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Man convicted of murdering a Connecticut woman whose young daughter has never been found

Jose Morales listens to testimony on the fourth day of his murder trial at Milford Superior Court, in Milford, Conn. April 10, 2025.
Ned Gerard
/
Connecticut Post / Getty Images
Jose Morales listens to testimony on the fourth day of his murder trial at Milford Superior Court, in Milford, Conn. April 10, 2025.

A Connecticut jury on Tuesday convicted a man of murder and evidence tampering in the 2019 killing of his girlfriend, while the disappearance of their young daughter remains a mystery.

Jose Morales, 48, of New Haven, faces 25 to 65 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 8 for the beating death of Christine Holloway inside her home in Ansonia, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of New Haven.

Morales testified at the trial in Milford that he did not kill Holloway. He said he, Holloway and their daughter, Vanessa, who was 14 months old at the time, were in Holloway's apartment when two intruders broke in. He said one of the intruders attacked Holloway with a crowbar and he was assaulted before they kidnapped Vanessa, who has never been found. Morales also said he was high on PCP at the time.

Days after the killing, authorities issued an Amber Alert for Vanessa, whose missing person case remains posted on the websites of the FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Ansonia police said in late 2019 that Morales was a suspect in Vanessa's disappearance, but he was never charged.

During closing arguments on Monday, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Howard Stein said the evidence showed that Morales repeatedly struck Holloway in the head with an object and tried to cover it up by cleaning up the crime scene.

Morales' lawyer, Edward Gavin, declined to comment after the verdict. During his closing argument, he said there was no evidence that Morales had any intent to kill Holloway.

The jury began deliberating Monday afternoon and reached a verdict Tuesday morning after about two total hours of discussion.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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