Derek Medina, 31, Who Killed Wife & Put Photo of Her Body on Facebook

The Florida husband accused of shooting dead his wife and then posting a photo of her dead body on Facebook has asked the judge to have the victim’s remains tested for bath salts and other illegal substances. Derek Medina's attorney Saam Zanganeh filed documents Tuesday requesting access to Jennifer Alfonso’s body.
Medina, 31, is scheduled to go on trial March 17 after being charged last month with first-degree murder in connection to the August 2013 slaying of 26-year-old Alfonso in their South Miami home.

The accused killer had previously admitted to shooting his wife six to eight times, but has since changed his story, insisting that he was acting in self-defense because Alfonso was acting erratically and violently. 

Forensic evidence gathered by investigators contradicts that claim, and shows the murdered woman was kneeling in the kitchen with one arm raised in a defensive gesture as she was executed. Mr Medina told police Alfonso punched him several times and threatened him with a knife.

According to the defense, a search of Medina and Alonso’s apartment has yelled campuses filled with synthetic ecstasy that had been stashed in a garlic supplement bottle in a kitchen cabinet, according to NBC Miami. 
'The defense’s independent lab confirmed that the capsules are Alpha PVP, commonly known as synthetic ecstasy,' stated the defense motion.
According to the court papers filed Tuesday, witness Bruce Bates gave sworn testimony that the 26-year-old wife and mother used synthetic ecstasy and other ‘illicit drugs.’

The defense also presented a video recorded inside the couple’s townhouse showing what they claim to be Alfonso opening the kitchen cabinet containing the capsules just hours before the murder, Miami Herald reported.


The Florida medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Alfonso did not test her for bath salts, prompting Medina's lawyer to ask Judge Yvonne Colodny to grant them access to the 26-year-old's blood, urine, tissue, hair and stomach content at the time of her death.

Zangenehm told CBS News that if they are able to show that Alfonso was under the influence of bath salts at the time of the deadly confrontation, it could play a 'substantial' role during the trial. 

On Wednesday, the prosecutor asked the presiding judge to grant the state more time to prepare for the defense's new motion.

Authorities previously seized a stun gun, a.380-caliber pistol and two other pistols and ammunition and a large knife from the kitchen, The Miami Herald previously reported.

Police say Medina killed 26-year-old Jennifer Alfonso during an argument. Her 10-year-old daughter from a previous relationship was not injured.
Medina appeared in court over the summer wearing a red jumpsuit and shackles around his wrists and ankles, while a judge approved a request for the preservation of evidence. 
The request allowed Mr Medina's lawyers to photograph markings such as cuts and bruises on Alfonso's body.
Three South Florida attorneys are now representing him after taking over from the Public Defender's Office, which initially represented the accused killer.
Medina is facing charges of first-degree murder after he posted a message on his personal Facebook account August 8 allegedly admitting to the murder of his wife.
'Im going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife love you guys miss you guys take care Facebook people you will see me in the news,' he wrote.

'My wife was punching me and I am not going to stand anymore with the abuse so I did what I did I hope u understand me.'
Mr Medina posted the photo apparently showing his murdered spouse lying in the kitchen with blood covering her face and left arm with the comment: 'Rip Jennifer Alfonso.'

He later told police that he shot Ms Alfonso several times after she picked up a kitchen knife, and punched and kicked him. 

In his affidavit, Mr Medina said he had pointed a gun at his wife as they argued in their bedroom.
He later confronted her in the kitchen, she said she was leaving him, according to CBS News.
The affidavit claims Ms Alfonso started to hit him so he went back upstairs for the gun as she reached for a kitchen knife. 


He was able to disarm his wife, but when she started to punch him again he shot her several times, he told police.
'They are making my son out to be a monster and it was the other way around,' the accused killer's father Derek Medina Sr told the Miami Herald. 'She pushed him to the point of insanity.'

The murder suspect reportedly confessed to killing his wife to his father.
The victim's family described Mr Medina as controlling, claiming that he pressured her to leave her job.
One man, who would give his name only as Joe, said her husband was prone to violent outbursts.

He claimed he once saw Mr Medina threaten a woman with a gun after she accidentally spilled beer, and said he used to stalk members of a softball team they both played on.
The post and shocking photo of his murdered wife remained on Facebook for five hours before Mr Medina's profile was taken down.

Officers who were dispatched to the couple's home discovered Ms Alfonso's bullet riddled body in a pool of blood.

The woman in the picture was bent over backwards at the knees wearing black leggings, with her head in the corner of what appears to be a kitchen..

Mr Medina was a part-time extra on the USA Network show Burn Notice.
Despite appearing only as a background extra with his head-shaved and pouting in two episodes in 2010, the wannabe star boasted online about his tiny bit-part appearances and dreamed of fame and fortune.