Opening statements began Thursday woman for a Florida woman accused of killing her former husband in 2019 with a kitchen knife.
Danielle Redick is on trial for charges of second-degree murder and evidence tampering in connection with the stabbing death of her husband, Michael Redlick, 65. She previously entered a not guilty plea and claimed she acted in self-defense.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police found Michael, an executive at the University of Central Florida, deceased and bloodied near the entrance of his upscale Winter Park home on January 12, 2019.
Danielle Redlick reportedly called 911 and claimed Michael had a heart attack before saying that her husband stabbed himself, which might’ve “triggered” the heart attack. She’s accused of waiting 11 hours before calling 911. She then told the dispatcher that she fell asleep next to her husband’s body after performing CPR.
Police alleged she spent some of those 11 hours using a dating app and checking messages on her phone.
Responding officers noted that Michael was surrounded by a pool of blood and bloody towels. Police wrote that a trail of blood leading to the master bedroom had circular stains, suggesting that someone tried to clean it up before their arrival.
Officers also alleged that the Winter Park home reeked of bleach.
Danielle allegedly told the dispatcher that she and Michael had an “altercation” and she hid in the bathroom. She reportedly said she emerged from the bathroom to find him lying in his own blood.
A police report stated that Danielle told Department of Children and Families officials that she was eating a hamburger when Michael took a bite of it and spit it in her face, leading to a fight. Danielle said she grabbed a knife but Michael got control of it and “began making stabbing motions toward himself,” police wrote.
During opening statements on Thursday, one of Danielle Redlick’s defense attorneys said Michael was furious on the day of his death after catching the defendant on a dating app.
“What we expect the evidence will show is that on the morning of Jan. 10, Michael Redlick has discovered that Danielle Redlick is on a dating app messaging another man and that infuriated Michael Redlick,” the lawyer said.
Contradicting statements made to the dispatcher and DCF, the Medical Examiner determined that Michael’s stab wounds weren’t self-inflicted and that some of his injuries were defensive. Officials ultimately deemed his death a homicide.
Danielle was arrested three weeks after the January 12 slaying.
Citing court records, the Orlando Sentinel previously reported that she had been on probation since a January 2018 arrest for resisting an officer without violence and disorderly conduct. She was to abstain from drinking but was allegedly found to have alcohol in her system after being hospitalized for cutting her wrists before police arrived at the murder scene.
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[Featured Image: Danielle Redlick/Orange County Jail; Michael Redlick/University of Central Florida]
*Additional reporting by Jacquelyn Gray*
