Trial of Pulse gunman’s widow enters second week

Polygraph examiner, family friend ‘Nemo’ have yet to testify

In untangling what Noor Salman knew about her husband’s secret life, prosecutors and defense lawyers both point to a longtime friend known only as “Nemo.”

To prosecutors, “Nemo” is the person Omar Mateen’s wife used in the cover story she concocted to aid her husband in carrying out the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando on June 12, 2016.

To Noor Salman’s defense team, “Nemo” is the person Mateen regularly said he was with to cover up his infidelity. And he was the person Mateen said he was meeting with for dinner when he left their Fort Pierce home to drive to Orlando.

Nemo is one of several key figures in the Pulse investigation from whom Salman’s jury has yet to hear, as the trial enters its second week of testimony. Defense lawyer Linda Moreno told jurors during her opening statement that they would hear from him before the trial is over.

Much of the government’s presentation so far has focused on what happened at Pulse, including graphic video of the massacre. Before resting their case, prosecutors will seek to

prove Salman knew her husband was planning the attack and helped him accomplish it.

Also yet to testify is FBI Special Agent Ricardo Enriquez, the polygraph examiner who wrote down statements he said Salman made during an interview, including one in which she confessed to helping Mateen scout targets.

The written statements have yet to be presented to the jury. Defense lawyers have questioned their veracity because agents did not record them.

Prosecutors also point to text messages Salman sent her husband about Nemo the night of the attack as evidence she created a cover story to tell Mateen’s mother: “If ur mom calls say nimo invited you out and noor wants to stay home,” she wrote at 5:55 p.m. “She asked where you were xoxo. Love you.”

The attack occurred during Ramadan, a month when Muslims fast during the day and commonly feast together at mosques. That night, Mateen’s mother invited the

Much of the government’s presentation so far has focused on what happened at Pulse, including graphic video of the massacre. Before resting their case, prosecutors will seek to prove Salman knew her husband was planning the attack and helped him accomplish it.

couple to dinner at the mosque, but Salman told her Mateen was with Nemo, the son of family friends. Mateen’s mother realized that wasn’t true, though, when she spoke to Nemo’s mother at the mosque that night, prosecutors said.

Nemo was in medical school in Maryland, his mother told Mateen’s mother.

Defense attorneys have put forward an alternate explanation for the texts: Salman, they say, was simply repeating a lie Mateen had told her when he left their Fort Pierce apartment. Mateen had in the past claimed to be visiting Nemo when he was actually cheating on his wife, Nemo told investigators.

It’s unclear whether Nemo will testify or if his recorded statement to FBI agents shortly after the shooting will be entered in court in his place. Defense lawyers wanted Nemo to testify, but his lawyer previously said Nemo would refuse and invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to court documents.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers’ list of witnesses they plan to call to the stand are confidential. Some witnesses will be referred to by pseudonyms to protect their privacy, lawyers said.

The testimony portion of the trial was initially expected to span three weeks, but U.S. District Judge Paul Byron said Thursday he believed it will be take less time than that. Sixteen of prosecutors’ witnesses took the stand in the first two days of testimony.

Jurors heard from survivors of the attack and officers who responded to the club. They also heard from law enforcement who went to the couple’s Fort Pierce home and interviewed Salman throughout the day after the attack.

Salman, 31, was arrested seven months after the shooting. She is charged with aiding and abetting Mateen’s material support of the Islamic State group.

Prosecutors say she helped Mateen plan his attack and joined him in scouting possible targets, including Disney Springs and City Place in West Palm Beach. They presented about 20 receipts showing how the couple spent Mateen’s annual income in the weeks before the shooting.

The purchases included guns and ammunition and jewelry and clothes for Salman. Prosecutors argue Salman knew Mateen was going to die and was recently added to his bank account as a death beneficiary.

She was anticipating an IRS refund amounting to $4,000 three days after Pulse was attacked.

Prosecutors warned jurors there wasn’t one piece of evidence that would prove Salman’s guilt by itself.

“It’s the totality of all the evidence,” Assistant U.S. Attorney James Mandolfo said in his opening statement.

Salman is also charged with obstruction of justice for lying to law enforcement after the shooting, prosecutors say. She faces up to life in prison if convicted.

During opening arguments, defense lawyer Linda Moreno disputed that Mateen involved Salman in his scheming. Defense lawyers indicated in previous motions they intend to call on experts on domestic violence and coerced confessions. They’ve painted Salman as a naive woman who was married to an abuser and cheater.

“Noor Salman was not Mateen’s partner,” Moreno said. “She was not his peer, and she certainly was not his confidant.”