ALFRED — Patrick Dapolito lay down on the bathroom floor, spooning the life-size mannequin that was standing in for his dead wife. They always went to sleep in that position, he explained to the detectives, and on this particular occasion, they were lying on their right sides, with his left arm draped over his wife’s body, his face in her hair and a gun in his right hand under his head.

The detectives question him about the location of Winslow’s head, the pillow that she put over their heads to block out the light and the position of his body when he woke to the “pouf” sound of the gun firing.

The re-enactment of Winslow’s shooting took place when Dapolito, now 41, was telling authorities that he was high on cocaine when the gun accidentally went off and killed his wife on March 16, 2010. The defense in his murder trial is now arguing that Winslow, 30, was the victim of a dispute between Dapolito, who had turned to drug dealing, and his suppliers.

On Thursday, the prosecution presented the jury with the re-enactment video and witnesses who testified that there were problems with Dapolito’s account of the accidental shooting.

If he’s convicted, Dapolito faces 25 years to life in prison.

In the video, Dapolito demonstrates various positions he and Kelly Winslow may have been in before and after she was killed by a gunshot wound to the head. The gloved hands of detectives take measurements, camera flashes illuminate the bathroom and the cat wanders in during the re-enactment.

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The video camera follows Dapolito to other parts of his Limington home: the master bedroom attached to the bathroom and the basement where Dapolito initially placed Winslow’s body in a freezer before bringing it to his father’s property in Upton, in western Maine. At times, Dapolito holds his head in his hands, cries and twists the wedding ring his finger.

Dapolito was seated in the courtroom close to the video screen. He wiped his eyes with his hands — a gold band is still on his left hand — while it played and reached for a tissue during a break.

Investigators brought in a specialist from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives because there were big questions about the position of the shooter and Winslow, said Herb Leighton, a state police homicide detective. Some of the information investigators had from the bathroom indicated that Dapolito had direct knowledge of what took place, but that what he said about the gun’s position was inconsistent with the evidence, Leighton said.

Gregory Klees, the ATF specialist, testified that the bullet’s path through Winslow’s head and the vanity cabinet door before it hit the drain trap indicated that the gun could not have been in the position Dapolito described being in before falling asleep.

The prosecution showed the jury photos of a Styrofoam head on the bathroom floor with rod indicating the bullet’s path, some with Klees demonstrating possible body positions for the shooter. When they questioned Klees, defense attorney David Van Dyke and Assistant Attorney General David Macomber each got down on the floor in front of the jury box to demonstrate the positions they were discussing.

Klees said the shooter could have had his right shoulder against the floor and under his torso, but that would require a very awkward wrist position.

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He pointed out that in a photo of himself in this position, his finger could barely reach the trigger.

More likely is that the shooter’s chest was off the floor, his torso propped up with his right forearm, Klees said.

Klees also testified that the downward tilt of Winslow’s head would have been very uncomfortable for sleeping. He said something — which could have been a firearm — applied pressure to her head to put it in that position.

The defense has described Dapolito as turning to drug dealing after he lost his job as a specialist in pipe gauges for the oil industry.

Van Dyke said that Dapolito clung to his accidental shooting story until after a June 2010 meeting at which authorities raised the possible role of the drug trade in Winslow’s death. Van Dyke said he learned of Dapolito’s drug business later from one of Dapolito’s daughters. The lawyer said Dapolito abandoned his account of the accidental shooting when he realized that authorities already knew about his drug activities.

Dapolito had initiated the June 2010 meeting because he wanted to counter authorities’ assertions that Winslow’s death was an act of domestic violence, Van Dyke said.

In the audio recording played for the jury, Dapolito describes Winslow as his “hippie chick” whom he treated like a princess. He says their cocaine use brought them closer together because it served as a “truth serum” that prompted long discussions in which they poured out their feelings. He says they decided to get married – which they did in December 2009 in Mexico – as a result of their deepened relationship.

Dapolito responds with a profanity when asked about whether Winslow had threatened to inform on him to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Dapolito’s voice sounds angry when a detective asks him about being controlling or jealous and offers that he “shared” Kelly. They were swingers, he said, and often spent time at Platinum Plus, a Portland strip club where she had worked.

In regard to the handcuff found on Winslow’s body, Dapolito says that she initially wanted to try them as an experiment on a date night. He says Winslow later started handcuffing them together because she was insecure and wanted to be attached to him. He denies ever using them to prevent her from leaving the house.


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