Woman Accused Of Killing Rival After Trying To Kill Her Own Husband

STAMFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- A woman doing time for trying to kill her husband is now facing trial for murdering a romantic rival.

Sheila Davalloo is the defense attorney and defendant in one of the strangest cases ever to play out at the Stamford Courthouse, reports CBS 2's Tony Aiello.

"I watched some of what happened this morning and it was troubling just because the defendant's ability to cross examine is just not there. She wasn't being effective," said legal expert Philip Russell.

Davalloo is accused of murdering research scientist Anna Lisa Raymundo in 2002, a romantic rival for a co-worker at Purdue Pharma named Nelson Sessler.

Raymundo and Sessler had no idea Davalloo had a husband, Paul Christos.

Davalloo is doing time for trying to kill Christos in 2003, so she could reunite with Sessler. It happened at their condo in Westchester County as they played a kinky bedroom game that ended with Davalloo stabbing him twice in the chest.

"Each person would be blindfolded and their hands would be bound or handcuffed. It was a guessing game," said Christos. "I kept saying, 'Let go of the knife. Let go of the knife.'"

Christos testified that Davalloo often talked about Raymundo, but he never understood the source of her obsession.

During cross examination, Davalloo called her ex-husband "Mr. Christos" and did her best to grill him.

"You actually at one time had threatened to contact Anna Lisa yourself, correct?" she said.

For Raymundo's family, watching Davalloo in court is agonizing.

"Our only hope and what have been praying for is closure for this case and a conviction, because it's been a long, agonizing nine: 9 years, two months and 16 days today," said Dr. Renato Raymundo, the victim's father.

The prosecution has strong evidence, including drops of Davalloo's blood inside Raymundo's apartment. She's expected to claim an unknown man killed Raymundo, although it's not clear if she'll put herself on the stand to testify.

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