway inside her home in Ansonia, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of New Haven.
Morales testified at the trial in Milford that he did not kill Holloway. He said he, Holloway and their daughter, Vanessa, who was 14 months old at the time, were in Holloway's apartment when two intruders broke in. He said one of the intruders attacked Holloway with a crowbar and he was assaulted before they kidnapped Vanessa, who has never been found. Morales also said he was high on PCP at the time.
Days after the killing, authorities issued an Amber Alert for Vanessa, whose missing person case remains posted on the websites of the FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Ansonia police said in late 2019 that Morales was a suspect in Vanessa's disappearance, but he was never charged.
During closing arguments on Monday, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Howard Stein said the evidence showed that Morales repeatedly struck Holloway in the head with an object and tried to cover it up by cleaning up the crime scene.
Morales' lawyer, Edward Gavin, declined to comment after the verdict. During his closing argument, he said there was no evidence that Morales had any intent to kill Holloway.
The jury began deliberating Monday afternoon and reached a verdict Tuesday morning after about two total hours of discussion.
Jose Morales, center, appears for a bond hearing with attorneys Kevin Smith, left, and Norm Pattis at Derby Superior Courthouse in Derby, Conn., Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. (Arnold Gold/New Haven Register via AP, file)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A former Polish justice minister who faces prosecution in his homeland over alleged abuse of power said Monday that he has been granted asylum in Hungary.
Zbigniew Ziobro was a key figure in the government led by the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party that ran Poland between 2015 and 2023. That administration established political control over key judicial institutions by stacking higher courts with friendly judges and punishing its critics with disciplinary action or assignments to far-away locations.
Current Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government came to power more than two years ago with ambitions to roll back the changes, but efforts to undo them have been blocked by two successive presidents aligned with the national right.
In October, prosecutors requested the lifting of Ziobro's parliamentary immunity to press charges against him. They allege among other things that Ziobro misused a fund for victims of violence, including for the purchase of Israeli Pegasus surveillance software.
Tusk’s party says Law and Justice used Pegasus to spy illegally on political opponents while in power. Ziobro says he acted lawfully.
Hungary, led by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has hosted several politicians close to Law and Justice while Polish authorities were seeking them.
In a lengthy post on X Monday, Ziobro wrote that he had “decided to accept the asylum granted to me by the government of Hungary due to the political persecution in Poland.”
“I have decided to remain abroad until genuine guarantees of the rule of law are restored in Poland,” he said. “I believe that instead of acquiescing to being silenced and subjected to a torrent of lies — which I would have no opportunity to refute — I can do more by fighting the mounting lawlessness in Poland.”
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Monday that Hungarian authorities have granted asylum to “several” individuals who would face political persecution in Poland, according to his ministry. He declined to specify their names.
In an English-language post on X, Tusk wrote that “the former Minister of Justice(!), Mr. Ziobro, who was the mastermind of the political corruption system, has asked the government of Victor Orbán for political asylum.”
“A logical choice,” he added.
FILE - The leader of the Polish junior coalition partners Zbigniew Ziobro, speaks to reporters alongside in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)
