SAN DIEGO — There were tense moments inside the courtroom Thursday as testimony continued in the double murder trial involving former social media personality Ali Abulaban.
Abulaban is charged with killing his wife Ana and her friend Ray Barron. Thursday was the third day in a row Abulaban has taken the stand.
For the majority of the day, the prosecution cross-examined him, during which time, there were a lot of tense interactions.
At one point, Abulaban got upset when the prosecution accused him of yelling the word ‘respect’ while he shot Ana and Barron, something he denies.
He also shouted at prosecutor Taren Brast when she alleged he had searched for pornography involving teenagers on his phone in the weeks leading up to the shooting.
Abulaban denied the allegation and yelled, “Don't paint me as something I'm not!"
The prosecution also brought up other search items allegedly on Abulaban’s phone, including chopped bodies and trash cans.
Prosecutors trying to prove Abulaban planned to kill Ana and Barron, but Abulaban's defense has maintained this was a crime of passion.
The killings happened in October of 2021 at the Spire highrise building in East Village.
During his testimony Wednesday, Abulaban said he snapped when he saw Ana and Barron together cuddling on a couch, which led him to shoot and kill them both. He also testified he had no intention of killing them.
Abulaban called his mom just a four minutes later, yet waited 12 minutes to call 911. Brast asked him about that call
"You never did a single thing to help her inside the apartment, correct?," Brast asked Abulaban.
“I didn't know how to,” said Abulaban.
“You didn't do a single thing to help him, right?,” Brast asked Abulaban.
“No....not immediately no," said Abulaban.
Following the lunch break, the defense asked for a mistrial. The defense said some of the questions prosecutors asked were misleading and insinuated things he didn't do.
The judge denied that request.
Court resumes with closing arguments on Friday.
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