Daughters testify in Podnebennyy trial

The Podnebennyy murder trial resumed Monday with presentations of forensic evidence, as well as testimony by the daughters of the accused.

Vladimir Podnebennyy, 64, is charged in the stabbing death of his wife, Natalya Podnebennaya, in October 2015. The court is seeking verdicts on charges of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime.

The trial started Friday in the Centre County Courthouse with opening arguments by Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller and defense attorney Karen Muir, as well as testimony by the first responders on the day of the incident. Podnebennyy, who does not speak English, has been aided by an interpreter throughout the trial.

Testimony opened Monday with the forensic findings of Dr. Harry Kamerow, who performed the autopsy on Natalya Podnebennaya. Kamerow also testified for the county in the Alois Kudlach murder trial in August.

Muir initially objected to Kamerow’s testimony, calling his status as an expert witness into question because he is not certified in forensic pathology. Kamerow argued that his role as an anatomical pathologist provides the necessary training to perform forensic examinations.

President Judge Thomas King Kistler ruled that the court would accept Kamerow’s testimony.

Presenting photographs of the wounds found on Podnebennaya’s body, Kamerow testified that the cause of death was stab wounds to the heart; the manner was homicide. He pointed out two wounds, one that lacerated the right ventricle of her heart and one that lacerated her left pulmonary vein — wounds that on their own, he said, would be fatal to a person.

The jury also saw photographs of lacerations on Podnebennaya’s hands, which Kamerow said were “consistent with defensive wounds.”

Centre County Women’s Resource Center shelter services Director Amy Rumbel testified that the center offers counseling and shelter to victims of domestic and sexual violence, and that Podnebennaya had visited the center and had been using their services for about a month prior to the incident.

Center Executive Director Anne Ard said it is unusual for center workers to testify in court. The center provides complete confidence to anyone who seeks out their services, she said, however, confidentiality ends at the point of death.

Podnebennyy’s daughters, who asked not to be named during the trial, delivered emotional testimony involving the relationship between their parents prior to the incident.

The oldest daughter said her father had contacted her multiple times asking her to persuade her mother to return to him. She described her father during that time as “upset and depressed that his marriage was crumbling.”

Her father had visited her the week before the incident and called her the day of the stabbing to tell her what he had done. Because her father doesn’t speak English, she said she made the call to the State College police that eventually brought officers to the residence.

The younger daughter, speaking through a translator, said calls from her father to her had become more frequent after her parents’ separation, and he would only talk about convincing her mother to return every time he called. She said she brought the issue up to her mother, but that she had “made a firm decision” to leave him.

She said she spoke to her father one time after the incident, following her mother’s funeral. She testified her father told her that “things were going in this direction anyway,” before she hung up.

State College police Detective John Aston presented electronic evidence gathered from cellphones collected from both Podnebennyy and Podnebennaya, as well as an iPad recovered at the residence. According to his testimony, Podnebennyy had attempted to call or left messages for his wife about 145 times in the week leading up to the incident.

He had also left dozens of text messages over Skype in the days prior to the incident, Aston testified.

While the trial is scheduled to continue through Friday, Kistler said the court expects testimony to be complete by Tuesday. The trial will resume at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Daughters testify in Podnebennyy trial."