The trial of Dianna Lalchan has become centered on whether she shot her husband in self defense.
Dianna, 33, is charged with first-degree murder while armed, but the defense hasn’t been able to produce evidence of domestic violence in a marriage that ended with a fatal
gunshot to the back of her husband, 36-year-old Christopher Lalchan’s head. The shooting occurred at the the Carrollsburg Condominiums located on the 1200 block of 4th Street, SW in 2013. The couple had been married since 2008.
On March 14, the murder defendant took the stand to tell the jury about the instances of domestic violence in her marriage. Dianna’s testimony is the only form of evidence in the trial, so far, that indicates she suffered domestic abuse. During their relationship, she never filed any reports or charges against her husband, nor did she follow up with medical services for wounds she received from the abuse.
“Chris was not in control of himself,” she told the jury, mentioning that during arguments he would become overwhelmed with emotion and flip out. She described the episodes as if he were turning into the Hulk, the comic book character that would start as a man whose anger converted him into an out-of-control, violent monster.
She said her husband would slap, push, shove and strangle her duing arguments but she stayed in the relationship anyway.
“I loved him. I wanted to be with him. [I] believed in him,” she told the jury. “If he wanted to hurt me, he would hurt me. He was a lot stronger than I was.”
But, she said things started to shift in 2012.
In 2012, Dianna says her sexual orientation began to change after seeing a coworker “come out” sexually.
Dianna said she discussed her sexuality with her husband, admitting that she was attracted to women. She said her husband understood, mentioning that he had struggled with his own sexual identity in the past.
Dianna said Christopher told her he was fine with her sexuality as long as she returned to him at night.
But, Dianna said Christopher started to become afraid that he was losing his wife, mentioning that the two discussed the possibility of divorce. “The relationship wouldn’t end,” she said. “We still wanted to be each other’s person.”
Dianna said she started to tell others about the abuse she was suffering, which was becoming worse.
She described one incident when she woke up with Christopher’s hand around her neck. She said he lifted her in the air and threw her around the room while holding a gun in his other hand. Dianna said the incident occurred after he read one of her journal entries. She said that incident ruined any chance the two had of being together.
Dianna also told the jury that she took photos of bruising that occurred from the abuse. However, the jury wasn’t shown any photos of Dianna with bruising.
Dianna also said she didn’t show the photos to anyone because she didn’t want to prevent Christopher from accomplishing his dreams. Apparently Christopher wanted to join the military and become a politician.
After experiencing several abusive incidents, Dianna told the jury that she began to create an exit strategy, which included sending her personal information, such as her social security card and birth certificate, to the a coworker for safe keeping. Dianna also said she tied a rope to the balcony to enable a quick exit in case Chris attacked her again, carried an extra bag that contained clothing and her work ID, slept with a pocket knife and ordered a lock to use if Christopher ever left the apartment.
By this time Dianna and her husband had settled on filing for divorce.
Dianna told the jury that the two got into another argument, this time about how to divide property, during the evening of March 27. She said that during the argument, Christopher punched the television, which was photographed by the police on a cart; broke her violin stand and threatened to kill himself with one of the four guns in the condo.
“The dynamics had changed,” she said. “I was already on edge.”
A few hours later the couple got into another argument. Dianna said Christopher charged at her, saying, “Do I need to shut you up?” She said she grabbed the gun and fired it at him.
“This time he didn’t stop,” she said, adding that she was aiming at him to stop him.
D.C. Witness reported earlier that the gun was fired three times with bullet fragments found in the living room wall, the floor and the back of Christopher’s head.
According to a blood stain analyst and crime scene reconstruction expert, Christopher was not killed by the first gunshot. Although a sequence of shots cannot be determined, the expert said that, based on blood stains on a broken piece of flooring, Chris was shot in the back of his head after a bullet hit the floor. The expert also said that Chris’s head was close to the floor, with his face down, when he was shot.
A neighbor who heard the gunshots said he had not heard an argument before they were fired.
“I didn’t want to,” Dianna told the jury. “I felt very sad and disappointed in myself and in him that we couldn’t … I was hopeful that we could get out of this and that he would be successful and achieve all [of his] dreams.”
As she said that, Dianna began crying hysterically. “It’s really complicated. He had just wanted to kill himself. It could have gone so many other ways,” she said.
The prosecution began cross-examining Dianna on March 18. The cross is scheduled to continue to March 19.
