SAN DIEGO — Testimony continued Tuesday in the murder trial of former TikTok star Ali Abulaban.
Abulaban is accused in the shooting deaths of his wife, 28-year-old Ana Abulaban, and 29-year-old Rayburn Barron, a man she was reportedly seeing, in an East Village high rise in October of 2021.
On Tuesday, four people took the stand, including San Diego Police homicide Sergeant Christopher Leahy.
He described social media messages between Abulaban and his wife in the days leading up to the killings, reading them aloud to the court.
"You don't even treat me a wife should be treated. You want me to be your slave. Someone else can be that for you," Ana wrote.
The couple was having marital problems, with Ana urging Abulaban to move out of their East Village apartment so she could move back in with their five year old daughter, including in one conversation the two shared just three days before Ana was killed.
“'My sweet Ana, I have let you down.' Ana responds, 'Yes I am.' And then Ana told Ali, 'you gotta move out, you're driving me crazy. I need a place to stay with your daughter and I'm done with this,'” Sergeant Leahy read.
Abulaban moved out shortly after and was staying in a hotel.
Prosecutors say on the morning of the shooting, he returned to the apartment using a copy of a key he made, where he vandalized the unit, threw Ana's clothes down the trash shoot, then installed an app on their daughter's Ipad that allowed him to monitor live audio.
While listening to the app later that day, Abulaban overheard his wife and Barron talking and laughing.
That's when police say he drove to the complex and opened fire on the victims as they sat on a couch.
A neighbor's Nest camera captured the sound of six gunshots.
Abulaban's defense doesn't deny he committed the killings, but argued he wasn't thinking rationally due to the collapse of his marriage and the effect it had on his mental health.
In particular, Abulaban was upset over suspicions his wife had moved on with someone else.
Sergeant Leahy described Abulaban's demeanor during an interview following his arrest, saying it appeared as though rage played a role in this crime — not mental health.
“Ali was articulate. He wasn't telling us he was hearing audible voices directing or telling him to do things,” said Sergeant Leahy.
The prosecutor asked, “Did you see any tears coming out of his eyes?”
“No. Not real ones,” said Sergeant Leahy.
This trial will likely last through next week.
Abulaban is expected to take the stand.
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