Two high-profile murder cases unfolding in different corners of the United States are gripping communities and raising challenging questions about justice, evidence, and the rights of the accused. In Florida, the trial of Jose Antonio Soto-Escalera, charged with murdering his pregnant mistress, has become a focal point for both forensic scrutiny and emotional testimony. Meanwhile, the North Dakota Supreme Court is weighing whether the murder conviction of Spencer Moen, found guilty of killing his wife, should stand, amid arguments over the constitutional rights of the defendant and the trauma experienced by child witnesses.
Jose Antonio Soto-Escalera’s trial in St. Lucie County, Florida, has been marked by a harrowing array of evidence and witness accounts. According to Scripps News West Palm Beach, Soto-Escalera faces the death penalty if convicted of the first-degree murder of 23-year-old Tania Wise and their unborn child. Wise, who was eight and a half months pregnant at the time of her death, was found face down in a roadside drainage ditch on August 24, 2018. DNA testing confirmed that Soto-Escalera was the father of Wise’s unborn child, a fact that has become central to the prosecution’s case.
Court documents and testimony reveal that Soto-Escalera, married at the time, had given Wise money for an abortion but was angered when she did not go through with the procedure and kept the money. The prosecution alleges this motive drove him to commit the murder, a claim supported by chilling evidence presented in court.
One of the most damning pieces of evidence came from a translated transcript of a conversation between Soto-Escalera and his nephew, read into the record by the prosecution and an FBI language specialist. In this conversation, Soto-Escalera appeared to discuss plans to kill Wise and how to destroy evidence afterward. Norma Campos, an FBI Language Specialist with over a decade of experience, translated audio recordings in which the defendant allegedly threatened, “I’m going to blow her brains out so she doesn’t talk,” and “I have no choice, I’ll lose everything.” Campos explained the rigorous peer review process for certified translations used in court, though she acknowledged that some portions of the recordings were difficult to hear due to background noise.
Surveillance footage from the night of August 23, 2018, played a crucial role in the trial. Katherine Scott, a resident of Larchmont Lane, testified about her home’s four security cameras, which captured a car driving by at 8:25 p.m.—a time frame that matched the prosecution’s timeline. Scott authenticated the footage, confirming it had not been tampered with. Another neighbor, Tamara Marquez Carreno, corroborated the sequence of events and identified vehicles and individuals in her own surveillance video.
Forensic evidence was another pillar of the prosecution’s argument. Det. Christopher Newman testified about the proximity of relevant locations on Larchmont Lane, establishing the spatial relationship between the victim’s residence and other key sites. DNA evidence from a vehicle linked to Soto-Escalera tested positive for Wise’s blood, and a portion of carpet from the driver’s side was found to contain her DNA. Wayne Walker Jr., a criminalist from the Indian River Crime Lab, confirmed that Soto-Escalera was the father of the unborn child and that DNA mixtures from the vehicle strongly supported Wise’s presence in the car.
Testimony from former co-worker Kenneth Barron revealed that Soto-Escalera had asked about purchasing a “ghost gun”—a firearm that would be untraceable—during the summer of 2018. Barron declined to sell him anything illegal, but the inquiry added another layer to the prosecution’s narrative of premeditation.
The trial’s opening statements set the tone for the proceedings. Prosecutor Justin Cormier told the jury that Soto-Escalera murdered Wise, who was 38 weeks pregnant, to conceal their affair. In contrast, defense attorney Ashley Minton argued that Wise’s work as an escort brought her into contact with dangerous individuals and suggested that law enforcement had collected DNA from several men, including a longtime boyfriend and a pimp. Yet, the prosecution’s case was bolstered by testimony from Wise’s mother, Elizabeth Bertolla, who described her daughter’s excitement about having a second child and her plans to name the baby Josiah Thomas.
Medical testimony underscored the brutality of the crime. Associate Medical Examiner Linda O’Neil detailed Wise’s injuries, including skull fractures and a 19-centimeter cut across her neck, which nearly reached her spinal cord. The unborn child, found to be healthy and fully formed, died as a result of the mother’s death. High-risk obstetrician Dr. Ruel Stoessel testified that both mother and child had been healthy during the pregnancy, further emphasizing the tragedy.
In a separate but equally complex case, the North Dakota Supreme Court is deliberating on the fate of Spencer Moen, who is serving a life sentence without parole for the murder of his wife, Sonja. As reported by Valley News Live, the court heard oral arguments on September 16, 2025, regarding whether Moen’s conviction should be overturned based on alleged violations of his Sixth Amendment rights.
Moen’s attorney, Samuel Gereszek, contended that the district court violated Moen’s constitutional right “to be confronted with the witnesses against him” by allowing his children to testify remotely via Zoom. Gereszek argued that the trauma the children experienced stemmed from their mother’s death, not from testifying in court, and that remote testimony deprived Moen of a fair confrontation.
State prosecutors, however, maintained that the children’s trauma was directly linked to witnessing the violent events in their home. Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney Renata Olafson Selzer explained, “The only eyewitnesses to the events that night… the gravity and the unbelievable trauma that those children witnessed in their home. Their father beating their mother, their mother with obvious injuries, left to die in a bathtub.” Behavioral experts from Sanford Health had advised that testifying in front of their father could cause the children to shut down, cry uncontrollably, or avoid questions entirely.
The Supreme Court has yet to announce when it will issue a decision in the Moen case, leaving both the legal community and the public awaiting a ruling that could have significant implications for how courts handle the testimony of traumatized witnesses—especially children—in cases of domestic violence and murder.
Both cases highlight the profound challenges faced by the American justice system in balancing the rights of the accused with the need to protect vulnerable witnesses and ensure that the truth comes to light. As the Soto-Escalera trial continues and the Moen appeal awaits a decision, the nation watches closely, reminded of the enduring complexities and emotional toll of seeking justice in the wake of tragedy.
