Trenton, NJ: Abuse may be key in stabbing case

Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Lisa Coryell

TRENTON -- A city man accused of fatally stabbing his wife and dumping her body in a Hamilton cemetery in 2009 was in court yesterday as prosecutors argued that his history of domestic abuse should be allowed into evidence during his murder trial.

Clarence Kelsey, 66, of South Clinton Avenue told police his wife, Colleen Kelsey, 46, died when she fell on a knife she pulled on him during a domestic dispute on June 20, 2009. Her badly decomposed body was found in North Crosswicks Cemetery nine days later.


Assistant Prosecutor Lew Korngut is seeking to thwart Kelsey's accident defense by showing jurors that Kelsey had a history of beating his wife and his ex-wife.

Under the rules of evidence, a defendant's prior acts are not admissible in trial to impeach his character but they are admissible to impeach testimony that his crime was accidental or without forethought.

In a hearing to determine whether Kelsey's history of abuse will be introduced at his trial, Korngut called Kelsey's ex-wife, Penny Graff, to the stand. Graff, of Allentown, testified that her marriage to Kelsey from 1974 to 2001 was fraught with verbal and physical abuse from a drunken Kelsey.

"He beat her, he broke her fingers, he hit her over the head with a phone," Korngut said. In one instance Kelsey threatened to kill Graff with a knife, he said.

A 911 operator also testified that she had received a call from Colleen Kelsey in August 2008 reporting that Kelsey had "busted her lip" and headed into a local bar.

A neighbor on South Clinton Avenue also testified that she often heard screaming, yelling and sounds of Kelsey beating his wife and accusing her of cheating on him. The woman said she had called the police numerous times.

Kelsey tried to report his wife missing July 17. Police searched his apartment after becoming suspicious that this missing person description was similar to the dead woman found in the cemetery, prosecutors said.

Kelsey told police he had not seen his wife since June 19. He said he had not reported his wife missing earlier because he believed she was in a drug rehabilitation program. But he filed a report after family members urged him to, he said.

When confronted by the blood evidence in the apartment, Kelsey first told police his wife had stabbed herself but then changed his story to say she had fallen on the knife during a struggle.