Trial begins for husband accused in brutal murder of Lynn teacher

LYNN, Mass. — A Revere man is on trial for the brutal murder of his wife.

The Lynn elementary school teacher was viciously beaten and slashed to death in her Revere home.

Now, two years later, her husband is on trial and the details are tough to hear.

In September 2017 Andrew McCormack found the body of his wife Vanessa in the couple’s home. But now he is on trial for first degree murder.

The prosecutor said in opening statements that there were so many injuries inflicted on the victim that this was a case of "over-kill."

McCormack got emotional at the defense table, wiping his eyes and his face as the prosecutor outlined the evidence for the jury.

Authorities say she suffered blunt force trauma on her face, slash marks on her neck, she was possibly strangled and that her body was cleaned with bleach.

The prosecutor said, right from the beginning McCormack lied about the case.

"He claimed that he saw first a trash bag that was left on her head," Prosecutor Ian Polumbaum said. "A trash bag from the kitchen waste can that was about half full with everyday kitchen garbage. That he was the one that found it on top of her head as she layed face down and pulled it off to see if his wife was still alive. And you will learn that wasn’t true. The first firefighter who arrived on the scene was the one who took the bag off her head."

But the defense attorney told the jury there is no physical evidence tying McCormack to his wife’s murder.

He is asking the jury to keep an open mind.

The first witness called to the stand was the victim’s heartbroken mother.

[Husband denies brutally killing Lynn elementary school teacher]

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