Jurors in Murder Trial Urged to Disregard Dismemberment

SANTA ANA —  Despite days of testimony about dismemberment, missing body parts and an allegation of cannibalism, jurors in the murder trial of Omaima Nelson were asked Thursday not to consider the mutilation of the victim when considering their verdict.

In closing arguments, Deputy Public Defender Tom G. Mooney told jurors that the mutilation of Nelson’s husband should not factor into their decision because Nelson was suffering a mental breakdown at the time.

Nelson, 26, of Costa Mesa, is charged with murdering William Nelson, 56, a pilot, during the 1991 Thanksgiving Day weekend and then butchering the body to help dispose of the evidence.

“Can you separate what took place at the time he was killed (and) what took place afterward?” Mooney said. “This woman was in a psychotic state; she wasn’t rational.”

He also told jurors to consider Omaima Nelson’s abusive upbringing and the physical and mental torment she said she suffered at the hands of her abusive husband.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Randy J. Pawloski told jurors that the victim was William Nelson. Pawloski said the evidence shows that Omaima Nelson planned to kill him and flee with his car, credit cards and cash.

Pawloski said “big lie No. 1” was Nelson’s claim that her husband was sexually abusing her when she stabbed him. Pawloski said bruising on William Nelson’s lower legs, which were chopped off at the knees, show that his ankles had been bound during a struggle shortly before his death.

“She says he was never tied up prior to his death,” said Pawloski, who pointed at the defendant and called her a liar. “Thank God we’ve got those legs.”

The Orange County Superior Court jury is expected to begin deliberations Jan. 4.