After eight days of prosecutors explaining how they believe Julia Enright killed her former boyfriend, Brandon Chicklis, in a treehouse near her Ashburnham home, Enright is now expected to take the stand.
After the state rested its case on Thursday afternoon, Judge Daniel Wrenn confirmed with Enright that she intends to testify starting Friday morning. He explained to her that she does have a constitutional right to not testify. Enright said she was prepared to take the stand on Friday.
Enright, 24, is accused of killing Chicklis, her former boyfriend and high school classmate, on June 23, 2018, inside the treehouse on a property adjacent to her home at 171 Packard Hill Road in Ashburnham.
Chicklis’ body was found by a jogger on July 10, 2018, in a state of decomposition on the side of Route 119 in Rindge, New Hampshire. His remains were wrapped in a blanket, a tarp, and a beige canvas sheet, medical examiner Jennie Duval previously testified, as well as placed into garbage bags that were duct-taped. A shirt with his remains had 12 slit marks.
Prosecutors have said Enright worked to create an alibi after the killing, sending text messages to Chicklis and getting sushi with her boyfriend, John Lind, later in the day after Chicklis’ death.
However, Enright’s defense argues that something different happened in the treehouse. Louis M. Badwey, Enright’s defense attorney said his client was the victim in the case and was defending herself from a rapist.
Jurors on Thursday saw a selection of text messages between Enright and Lind. On June 22, 2018, Enright asked her boyfriend “do you think we could add bubbles to a blood bath?” He said he was sure they could find a way.
She also texted Lind that she may have a surprise for him that weekend.
When the trial began, Senior First Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Travers claimed Enright killed Chicklis as a “surprise gift” for her boyfriend.
Meanwhile, Enright was messaging Chicklis on June 22, 2018. Those messages were shown to the jury previously in the trial and were brought back out on Thursday.
On June 22, Enright asked Chicklis if he was free to hang out over the weekend, an offer that came after weeks of Enright telling Chicklis she was too busy to spend time with him. She told Chicklis she hadn’t been to the treehouse in eons and said “just make sure you don’t tell anyone where you are going.”
Enright later told police that she gave Chicklis that instruction because she was concerned about Chicklis’ relationship with his girlfriend.
On June 23, 2018, at 10:20 a.m., Enright texted, “I have to attempt some things and then I should hopefully have the surprise” to Lind.
Jurors on Thursday also watched a video recording of a second police interview with Enright on July 23, 2018. The first interview, of which jurors saw a video recording last week, happened on July 13, 2018. During that interview, Enright changed her story about whether or not she saw Chicklis on June 23, 2018.
In her second time talking to police, Enright said several times that she had not gone to the treehouse with Chicklis on June 23, 2018, and that he had not been in her Prius. She asked police when she could get possession of her Prius again, which had been taken for a search earlier in July.
After insisting she needed to leave, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Douglas Grout told Enright that Chicklis’ DNA was found in the Prius and in the treehouse.
“It shouldn’t be. There’s no way,” Enright said. Grout told Enright she was going to be arrested.
The trial has included descriptions of Enright’s work as a dominatrix, photos ranging from an image of a bed with restraints to images of bones, vials of blood and decaying animals around Enright’s property, and notes and typed documents recovered from Enright’s MacBook.
One document found on the MacBook focuses on sexual obsession and admiration for a person and describes being aroused by an event.
Another document created June 28, 2018, read in part, “It was a form of a present. I did it just for him. That was my intention.”
Last week, jurors got a glimpse of the treehouse through pictures taken in 2018 by Massachusetts State Police Trooper Ali Rei. Jurors also took a visit to that site and others on Monday.
The prosecution has pointed out handles that were attached to the walls of the treehouse about 6 inches or so above the floorboards.
A former neighbor of Enright, who lived on the Packard Hill Road property that contained the treehouse, testified Tuesday that she went to clean up the treehouse in fall 2017 and again in April 2018 in hopes of using it with her three children. There were no handles in the treehouse at either point.
On Monday, a friend of Enright’s testified that Enright had said jail wouldn’t be bad because she could work out and read, making the comment both before and after the death of Chicklis.
The jury has one fewer person than when the trial commenced. Last week, Wrenn announced that one juror had tested positive for COVID-19. After talking with each juror at sidebar about whether they felt comfortable proceeding, the trial resumed.
Related Content:
- ‘I just have this insatiable curiosity to kill a person,’ Julia Enright, accused of killing Brandon Chicklis, wrote in notebook, court documents say
- Brandon Chicklis, whose blood was found in Ashburnham treehouse, suffered multiple stab wounds, prosecutor says as Julia Enright pleads not guilty to murder
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