A 32-year-old man faces the possibility of the death penalty after watching his 21-year-old girlfriend have sex with another man sent him in a fit of rage–resulting in him strangling her to death and stuffing her remains in a suitcase.
A witness, Chelsea Shea, claims that she had drinks with Joshua Matthew Palmer at a bar on April 4th and ended up going back to his room at the Chadwick Hotel in San Diego, California.
The two began having sex before Palmer’s girlfriend, Shauna Haynes, entered the room with a man named Anthony Kern. (Having sex with people outside their relationship appeared to be commonplace for the couple, as Shauna posted the below picture in March with the caption, “My dude be tryna score chicks in the club tonight!”)
Chelsea claims that she, Anthony and Shauna began having sex while Palmer just stood in the corner, expressionless. According to the Times of San Diego, Chelsea said Palmer just “stood there,” then “told us to leave.”
She and Kern left the room, but not before asking Shauna if she wanted to come along. She said she wanted to stay with Palmer, proving to be a deadly decision.
A few hours after the early morning sexual encounter, Palmer called 911, saying his girlfriend was missing, a detective testified. When contacted, Palmer had red knuckles on both his hands, according to the detective.
Police got a search warrant and seized video files from Palmer’s cell phone, showing an unconscious Haynes.
In another clip, Palmer is heard to say, “I’m sorry I love you, but I can’t watch you having sex with somebody else. God I’m sorry.”
Two days later, a guest at the hotel found a suitcase containing the victim’s body near a row of trash cans alongside a parking area at the rear of the three-story building.
Palmer has been charged with murder and special circumstance allegations of murder during a rape, murder during sodomy and murder during a rape by an instrument.
[h/t Times of San Diego]