Prosecution rests case in Brandon Roberts murder trial

BRIDGEPORT — The state rested its case Thursday in the murder trial of Brandon Roberts for the December 2018 shooting death of 25-year-old Emily Todd, of Bethel.

On the final day of testimony, Marshall Robinson, a firearm examiner from the Bridgeport police, said the markings on a .40caliber shell casing found next to Todd’s body near the public boat ramp off Seaview Avenue matched those from a gun bought by Roberts at an Ohio pawn shop.

“It was fired by that pistol,” Robinson told

State’s Attorney Joseph Corradino.

Following Robinson, the prosecutor called several police witnesses who testified that Roberts — charged with murder, felony murder, first-degree robbery and carrying a pistol without a permit — had never applied for a pistol permit.

Roberts’ trial began Monday in state Superior Court in Bridgeport before Judge Alex Hernandez.

On Tuesday, Todd’s mother took the stand for roughly three hours and recounted her daughter’s brief relationship with Roberts, which police said Todd ended soon after it began.

On Wednesday, Corradino played video of Roberts’ confession to police following his arrest at his father’s house in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

After Corradino rested his case Thursday, the judge told jurors he anticipated closing arguments and the beginning of deliberations Monday.

Roberts’ lawyers have not said whether or not he will be testifying in his defense, but at previous hearings indicated they will be raising a defense of extreme emotional disturbance.

Unlike the so-called insanity defense, if jurors are convinced Roberts was acting under extreme emotional distress they could find him guilty of a lesser manslaughter charge.

Todd’s death sparked debate about numerous issues, including Connecticut’s gun laws and Bridgeport’s response to a 911 call from Todd about a week before the killing.

Roberts, who is now 29, is being held in lieu of $2.5 million bond at Bridgeport Correctional Center. He has been behind bars since his arrest six days after the homicide.

While being questioned in the Shaker Heights police station, police said Roberts confessed to shooting another woman near Washington Park a year earlier.

The second woman, who was 43 at the time, was taken to Bridgeport Hospital with a bullet wound in her right shoulder.

Roberts is charged with attempted murder and first-degree assault in that case.

As part of an agreement with Roberts’ lawyer, Corradino did not present evidence from that case during Roberts’ trial in Todd’s death.