Man still without an attorney for murder trial in wife’s death
About a month before he’s scheduled to stand trial for murder in his wife’s death, David Tronnes told a judge Tuesday he still hasn’t hired an attorney to represent him in the case after being stripped of his public defender.
Tronnes, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2018 killing of 39-year-old Shanti CooperTronnes, who police say was strangled at the couple’s Delaney Park home. Orlando police say Tronnes went for a walk, took the couple’s dogs to a park and worked around the house after killing his wife.
Tronnes, who has pleaded not guilty, claimed he found his wife unconscious after she fell in the bathtub.
Tronnes told Circuit Judge John Marshall Kest during a hearing at the Orange County Courthouse that he contacted a lawyer who met him at the jail where he’s being held. The attorney, though, still hasn’t decided whether to take on Tronnes as a client.
Kest acknowledged Tronnes’ difficulty hiring a lawyer but said he wanted the accused killer to figure out who will represent him before his trial begins Jan. 21.
“I’m going to leave [the trial] set for where it is right now,” Kest said.
Assistant State Attorney David Fear told the judge he believes Tronnes hasn’t hired an attorney because he’s trying to delay the trial.
“The state will be prepared to proceed to trial on the 21st, with or without an attorney,” Fear said.
In June, prosecutors accused Tronnes of hiding $123,527 in bank accounts of a limited liability corporation he created weeks before being arrested and claiming to be indigent.
The accused killer was appointed a public defender after he told the judge the majority of his assets were frozen or in a trust formed by the probate court in the case regarding his wife’s estate.
After removing Tronnes’ public defender, Kest said he would refer the case to the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office for an investigation of possible fraud or misrepresentation. Trei Johnson, spokeswoman for the state attorney’s office, said the investigation would be concluded after Tronnes’ murder trial.
The judge scheduled a Jan. 3 hearing to determine who will represent Tronnes. He’s being held at the Orange County Jail without bail.