Wife Kills Husband Over Money, Prosecution Says

By D.C. Witness Staff - March 21, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects |

The prosecution in a murder trial used time during cross examination to prove that a wife killed her husband for financial reasons. However, the defense sought to prove the woman acted in self-defense.

Dianna Lalchan

Dianna Lalchan is charged with first-degree murder while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for allegedly shooting her 36-year-old husband, Christopher Lalchan, on the 1200 block of 4th Street, SW in 2013. The couple was married in 2008.

Christopher Lalchan

During a nearly three-day cross, the prosecution used Dianna’s email correspondences with friends and her husband to show how worried she was about the couple’s finances. According to the correspondences, Dianna tracked every expense Christopher, who did not work for periods of time within the marriage, charged. Correspondences show Dianna questioning Christopher about purchases he made that cost hundreds of dollars to a purchase that cost a little more than $3.

The prosecutor pointed out that Dianna’s meticulous control of the couple’s finances, let her know how much Christopher spent on guns and ammunition. However, Dianna claimed to not know there were more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition in the condo.

The prosecution also referenced Dianna’s emails to Christopher, often dictating tasks for him to work on or scolding him for tasks he had not completed, which she said was odd for a woman who claimed to be abused.

These weren’t the things that set him off,” Dianna said, mentioning that Christopher had triggers that made him act like he was “out of control.” Dianna said Christopher was set off if she said anything that contradicted him in public, left the marriage, reported the abuse or filed for a restraining order.

However, the prosecution said Christopher was planning to divorce Dianna and even told Dianna’s parents, who Dianna kept at a distance, about it. Apparently, Christopher also changed his relationship status on Facebook to “single,” which the prosecutor said, angered Dianna.

“I have a deep pain in my heart for the hurt and the fear I have done to you,” Christopher told Dianna through an email. According to the correspondence, he realized that the two wanted different things in life and the marriage wasn’t working.

On several emails to a co-worker, Dianna mentioned that she would have to pay Christopher money if they were to divorce before he added a sufficient amount of money to their joint bank account. She also said she couldn’t leave the condo because, if she did, it would go to Christopher. According to court documents, at the time Christopher  recently started working at Dulles Airport in Virginia. 

However, the defense later showed the jury an email Christopher sent to Dianna, saying that he was “adamant” about paying her back for all the money she spent on him. Apparently, Dianna paid for Christopher’s immigration lawyer and an education program at American University. 

After Dianna’s testimony, one of her friends, said that while she never saw any bruises or physical altercations on Dianna’s person, she did notice her demeanor change when Christopher was around. The friend said Dianna would be out with friends and that Christopher would come later and that’s when Dianna would become “timid,” “disengaged” and avoid eye contact.

The friend also told the jury that Christopher and Dianna would argue and that Christopher’s body language was “aggressive.” During one instance, the friend said the couple was arguing so loudly that the friend contemplated an intervention. 

The trial is scheduled to continue on March 21.

LaTrina Antoine contributed to this article.