HOUSTON – After firing his court-appointed attorneys on Thursday, a man accused of killing the mother of his children represented himself in court Friday.
Jason Bouchard has been accused of setting fire to Terri Sanvicente's home, then beating her to death with a crowbar.
Prosecutors said on Christmas Eve in 2009, Bouchard beat the mother of his children to death with a crowbar, as their northwest Harris County home burned.
The couple's three children, all under 10 years old at the time, survived.
Bouchard often rambled, struggling to ask direct questions to a fire investigator on the witness stand. Bouchard was trying to explain that the fire set didn't contribute to Sanvicente's death. When Judge David Mendoza stopped him and said, "You need to ask questions."
When talking about the arson investigation, Bouchard eventually asked the fire marshal investigator, "Were there any tests that could've been ran, but weren't?"
Holmes said no. Bouchard had no further questions.
In a 2010 letter written from the Harris County Jail to the Houston Chronicle, Bouchard claimed, "Killing Terri Sanvicente was my only option left before too much time under Terri Sanvicente's manipulation and influence forever took them down a path of future self hatred by the kids."
Bouchard has pleaded not guilty to capital murder. If Bouchard is convicted, he faces up to life in prison.