Barbara Sheehan trial begins

The trial of Barbara Sheehan, the Howard Beach woman accused of murdering her husband Raymond, a retired NYPD sergeant, began on September 9 at Queens Supreme Court.
The prosecution and defense delivered their opening statements, during which Barbara’s attorney, Michael Dowd, argued that his client shot her husband in self defense.
According to media reports, Dowd told the jury that the 49-year-old mother of two was attempting to escape from her home on the morning of February 18, 2008 when her husband began threatening her, and that the defendant opened fire only after he reached for his own pistol during an intense altercation.
Prosecutors refuted Dowd’s statements, and argued that Barbara mercilessly murdered her husband as he shaved. Assistant District Attorney Debra Pomodore reportedly told the jury that marital disputes did not give the defendant the right to end Raymond’s life.
When the former sergeant noticed his wife attempting to sneak out of the house, he pointed his .9-mm Glock at her, after which she fired all five rounds from the revolver she held, Dowd claimed. Bloodied and belligerent, the victim reached for his gun after it fell to the floor. Barbara grabbed it first and shot her husband six more times, according to her attorney.
The defense’s case is centered on the roughly two decades of physical and emotional abuse that Barbara claims she suffered at the hands of her husband, including an argument the day before the slaying which ended with Raymond allegedly breaking his wife’s nose.
“Anyone subjected to that kind of violence will probably suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Dowd told The Courier in March of 2008. “Even just dealing with this is a lot.”
According to reports, Officer Michael Petrizzo and postal employee William Shulken, the first two people to arrive on the scene, testified on September 12 that they heard the defendant say she killed her husband. Petrizzo later found Raymond Sheehan’s body in the upstairs bathroom.
“I shot him! I shot him,” Barbara told officers of the 106th Precinct when they responded to the home on 158th Avenue. “I think he’s dead. He’s in the bathroom.”
Sheehan is being tried on charges of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and the fourth degrees. She faces 25 years to life in prison if found guilty.