Son, Nephew Testify in Robert Jarrett Jr's Murder Trial

Robert Jarrett Jr.’s son reportedly testified Thursday that as a child he had twice watched from the kitchen as his father knocked his mother, Christine Jarrett, down to the ground.

But 33-year-old Robert Jarrett III, who was 10-years-old when his mother went missing, told a Circuit Court jury that his father had only once discussed the case with him, the Baltimore Sun reported. His father handed him a newspaper article about the case, the younger Jarrett testified, “He told me to read it and if I had any questions, to ask him,” according to the Sun.

Robert Jarrett Jr. is on trial for first–degree murder in the death of his former wife, Christine Jarrett, who went missing in 1991.  buried in concrete under a shed in the back yard of the Claire Drive house the couple had shared.

In April of last year, Judge Richard Bernhardt ruled that there was enough evidence to show a pattern of spousal abuse in the Jarretts’ relationship. In Court Thursday, one of Jarrett’s two sons testified about that abuse, the Sun reported, 

David Mueller, Christine Jarrett’s nephew, also testified about an incident in which Christine called family members from a drug store on Main Street because, she’d said, Robert Jarrett Jr. had beaten her. 

Robert Jarrett Jr.’s defense attorneys agreed that the couple had a troubled marriage, the Sun reported, but argued that Robert Jarrett Jr. had no reason to kill his wife.