MOUNT PLEASANT (AP) — A video presented Thursday in the trial of a former Iowa jail guard accused of killing his pregnant wife included the sounds of him sobbing and recounting how he had pledged to kill the person responsible for her death.
Seth Techel is heard sobbing on and off throughout the video taken from the patrol car of Deputy Marty Wonderlin, The Ottumwa Courier reported. He told the deputy in the video that he jumped out of the shower after he heard a gunshot, grabbed a handgun and ran down a hallway.
“I was going to kill whoever did this,” Techel said in the video.
The video also included the sounds of a family member screaming after entering the trailer that Techel shared with his wife, Lisa Techel. Authorities say she was shot inside the Agency home in southeast Iowa.
The video includes Seth Techel sobbing before pausing and asking Wonderlin if he could call his work. Wonderlin declines in the video and tells Techel that it’s not the priority at the moment.
Seth Techel, 23, is charged with first-degree murder and nonconsensual termination of a human pregnancy in the May 2012 death of his wife. His first trial ended in a mistrial in March.
During the first trial, prosecutors argued that Seth Techel wanted to end his marriage to be with another woman. Defense attorneys said a neighbor may have killed Lisa Techel.
Both Techels worked in law enforcement. Lisa Techel was a reserve deputy with the Wapello County Sheriff’s Office, and Seth Techel was a jailer.