Monique Turenne Speaks Out

Convicted murderer Monique Turenne says she had nothing to do with the death of her husband. Friday a Bay County jury found her guilty of second degree murder in the beating death of her husband, Canadian Air Force Major David Turenne. She says the jury is wrong.

Monique Turenne didn't testify in the trial, and she has never spoken publicly about her husband's death or her trial until now. Saturday night she told Newschannel 7 a different story than the one heard in her trial.

She says double lives caught up with her husband David the night he was killed by a man she says she had no intimate relationship with Ralph Crompton.

"The crush, that is so lame," says Turenne. "He was going into business with my husband. David was into extracurricular affairs." Turenne says it was not a legitimate operation. "Not at all." Turenne says Ralph and David were fighting over a business venture. "There was a business venture involved, and there was also someone else involved with the name Diablo."

That story never came out during her trial. What did come up were incriminating statements she made to Canadian authorities. Hours of questions and answers condensed into a small report she signed.

"There was no statement. If there was anything, there was one handwritten thing that they made it and that's where all those inconsistencies are," says Turenne. “I signed it because they told me if I didn't sign they were going to lock me up. I was not going to go to the funeral. I was going to be staying put."

It took two hours for the jury to find Turenne guilty of second degree murder in the death of her husband. During much of the trial, Turenne says she disagreed with her lawyer's strategy.

"We weren't able to bring forth the testimony from the Crompton trial. I was floored when all of a sudden he's (Turenne's attorney, Walter Smith) not bringing that forth and why not? It's like, I'm sorry Walter, but I don't think you did the job. You really didn't do the job. Yeah, it's a great case for appeals, but I'm not home with my kids right now."

Turenne wishes she would have testified. "I would have pushed it because he (Smith) says reasonable doubt. That's it. We don't need to go to this or that, reasonable doubt. There's so many loopholes."

Turenne had also hoped Crompton would testify but he refused once he got on the witness stand. She now faces a sentence of up to life in prison but she says she plans to appeal the verdict. Sentencing for is scheduled for August 2. Prosecutors say she will most likely have to serve 20 years in prison.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.