His hands, her hands. Jurors are scrutinizing intriguing photos of both the victim’s and the accused murderer’s hands as the sensational Soho House tub-strangle trial grinds towards the end of its first full day of deliberations.
Both his-and-hers sets of hand photos are bad for accused murderer Nicholas Brooks, 27, who is accused of strangling and drowning his swimsuit designer girlfriend in a bathtub at the exclusive hotel.
Brooks’ hands showed red discoloration at the knuckles — bruises, prosecutors believe, from his December, ’10, attack on beautiful Sylvie Cachay, 33. Brooks has suggested through his lawyer that the red marks could be a “skin condition.”
Then there are the photos of Cachay’s meticulously manicured, lifeless hands.They show but one small bruise, on the right wrist and not a chip of dark purple polish missing — despite Brooks’ claims to cops that she had been so “pilled out” before her “accidental” bathtub drowning that she’d fallen repeatedly on her steps and in her shower before going with him to the hotel.
Prosecutors have asked jurors to ponder how anyone could fall so frequently onto concrete and porcelain without bruising a hand, or a knee or elbow for that matter.
Jurors today have also asked for testimony read backs from both sides’ forensics experts, along with read backs of police testimony concerning Brooks’ question en route to Central Booking: “How much can I get for this.”