Kissel murder trial

Kissel was found stabbed to death in the basement of his rented backcountry mansion on April 3, , days before he was to plead guilty on federal fraud charges and serve jail time. Carlos Trujillo is charged with murder and attempted murder. Leonard Trujillo said he never learned the victim's name, but that he was identified as a wealthy, Jewish man from Greenwich. Trujillo said he was surprised to hear from Carlos Trujillo initially because he barely knew his second-cousin. Leonard said he assumed Carlos recruited him for the job because he often exaggerated his military record -- something the defense latched onto during cross-examination when attorney Lindy Urso instantly began to paint Leonard Trujillo as a storyteller who lives in a fantasy world.

At the start of Leonard Trujillo's testimony Thursday, the convicted felon described how he was discharged from the Army for stealing night-vision goggles as well as his involvement in selling drugs and check-fraud schemes. Leonard Trujillo, who was originally charged with capital murder and conspiracy to commit murder, entered a plea deal in , agreeing to testify for the state in exchange for 20 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and manslaughter.

Trujillo's testimony also described how he and Carlos visited an Army surplus store to buy a knife, and a Home Depot to purchase restraints. Leonard Trujillo said he also visited a Greenwich property where Kissel was building a home because Carlos Trujillo wanted to plan the murder there.

At the heart of Trujillo's testimony, the prosecutor began to chip away at the suicide-for-hire theory, asking Leonard Trujillo about some "odd" aspects of the plan. Then, in January , Trujillo said he cut off all contact with his cousin. Trujillo said he never read the newspaper to see if the murder occurred, but was later cooperative when police came to question him. Jurors were split 7-to-5, with the majority favoring a conviction of guilt on the attempted murder charge, according to the jury foreman.

During the two-week trial, prosecutors argued that Trujillo hired his cousin to kill his former boss for money. Trujillo's cousin, Leonard Trujillo , 24, of Worcester, Mass. Leonard Trujillo pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit murder last year on the eve of his own trial. He was initially charged with capital murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

During closing arguments, Ferencek told jurors that while the state does not know who actually killed Kissel, the evidence showed Carlos had plotted his murder with Leonard and acted as an accessory to the person who killed Kissel, based on the way the killing was executed. Urso argued Leonard was lying in an attempt to sink Carlos based on a long-standing family feud and to alleviate pressure on family members being questioned in connection to the case.

Kissel was found stabbed to death in the basement of his rented backcountry mansion on April 2, , days before he was to plead guilty on federal fraud charges.

He had been stabbed five times in the neck and back and was bound by his hands and feet using plastic cable ties. Though Carlos Trujillo remained stone-faced throughout the trial, Urso said having murder taken off the table was a huge relief for his client.

After leaving court, members of the panel jury stopped to explain their difficulties in coming to a unanimous conclusion on both charges in the case.

Jury foreman Frank Lyon said the main problem with the state's case was its star witness, Leonard Trujillo. Jurors said they quickly came to the conclusion that there was no evidence implicating Carlos Trujillo in Kissel's actual murder because of the lack of crime scene evidence.

But many felt the evidence was missing for the attempted murder charge as well. Judy Boliakis , of Rowayton, was one of five jurors who would have let Carlos Trujillo walk free. Leonard Trujillo's changing stories about the number of trips he had taken to Fairfield County to help plan the murder with Carlos also created reasonable doubt, she said.

Leonard first told police he came to the area once to buy supplies and visit a potential murder site. Then at trial, he changed his story, saying he came twice, which the defense claimed was only to fit with newly discovered evidence. There were many changed stories and lots of lies," Boliakis said. Both Lyon and Boliakis agreed that there did not seem to be a logical motive in the case.