Closing arguments set in slaying of 87-year-old Edgewood mother

Apr. 23—Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday in the murder trial of an Edgewood man accused of stabbing his adoptive mother to death in 2021.

Brian Farley, 53, told the judge he did not wish to take the stand in his own defense and his attorney said the defense will present no evidence or other witnesses in the case. That leaves only closing arguments — scheduled to take place Wednesday morning — still to come in the trial before jurors begin their deliberations.

Since the trial started April 18 in District Court, jurors have heard from about a half-dozen state witnesses, including several police officers who testified they responded to a 911 call from Farley saying his mother had hurt herself with a knife. They arrived to find Felita Marlene Farley, 87, dead on the floor of one of the home's bathrooms.

Jurors saw dozens of gruesome photos of the crime scene, including images of the dead woman's body dressed only in underwear, facedown on the floor near the toilet with smears and splashes of blood on and around her body. She had been stabbed about 15 times on her toros, arms and hands, according to photos of her body taken after it had been turned over to the state Office of the Medical Investigator.

The state also showed the jury pictures of what prosecutors say was the murder weapon, a 12-inch kitchen knife found in the kitchen sink covered in blood.

While the photographs may have given jurors an idea of how Felita Marlene Farley was killed, little evidence has been presented during the trial as to why her adoptive son might have killed her. After the state rested its case, Farley's attorney Jonathan Schildgen motioned the court for a "directed verdict," arguing the state had failed to present evidence of premeditation.

District Judge T. Glenn Ellington denied the motion after Chief Deputy District Attorney Anthony Long argued, in part, testimony that Brian Farley stood to inherit his mother's house — where they both lived — and the 10 acres of land the home sits on "clearly shows motive."

"A deliberate intention may be inferred from all of the facts and circumstances of the killing," Long said. "The number and types of injuries inflicted upon the victim were of a personal nature."

Long said stab wounds, unlike gunshot wounds, need to be inflicted up close.

"She had five stab wounds to the torso," Long said. "One of those fractured a rib. There were 10 other cuts on her arms and hands, all defensive."

Felita Farley and her late husband, Matthew Nicholas Farley — to whom she was married for 65 years before his death in 2020 — adopted Brian Farley and his two brothers in 1977, according to testimony Tuesday. Brian Farley would have been 7 or 8 at the time.

Brian Farley told police his mother had been shooting at him and a shotgun was found in the home. But the weapon fell apart in the hands of the officer who attempted to collect it as evidence, according to Long, and several officers, including one who was a firearms instructor, were unable to put the weapon back together.

An FBI agent testified the agency was later able to reassemble the weapon and it did function.

Prosecutors pointed to a lack of bullet holes in the home as evidence the gun hadn't been fired and suggested Farley planted it on his mother's bed in order to make it appear he'd killed her in self-defense.

However, Schildgen noted, some shotguns shoot cartridges that contain buckshot — many small projectiles — as opposed to a single bullet, meaning a lack of bullet holes wasn't proof the weapon hadn't been fired.