Scott Werner of West Deer was willing to carry on a relationship with his estranged wife in separate living quarters for the sake of their three children — shortly before Werner allegedly killed her, Werner’s half-sister testified Tuesday. Sharon Murphy told a jury of five men and seven women that will decide Werner’s fate that her half-brother was emotionally upset on two occasions while they discussed his failing marriage. Werner, 47, is on trial in Allegheny County Court in Pittsburgh for stabbing to death his wife, Edith “Dee Dee” Werner, 36, on June 24, 2004, at their West Deer home. Werner was arrested by state police later that day in Clarion County and charged with homicide after West Deer police issued an Amber Alert when the Werners’ daughter, Marisa, went missing. He surrendered without incident, and his then 10-year-old daughter, who he had taken, was returned unharmed. His attorney has acknowledged in court that Werner killed his wife. But defense attorney Paul Boas is arguing that Werner did so while under extraordinary stress due to illness and marriage complications. Scott Werner’s state of mind at that time, Boas contends, should determine the case. The jury could find him guilty of one of four types of homicide, but prosecutors are seeking a first-degree murder conviction. Perhaps the most damning testimony of the day came when Assistant District Attorney David Spurgeon called to the stand Detective Michael Garlicki of the Allegheny County Police’s Homicide Division and Shaun Ladham, a forensic pathologist with the Allegheny County Coroner’s office. Garlicki detailed what he and other police officers found at Scott Werner’s home at 113 Reaghard Drive the day his wife was killed. Garlicki said that a large pool of blood accumulated on and under a table in the basement with four trails of blood leading to Edith Werner’s body in the middle of the room. She was bound with duct tape, which also was covering her mouth, and she had been stabbed 13 times in the chest, abdomen, back and side. Garlicki testified that blood spatter was prevalent in the basement. He said that two men’s shirts, two pairs of denim shorts, children’s clothes and towels were found in the washing machine. Tom Meyers, a DNA supervisor in the county coroner’s office, said that blood was found on a shirt, a pair of shorts and a towel. He failed to say — nor was he asked — whether that blood was that of the victim. Police also found a bloody knife with a serrated 6-inch blade and a roll of duct tape sitting in the open near Edith Werner’s body, Garlicki said. Ladham, meanwhile, described in detail the 13 stab wounds that Edith Werner suffered. Four of the six chest wounds punctured her lungs, while the other two hit her heart and liver. Scott Werner hung his head and never looked up during Ladham’s lengthy testimony, which was accompanied by photographs of Edith Werner’s wounds. Boas’ cross-examination of a state police trooper who arrested Scott Werner after he exited Interstate 80 and stopped in an auto repair shop parking lot off Route 38 could be considered a mild victory for the defense. The trooper said Scott Werner told him that he wanted to kill himself and pleaded with the trooper not to tell his daughter, Marisa, what had happened. The trial recessed for the day at about 4:30 p.m. It will resume at 9 a.m. with Boas’ cross-examination of Ladham before Boas calls his first witness.

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