In Joseph Cupita’s last moments, his live-in companion was kneeling on his chest, suffocating him, and smothering his face with a pillow as the 81-year-old man grappled for his life, according to a picture painted by a prosecutor during a preliminary hearing for Lynne Nicole Feurer on Friday.

Prosecutor Elaine McCleaf presented witnesses who said tiny hemorrhages in Cupita’s face and chest areas showed he died of asphyxiation. Bite wounds on his hands and arms and scratches from his own fingernails on his face indicated he was trying to fight off his attacker when he died. There was also blood on his pillow, according to testimony.

Continuing – Lynn Nicole Feurer

About time . .

A Pacific Grove woman accused of suffocating her husband will be unshackled and in street clothes when she faces preliminary hearing Friday.

Judge James Cadle granted the motion by the defense attorney for Lynne Nicole Feurer, 65. Frank Dice argued that forcing Feurer to appear shackled and in orange-and-white-striped jail garb conveys an image of guilt.

Lynne Nicole Feurer Can Change Wardrobe

A judge refused Wednesday to lower the bail for a Seaside High School teacher accused of murdering her elderly male companion.

Visiting Judge Arjuna Saraydarian rejected a bail-reduction motion by the attorney for Lynne Nicole Feurer, 65, who was arrested by Pacific Grove police late last month.

Feurer is accused of killing Joseph Cupita, 81, at the couple’s home May 29. She has been held in jail on $1 million bail since being charged with Cupita’s death.

Defense attorney Frank Dice argued that her bail be lowered, citing her background in the community. He presented several letters from community members who said she is a good person.

No Bail Reduction For Lynne Nicole Feurer

Pacific Grove police arrested a longtime Seaside High School teacher Tuesday in connection with the city’s first homicide since 2002.

Lynne Nicole Feurer, 65, known to friends and neighbors as Nicole, was arrested on homicide charges about 10:30 a.m. after officers found 81-year-old Joseph Francis Cupita dead in a duplex shared by the two in the 300 block of Eighth Street.

Feurer was first picked up by Monterey police at the London Bridge Pub near Wharf No. 2, after she reportedly told a visiting newlywed she killed her husband, said bartender Jason Wallace, who was on duty that night.

P.G. Woman Accused Of Slaying Spouse