BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Was it self-defense or a calculated murder? That’s what the jury will now decide after hearing accused killer Joseph Ferlazzo testify in his own defense on Wednesday.
Defense attorneys called Joseph Ferlazzo to the stand Wednesday as their only witness.
Ferlazzo, who is accused of shooting his wife, Emily, during their one-year anniversary camping trip to Vermont in 2021, told the jury about their relationship from the moment they met to when they were married. “It was very magnetic, like we were stuck to each other,” he said.
Through questioning, defense attorney Margaret Jansch, highlighted what she called the couple’s abusive history, and painted the 23-year-old Emily as the aggressor.
“It was a barrage. The punches and kicks kept coming and coming. She hit hard, she wasn’t a gentle person. I wouldn’t describe her as gentle,” Ferlazzo testified.
The night he killed Emily, Ferlazzo told a story of continued abuse, saying an argument led his wife to reach for a gun that was under her pillow. He says he grabbed his own gun and shot her in self-defense. “I was holding my Glock and she started coming up at me and I just fired.
Margaret Jansch: Why?
Joseph Ferlazzo: She was going to shoot me.
Margaret Jansch: And you were afraid?
Joseph Ferlazzo: Very.
On cross-examination, prosecutor Sally Adams challenged Ferlazzo’s story, saying he repeatedly lied in the days after the killing. “You lied to Adrienne Bass…you lied to Trooper Cote… You’re lying today,” she said.
Earlier in the trial, prosecutors played a recording of Ferlazzo’s confession to police in which he never mentions Emily having a gun or acting in self-defense. When asked about that Wednesday, Ferlazzo said his memory is sporadic and he doesn’t remember talking to the police.
Closing arguments are expected Thursday afternoon.