Florida woman ‘scrolled through dating app while husband lay on the ground bleeding to death’

A Florida woman standing trial for allegedly murdering her husband is accused of going through Tinder while he bled to death on the floor. 

Danielle Redlick, 48, is accused of fatally stabbing then 65-year-old husband Michael on January 12, 2019. The two had been married 15 years, according to The Daily Beast.

Assistant State Attorney Sean Wiggins alleged in court Thursday that Michael, a former NBA executive, was found in a pool of his own blood on the family’s kitchen floor surrounded by blood-soaked towels, a mop, cleaning product and a bucket of water that had turned pink. 

Wiggins said the scene resembled ‘a horror movie’.

Opening statements Thursday gave the jurors a choice as attorneys for Danielle Redlick said that she acted in self-defense. 

Danielle Redlick, 48, is accused of fatally stabbing then 65-year-old husband Michael on January 12, 2019. The two had been married 15 years

Assistant State Attorney Sean Wiggins alleged in court Thursday that Michael, a former NBA executive, was found in a pool of his own blood on the family’s kitchen floor surrounded by blood-soaked towels, a mop, cleaning product and a bucket of water that had turned pink

Michael and Danielle met when Michael began dating Danielle’s mother, Kathleen Aquino, for three years. 

They married three months before Aquino died of breast cancer.  

After Kathleen died, Michael Redlick asked a then 20-year-old Danielle to move in with him to help take care of Danielle’s 16-year-old sister, who was living with him. 

They eventually grew closer and married, but Danielle’s attorney says that the relationship became abusive and only got worse when the family had children of their own. 

Defense attorney Catherine Conlon argues Michael drank heavily and became aggressive as he got older and began to take supplements for erectile dysfunction. 

Michael and Danielle met when Michael began dating Danielle’s mother, Kathleen Aquino, for three years. They eventually married after Kathleen died and had children of their own 

Opening statements Thursday gave the jurors a choice as attorneys for Danielle Redlick said that she acted in self-defense

Conlon added that he repeatedly attacked Danielle. Danielle attempted to file for divorce in 2018 but was rejected by a judge because Michael had not been properly served with the papers. 

A friend told an arrest affidavit for Danielle that Michael and his wife briefly lived in separate homes but he moved back in just a month before the stabbing.

Michael supposedly joked to the friend that Danielle ‘is crazy but as long as I hide the steak knives everything will be fine.’ 

Conlon claimed that Michael was abusive toward Danielle the night of the killing, saying he pushed her down, pulled her up by the hair, choked and smothered her.   

‘She reaches into a drawer; she grabs a knife; she stabs him one time; he is stunned; he releases her; and she runs to the bathroom,’ Conlon argued.

Danielle attempted to file for divorce in 2018 but was rejected by a judge because Michael had not been properly served with the papers

Prosecutors argue, however, that Danielle isn’t telling the truth because she originally told 911 that Michael had a heart attack, then said he’d stabbed himself

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Prosecutors argue, however, that Danielle isn’t telling the truth because she originally told 911 that Michael had a heart attack, then said he’d stabbed himself. 

Conlon said that Danielle admits to having killed Michael but didn’t realize what she’d done until the next morning.

Wiggins, however, argued that it would be impossible for Danielle to not know Michael had died for 11 hours and her phone activity shows erased messages she exchanged with him.

Her phone also showed that Danielle had been looking through a dating app to find a new boyfriend before she called police to their house. 

‘She put herself down in December… that she was looking for a long-term relationship,’ Wiggins said. ‘This is the dating website that that defendant opens while her husband is laid out, dead, on the floor.’

Wiggins also cited the cleaning product spread out to make it look like Danielle was trying to hide something and will present an expert witness testifying that she ‘obliterated’ the scene.  

If convicted, Danielle could face life in prison and she has previously rejected an offer by prosecutors to plead guilty to manslaughter, which would be a 10-year sentence.