MELROSE, Fla. — *Warning: This story contains graphic content*
The trial of Mark Wilson accused of the first-degree murder of 14-year-old Tayten Baker and 12-year-old Robert Baker, began Tuesday with opening statements and witness testimony. He is also being charged with burglary with assault or battery, and one count of burglary while armed.
Wilson faces the death penalty if convicted on the murder charges, but due to Florida law, the jury must unanimously choose death for Wilson to receive a death sentence.
An emotional, and at times very graphic, day of testimony shed light on why the Putnam County Sheriff said the crime scene at the family's home in Melrose was one of the most "horrific" he had ever seen.
Opening statements by Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Duton, testimony by the boys mother, Sarah Baker and bloody crime scene photos recreated the story of the day the boys were found dead in August of 2020.
Police reports show that family told police Wilson and his wife, Cynthia (referred to by Wilson as Cindy) were frequent drug users. They were often struggling, according to testimony, and Cynthia's sister -- Sarah Baker -- took them in when they fell on hard times.
In court Monday, Baker testified that Wilson, his wife and their young daughter were living on their property, and it was the eighth time she had invited them to stay. Her sister had been living in a flea-infested apartment with no utilities, Baker said, and she was newly pregnant, so she wanted her to have somewhere safe to go.
The night before the boys were killed, she said she saw Wilson sharpening a knife. When she was asked if she recognized the knife used in the murder, she said it was the same one.
Baker found the boys dead in pools of blood early in the morning, after she had just woken up. She tried to run to her sister for help, banging on the outside of the shed where she was living, but no one answered.
She then drove to her father's house, screaming that the boys had been murdered. She says her father's wife asked her "Are you positive? You're not having a bad dream?"
The prosecution says both boys were beaten with a hammer and had their throats slashed with a filet knife.
Robert, the younger brother, was found with his throat slit "end to end," Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Duton said in court Tuesday. She said he was nearly decapitated.
Sarah Baker testified that was how she found Robert, with his head contorted.
Tayten, the older brother, had four slash wounds on his neck, Duton said, meaning either the killer had tried to slash his throat multiple times or had been "sawing" at his neck.
A crime scene analyst testified that Tayten was found near a phone charger plugged into the wall. Duton said he was inches away from reaching his mother's cellphone when he died.
An arrest warrant for Wilson shows that he confessed to the crime in a recorded call with his mother. Duton said in her opening statement that he told his mother that "he thought Cindy wanted him to do it," and "he did it to protect his family."
Wilson told his mother that Cindy was supposed to help him to kill the rest of the family, but she "didn't do her part," Duton said.
Duton also said that Wilson told his mother: "I wasn't pissed. I wasn't even upset when I did it. I thought I had to protect my family."
Wilson's attorney says he shows remorse
In her four-minute opening statement, Assistant Public Defender Rosemarie Peoples said Wilson can be described as a "comforter, hard lover, father, father figure."
Wilson "always wanted to find love," she said, and found it in Cindy, but they fell on hard times, because "not everything can be rainbows and butterflies."
Wilson's rationale for killing Tayton and Robert was that he "believed the boys molested his daughter," Peoples said.
She told the courtroom that when admitting to the crime, Wilson was seen lowering his head "in shame," with tears on his face. "He's remorseful," she said.
Peoples argues that the murders were not pre-meditated and should not be treated as a first-degree murder case.
In the state of Florida, only first-degree murder is punishable by the death penalty.
Wilson's trial will resume Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.