HONOLULU (AP) — A Maui path where police found body parts and bloody clothes of a woman who disappeared while five months pregnant will lead jurors to her killer, a prosecutor said Monday.
The path leads to Steven Capobianco, the woman’s ex-boyfriend and father of the unborn child, Deputy Maui Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rivera said in opening statements of the trial.
Capobianco is on trial for second-degree murder in the death of Carly “Charli” Scott. Detectives, Scott’s family and even Capobianco’s friends presumed him guilty without considering other suspects, said his defense attorney, Jon Apo.
“Down this path is the end of Charli’s dream of becoming a mother,” said Rivera, who described Scott, 27, as happy about becoming a first-time mother. “One person who did not share that excitement was the father of her unborn child.”
Capobianco, who is three years younger than Scott, met her in 2009. They lived together for two years, but “the defendant would tell his friends that they were just roommates and he did not like to take pictures with her,” Rivera said.
They broke up, but Scott continued to love him, “even though she knew he didn’t care about her,” Rivera said.
While they were no longer a couple, and while Capobianco had another girlfriend, Scott got pregnant. Scott decided to continue with the pregnancy even though Capobianco insisted on an abortion, Rivera said.
Scott’s mother and two sisters last saw her on the evening of Feb. 9, 2014.
Capobianco has told Hawaii News Now that he saw Scott on the night her family says she vanished, but he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
He said Scott picked him up and drove him to his pickup truck, which had broken down in Keanae. He said that after he fixed his truck, Scott was driving behind him, but he lost sight of her and figured she arrived safely at her destination.
His mechanic and other witnesses will testify that his story is fabricated, Rivera said.
Capobianco is also accused of torching Scott’s vehicle in an attempt to cover up the killing.
Scott’s mother, Kimberlyn Scott, pressured Maui police to focus on Capobianco “simply because she hated Steven,” Apo said in his opening statement. Capobianco was “coming around to the idea” of becoming a father, Apo said.
Apo alluded to a “big lie” Capobianco told regarding the investigation. The lie will be explained during the trial, Apo said.
An orthodontist will testify about records that show the jawbone belongs to Scott and a forensic anthropologist will testify the jawbone, which was split in two, showed marks of “dismemberment, blunt-force trauma and the removal of flesh,” with a serrated-edge blade, Rivera said.
Down the path, Rivera said, police found Scott’s long, black skirt with at least 20 puncture wounds concentrated below the waist band.
“Down this path, the defendant is responsible for this horror,” Rivera said.