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Defense witness: Sullivan was getting ready to leave drug-dealing boyfriend

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Accused killer Timothy Verrill is surrounded by court security as he gets ready to leave the courtroom on Monday. (Rochester Voice photos)

DOVER - The defense in the Timothy Verrill murder trial called its first witness on Monday, a longtime friend of Christine Sullivan who told the court when she last spoke to Sullivan over the phone in the weeks leading up to her death Sullivan told her she was separating from longtime boyfriend and convicted drug dealer Dean Smoronk.

Elizabeth Pendy, of Cape Coral, Fla., who testified she met Sullivan in 2012, said Sullivan was also hopeful Smoronk would take a plea deal in a South Caroline drug case from 2014 in which they were both arrested on drug trafficking charges. She said as a result of the plea deal she hoped to go free.

Elizabeth Pendy testifies on Monday about her relationship with Christine Sullivan

Verrill, 37, of Dover, is facing two first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Christine Sullivan, 48, of Meaderboro Road, Farmington, and Jenna Pellegrini, 32, of Barrington. The trial is now in its ninth day. He faces life in prison without parole if found guilty.

Just prior to Pendy taking the stand, Verrill's defense team asked again that the court dismiss the case due to the state's lack of evidence, but Judge Steven M Houran denied the motion as well as a motion to dismiss due to mismanaged and incomplete discovery items supplied by state police investigators.

While Houran's orders on how to ensure a fair defense in light of discovery miscues by state police are still incomplete, he said on Monday it will include an order by the Attorney General's office to order all pertinent correspondence to be immediately sent to defense lawyers by state police.

He also said the defense will be able to recall prosecution witnesses and that interviews from Florida witness will also be shown to jurors after they are vetted to make sure they don't contain hearsay.

The defense will also be able to call witnesses not previously on their witness list.

Pendy she had never been friends with Smoronk, who had a second home in Cape Coral, but learned he and Sullivan were dating in 2015.

She said after Sullivan moved to Farmington she rarely saw her but kept in contact by text and phone.

Pendy said the last time she saw Sullivan was in July 2016, adding she seemed troubled.

"She was anxious, not her happy self," Pendy said.

She said during that last face-to-face meeting Sullivan and her worked on their energy and their chakras.

"She was using a pendulum and trying to reach her late father," Pendy said.

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