Ex-Girlfriends Of Suspect Testify At Murder Trial

Linda Roncalli -- the ex-girlfriend of murder suspect Joseph Thomas and his girlfriend at the time Mentor woman Annie McSween was killed -- testified at Thomas' trial Tuesday and said he repeatedly told her that he did not go to Mario's Lakeway Lounge the night McSween was killed.

McSween, 49, was tending bar at Mario's Lakeway Lounge in Mentor-on-the-Lake on Nov. 26, 2010 and closed the bar by herself.

But she did not make it home that night. Instead, her body was found in a wooded area behind a house that is next door to the bar. She had been beaten and stabbed repeatedly, the medical examiner said.

Thomas was at the bar the night McSween died. He told this to police during a taped interview that was played for the jury earlier this week.

However, Roncalli testified that she chatted with Thomas the morning McSween was found dead. She asked him if he went to Mario's that night -- it was a common haunt for them because Thomas lived within walking distance -- and he told her no, Roncalli said.

Roncalli said she dated Thomas until June 2011, when Mentor-on-the-Lake police arrested him and charged him with McSween's murder.

She testified that she did not know Thomas was at Mario's that night until April 2011.

That is when authorities found McSween's burnt sweater, bra, pants and purse in a barrel in the backyard of the Mentor-on-the-Lake home where Thomas had been living at the time of McSween's death, prosecutors said.

When police asked Thomas why he told Roncalli he didn't go to Mario's that night, Thomas initially replied that he did not remember telling her that. Then he said he didn't want her to think he was going there to flirt with other women.

Two of Thomas' ex-girlfriends testified Tuesday -- Roncalli and Christine Vanatta, who he dated until 2008.

Both Roncalli and Vanatta said Thomas used to have a knife that he clipped on to his pocket. Matt Miller -- a regular at Mario's who played pool with Thomas the night McSween died -- testified earlier that he saw a similar knife in Thomas' pocket that night.

However, Thomas told police during an interview that he did not have a knife on him that night.

On cross-examination from Thomas' attorney David Doughten, both women said they did not know the last time they saw Thomas with the knife.

Roncalli testified that Thomas told her he lost it.

The prosecution rested their case Tuesday. The defense will start calling its witnesses today in Lake County Common Pleas Judge Richard Collins Jr.'s courtroom.

Thomas has been indicted on charges of rape, tampering with evidence, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and aggravated murder.

More trial coverage:

Jury Begins Hearing Evidence in Joseph Thomas Murder Trial

Prosecutor: Clothes of Murder Victim Annie McSween Found in Suspect's Backyard

Patrons of Mario's Lakeway Lounge Testify About the Night Annie McSween was Murdered

Suspect's Neighbor Recalls Burn Barrel Incident Hours After Annie McSween Was Murdered

Jury Sees Police Interviews Of Murder Suspect Joseph Thomas