Former Norwich Police Sgt. Jonathan Ley testified Wednesday that when Patrick Antoine showed up at the lobby of the Norwich Police Department on the morning of June 2, 2016, his initial concern was that the man was injured.

Antoine was wearing flip flops, bloodied pajama bottoms and a shirt but Ley testified from the stand in New London Superior Court that his concern for Antoine’s physical well-being quickly pivoted to the safety of Antoine’s wife.

“I asked him what happened and he told me he killed his wife,” Ley said under questioning from State’s Attorney Paul Narducci.

The body of Antoine’s pregnant wife, 37-year-old Margarette Mady, was found that same morning by firefighters in the burning Franklin Street apartment she shared with Antoine.

Narducci elicited testimony from police and firefighters during the first day of Antoine’s murder trial.

Antoine is charged with murder, first-degree arson and assault on a pregnant woman resulting in the termination of pregnancy. Antoine, who police said confessed to starting the fire, faces up to 110 years in prison if convicted.

Antoine’s attorney, Robert F. Kappes, is pursuing an insanity defense and a ruling of “not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect” which would allow Antoine to be committed to the Whiting Forensic Hospital instead of prison. Antoine claims he feared he would be sacrificed and that his wife was a voodoo priestess who was casting spells on him. He was briefly found incompetent to stand trial but has since been “restored,” after treatment.

Medical testimony from both the defense and prosecution related to Antoine’s mental health is expected on Thursday.

Antoine, who is a Haitian native and listening to testimony with aid from a Creole interpreter, has opted for a three-judge panel, judges Ernest Green Jr., Shari A. Murphy and Hillary Strackbein, rather than a jury.

Present in the courtroom on Wednesday were more than a dozen members of Mady’s extended family, including her uncle from Norwich and son from Pennsylvania. The family declined to comment.

First to the witness stand was a Norwich firefighter who described the discovery of the body of Antoine’s wife inside her burning second-floor apartment.

City of Norwich Fire Department Lt. Christopher Paige recalled his response to the fire at the multi-family home at 283-285 Franklin St. Paige forced his way into the home and said he located the bedroom that was on fire. But after prying the locked bedroom door open, Paige said the door only moved six to eight inches before it was stopped by an obstruction.

Paige testified he dropped to the floor in the smoke-filled apartment and reached to feel for the obstacle when he touched Mady’s lifeless body. Paige shimmied into the room to find a mattress on fire. He shielded Mady’s body from the flames before carrying her out with fellow firefighters.

Mady, who was eight months pregnant, was later pronounced dead at the scene. A medical report shows she was stabbed multiple times.

Meanwhile, at the Norwich Police Department, Antoine’s clothes were seized as evidence and detectives started a criminal investigation.

Former Norwich Police Det. Kevin Wilbur, testified that he learned that Antoine worked in the housekeeping department at Foxwoods Resort Casino and Antoine alleged “his wife was making him sick all of the time.”

Wilbur said Antoine told him that’s his wife’s child was not his, that she had cast spells on him and believed his wife to be a voodoo priestess. Wilbur said Antoine also believed that because of a deal his wife made with the devil, that he would be sacrificed before the baby was born. Wilbur said Antoine also mentioned his uncle had cast spells on him.

Antoine’s signed confession was accepted as evidence in the trial.

G.smith@theday.com