It has been nearly six years since former jeweler Michael Collucci was in court for the trial involving the murder of his wife, Sara-Lynn Colucci. Soon, he will be back in a Berkeley County courtroom for another murder trial.
The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, confirmed that the second trial will begin Monday, May 13.
Back on Dec. 7, 2018, 10 days after a jury was selected, the judge declared a mistrial in the murder case against then-48-year-old Michael Colucci, which meant his murder charge was still pending. The case could be tried a second time.
A lot of things at the AG’s office have distracted from getting Colucci back in court, one of which was the pandemic.
In the first trial, the jury deliberated for about eight hours over two days. Still, it remained deadlocked and unable to reach a verdict. Judge Deadra Jefferson, who presided over the trial, declared a mistrial.
Colucci was accused in 2015 of strangling his wife with a garden hose. In 2018, jurors had three options before them: declare Colucci guilty of murder, guilty of voluntary manslaughter or not guilty.
After the decision, one juror discussed the case when he exited the courthouse. He said prosecutors did not do a good job presenting the evidence, but he didn’t believe it was an accident, saying, “You just don’t fall into a hose.”
“I don’t think you’re going to get 12 people to agree on the same thing with this case,” the juror said. “Nobody was going to change their mind; it was just about 50-50.”
Then, the juror said those in the deliberation room were split between not guilty and voluntary manslaughter. He did not mention a guilty of murder verdict.
After the decision in 2018, Colucci walked quickly out of the courthouse and did not respond to questions about it, saying his then-attorney, Andy Savage, would have to answer them.
Colucci is still suspected by law enforcement of killing his wife. Paramedics found her beside a chain-link fence with a garden hose wrapped around her neck. The cause of death was found to be asphyxiation, but the manner of death could not be determined.
Prosecutors from the state attorney general’s office tried to present enough circumstantial evidence to prove Colucci’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
They told the jury Colucci was guilty of murder, and he strangled his wife with his hands until she died, and the garden hose around her neck was used as a ruse.
