Trial begins for man who claimed panhandler killed wife

BALTIMORE — A trial has begun for a man accused of killing his wife and blaming her death on a Baltimore panhandler.

Keith Smith told police that his wife, Jacquelyn, was trying to give money to a panhandler when she was robbed and fatally stabbed in 2018. But The Baltimore Sun reports that Assistant State’s Attorney Shaundria Hanna told a jury Thursday that as Smith repeated his story "inconsistencies became apparent."

Prosecutors began presenting their case Thursday.

Smith is charged with first-degree murder and weapons offenses.

Smith’s defense attorney Natalie Finegar told jurors that inconsistencies don’t prove he killed his wife.