New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Father of missing child works on trial defense
MILFORD — Jose Morales has a new lawyer, but he doesn’t yet have a defense.
Morales, 45, has been behind bars for more than two years while suspected of murdering 43-year-old Christine Holloway in an Ansonia home — and the couple’s daughter Vanessa, then 15 months old, has been missing ever since.
Last November he asked a judge for more time to hire a new attorney after becoming dissatisfied with his previous representation.
He appeared at Superior Court in Milford Tuesday standing next to his new lawyer, Edward Gavin, before Judge Peter Brown.
Gavin told Brown that he and his staff have done “yeoman’s work” reviewing roughly 90 percent of nearly quarter of a million pieces of evidence in the case.
But he has yet formulated a strategy.
“It’s still too early,” he said after the brief
court appearance, at the end of which the judge continued the case to July 12.
Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Howard Stein said in court that his office was working diligently to resolve any technical issues with Gavin.
“The state's been fully compliant with my requests, and I appreciate that very much,” Gavin told the judge.
Members of Holloway's family, who come to court consistently for Morales' court dates, declined to comment Tuesday.
Morales has been charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with Holloway's death. He has pleaded not guilty to both offenses.
Morales also faces two unrelated felony charges of criminal possession of a firearm, to which he has also pleaded not guilty.
He has not been charged with Vanessa's disappearance. The toddler went missing the same night of her mother's death.
At a court appearance for Morales in May a prosecutor said investigators had received many leads in the disappearance, but none had panned out.
Morales was identified early on as a suspect in Holloway's death, which was determined to be from blunt-force trauma.
During an interview with investigators, Morales claimed he was in the Myrtle Avenue home when he saw men running toward the front door, police said. Morales said he was on
PCP and was punched in the face and knocked out as he tried to call 911, police said.
Morales' arrest affidavit indicates he told police he had nothing to do with Holloway's death or his daughter's disappearance.
Police in Ansonia have said they believe the child will be found and continue to search for her, chasing down leads as far away as California.
Morales is being held in lieu of more than $5 million bond.