The wife of homicide victim Jo-Jo Kolodnicki Jr. testified at a hearing Tuesday in New London Superior Court about the events of Oct. 30, 2018, when her angry and jealous husband, a popular artist and mailman in Norwich, was fatally stabbed in the parking lot of her co-worker's Colchester apartment complex.

One of the three stab wounds allegedly inflicted by the wife's co-worker, Elmar Baker, was seven inches deep and pierced Kolodnicki's heart. He was 42.

Linda Kolodnicki was one of five witnesses prosecutor Lawrence J. Tytla called to the witness stand during a probable cause hearing in Baker's murder case.

Judge Hillary B. Strackbein ruled at the conclusion of the five-hour hearing that the state presented enough evidence to show that the crime occurred and was probably committed by Baker.

The victim's parents and a large group of family members listened from the courtroom gallery to the probable cause hearing, which is sometimes referred to as a mini-trial.

The testimony revealed that Linda Kolodnicki and Baker had worked together that day, and that Jo-Jo Kolodnicki followed them as they drove in the wife's car to a car wash, food concession stand and to Baker's home at 55 Renee Drive in Colchester. The state alleges Kolodnicki confronted his wife and Baker, and that Baker retrieved a knife from his kitchen drawer and fatally stabbed Kolodnicki.

Speaking softly and with a French accent, Linda Kolodnicki said she had known Baker for a couple of months, and they worked together and at times their families socialized.

Baker, handcuffed and wearing a white T-shirt and tan prison khakis, sat at the defense table with his attorney, Carmine J. Giuliano, at times jotting down notes for his attorney and shifting in his chair during Mrs. Kolodnicki's testimony. 

She said she sometimes gave Baker rides to work and did so the morning of Oct. 30, 2018. They cleaned a flood-damaged house, removing boxes and laying things outside to dry. Afterward, they drove to a food stand to meet their boss to be paid. The boss had to go to the bank for money, and Baker worked at the food stand for part of the afternoon.

After they were paid, they went to a do-it-yourself car wash before driving back to Baker's apartment about 7:30 p.m. She saw the front of her husband's car in the parking lot as they pulled in. She stopped the car and went over to his car. He got out and yelled at her, she said.

While she and her husband spoke, the state alleges Baker went into his condominium and retrieved a wood-handled knife with a long blade that was stamped "Prince Devonshire Stainless Steel."

She said Baker approached the couple, and Joseph Kolodnicki turned to him and yelled: "What are you (expletive) doing with my wife?" Linda Kolodnicki said Baker remained calm and spoke to him in a low voice. Joseph Kolodnicki pushed Baker with both hands on his chest, she said, and she left to go into the apartment to get Baker's fiancé. As she left, she saw her husband punch Baker.

By the time she returned to the scene from the apartment, her husband was on the ground unconscious. She asked someone to call 911. Linda Kolodnicki said she was a licensed practical nurse in Canada but did not have a license in Connecticut. She started to administer CPR on her husband but stopped when police and EMTs arrived to continue trying to revive him.

Colchester police Officer Adam Regnere testified that he arrived and immediately saw a man lying face-up with a woman providing rescue help. He took over and determined the person was not breathing and had no heartbeat.

As Regnere was administering CPR, he asked people standing nearby what happened. He lifted the man's shirt and saw a deep puncture wound to his chest or upper abdomen and a smaller stab wound lower down on his left side. He applied pressure to the more serious wound, and EMTs from the Colchester Hayward Fire Department took over when they arrived on the scene.

Regnere described Linda Kolodnicki as "emotional, hysterical, obviously upset," and said she became inconsolable when EMTs pronounced her husband dead. As others attempted to comfort the woman, Regnere went into Baker's apartment.

State police troopers from Troop K in Colchester already were in the apartment, he said, and one had read Baker his rights. Regnere described Baker as dazed and unaware of the situation. Regnere said he asked him a couple questions, including where the knife was. He said Baker responded that "Jo-Jo" had approached him and then he blacked out. He said he didn't remember what happened and "had no idea" where the knife was.

Linda Kolodnicki said she didn't see anything in her husband's hands during the altercation, and also did not see Baker carrying a knife at any time that day.

Baker was detained at the scene, interviewed at the Troop K barracks and placed under arrest. He provided several versions of the incident, at one point telling police that he wrestled the knife from Kolodnicki and that Kolodnicki "fell on it" during the scuffle.

State police Eastern District Major Crime Squad Detective Frank Cuoco testified that he found the alleged murder weapon, its blade covered in blood, in an adjacent field the next day. Crime squad Detective Jennilee DiCocco testified that detectives found a matching knife, though shorter, in a kitchen drawer during a search of Baker's condo.

DiCocco, who attended the victim's autopsy, said she recovered the brown leather jacket the victim was wearing and that it had "defects" consistent to the stab wounds that Kolodnicki sustained to the upper left chest, lower left abdomen and upper left back, near the shoulder blade.

At the conclusion of Tuesday's hearing, Baker's attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. The state and defense now will engage in pretrial discussions to determine whether they can resolve the case with a plea deal. If not, the case will go to trial, where Baker may claim he acted in self-defense.

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