Talk of past pattern debated at murder trial

A Superior Court judge will decide at the end of next week whether to allow key testimony from six victims that prosecutors say would prove their case against Tyrone Delgado.

The 38-year-old martial arts enthusiast is charged with first-degree murder and burglary in the 1999 killing of an FBI secretary in Castle Hayne.

Delgado appeared in New Hanover County Superior Court in Wilmington on Tuesday for a hearing on whether damning witness testimony should be allowed during his March trial.

District Attorney Ben David said Tuesday that when all the witness testimony against Delgado is combined, it shows that he preyed on vulnerable women he didn't know well, sexually assaulted them, choked or strangled them and then tried to hide his actions.

Thus, he did the same with Melissa Ann Galade Mooney on April 5, 1999, said David, who painted a picture of the defendant as an impulsive man who broke down Mooney's door to sexually assault her.

Her body was found partially undressed and with bruises to her legs.

"You only get a good picture when they come together," he said of the witnesses' testimony.

David also said prosecutors couldn't determine at this point whether Delgado knew Mooney.

Delgado's defense attorneys on Tuesday disputed the prosecution's statements that Delgado sexually assaulted Mooney, whom he did not know.

They argued that all witness testimony should be kept out of his trial.

"This will prejudice the jury," said Nora Hargrove, one of Delgado's two defense attorneys.

Additionally, Hargrove argued there was nothing to prove Mooney was a vulnerable woman. Moreover, out of the alleged assaults on women, Delgado was charged in connection with only one, Hargrove said.

Tuesday's hearing was a continuation of proceedings that took place last month in New Hanover County Superior Court in regard to witness testimony against Delgado.

Last month, his ex-wife, Ana Cruz, testified that he tried to kill her in a rage when she lived in Louisiana. Delgado later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and false imprisonment for the attack in that state.

Mooney, a 28-year-old divorcee, was strangled to death in her Castle Hayne home where she had just moved. Delgado's ex-wife testified last month that she and Delgado were living together on Reminisce Road - about 300 feet away from Mooney's house - when the FBI secretary was killed. Authorities said the killing was unrelated to her FBI job.

Delgado was apprehended in Louisiana six years after Mooney's killing.

"The only time he has not presented a threat to the women on this planet is when he's in jail with other men," David said.

Veronica Gonzalez: 343-2008

veronica.gonzalez@starnewsonline.com