STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Suffocation, how to slash a person's throat, removing blood stains, and destroying DNA.
A computer, which prosecutors say Jonathan Crupi used, searched those grisly topics less than seven months before Crupi allegedly slayed his wife, Simeonette Mapes-Crupi in their New Springville townhouse, testified Jorge Ortiz, a Police Department Computer Crimes Squad detective on Monday.
Earlier Monday morning, the lead detective on the case testified there was no blood or DNA evidence on Crupi's clothing, on the SUV he drove the day the victim was slain or at the couple's home linking Crupi or anyone else to the alleged crime.
Detective Michael Burdick also said under cross-examination there was no blood or DNA evidence on a Dumpster at an auto-inspection station where Crupi had brought his SUV on the day his wife was killed.
Prosecutors allege Crupi, 33, pushed his 29-year-old spouse down the stairs of their home during an argument on July 5, 2012, then stabbed her 15 times, killing her. He then tried to stage a crime scene, alleging his home had been robbed, contend prosecutors.
Crupi had called 911 around 1:30 p.m. and said he discovered his wife, a fellow schoolteacher, dead, on his return home after running a number of errands in Brooklyn. He said he had left home around 7:30 a.m., said prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege Crupi contacted police shortly after having sex with a prostitute in a local hotel. They maintain he and his wife were having martial troubles over his two-year dalliances with hookers and his failure to obtain a master's degree to enable him to keep teaching.
Crupi, who is charged with second-degree murder and criminal weapon possession, steadfastly denies the allegations.
Prosecutors' case is circumstantial: The purported murder weapon has not been found and there are no witnesses to the alleged crime.
Ortiz testified in state Supreme Court, St. George, over the objection of defense lawyers Mario F. Gallucci and Louis Gelormino.
The defense contends Ortiz, whom the court recognized as an expert in computer forensic examination, does not have the proper certifications to be qualified as an expert.
Ortiz, who is certified in software usage, said he has testified in more than 20 cases in the other boroughs and has previously employed the software he used to examine the Crupis' computer hundreds of times.
In his direct examination of the witness, Assistant District Attorney Guy Tardanico focused on searches conducted between Oct. 9 and Oct. 31, 2011, on a laptop computer found in the defendant's home.
Topics included "Does neck snap equal instant death," "sleep and suffocation," "suffocation and asphyxiation" and "how to throat slash," testified Ortiz.
Also searched was "suicide," "slitting wrist," "slashing own throat," "removing blood stains," "bleach, blood and stains," "bleach, crime scene and DNA," and "what destroys DNA," the detective said.
Another topic searched was "The reality of crime-scene investigation: The CSI effect on the courtroom," said Ortiz.
The defense finished its cross-examination of Burdick, the lead detective, Monday morning.
The detective said cops thoroughly back-checked Crupi's account of his whereabouts on July 5, 2012. The probe included checking for blood and DNA evidence to determine whether Crupi was a suspect.
No such evidence was found connecting Crupi to the crime, he acknowledged.
Specifically, he had been with a prostitute in a Staten Island motel early that afternoon and earlier that morning had visited a prostitution website on a computer while at his high school collecting books, said Burdick.
TOP QUOTE
"They don't seem to be swollen to me," said Detective Michael Burdick, in response to defense lawyer Mario F. Gallucci's question whether Jonathan Crupi's eye were red and swollen when shown a photo Burdick had snapped of the defendant during his investigation on July 5, 2012.
INTERESTING MOMENT
Theresa Mapes, the victim's mother, gasped then quickly left the courtroom as a Computer Crimes Squad detective testified that a computer, which prosecutors say Crupi used, had searched "sleep and suffocation," on Oct. 10, 2011, less than seven months before her daughter was slain.
WHAT'S NEXT
Prosecution witness Detective Jorge Ortiz resumes his testimony at 2:30 p.m. after the lunch break.