Witchcraft, ex-girlfriend discussed in Christina Morris kidnapping trial

It was a strange day of testimony at the Christine Morris kidnapping trial Wednesday filled with talk of witchcraft, olive jars and a jilted girlfriend.

Prosecutors wanted to show the jury the contents of an olive jar that was found inside Enrique Arochi’s shoe in his room. An investigator said it smelled of cinnamon, had an oily substance and pieces of paper that had been written on.

One investigator said she Googled it and searches told her it was related to hechizo or witchcraft. But ultimately, the judge said she was not qualified to testify about that and wouldn't allow opening the mysterious jar as evidence.

Arochi’s ex-girlfriend also took the stand. She said he originally lied to her about where he was the night Morris disappeared two years ago.

Rand Aridi testified Arochi told her via text that he had a headache and was going to bed early. She last heard from him at 10:44 p.m. on the night of Aug. 29, 2014.

The two were dating at the time, but she said she didn’t like to hang out with his group of friends and didn’t approve of the things they were in to. She also suspected he may have had a thing with another girl in the group.

Aridi testified that she went out with Arochi the following night. He was calm and quiet, but she noticed scratches on his knuckles. Arochi told her he got hurt while working on the rims of his Camaro.  According to an arrest warrant affidavit, he told co-workers he had been in a fight.

She didn't know that Arochi was linked to Morris's disappearance until about a week later when detectives showed up to talk to her. He told her he walked Morris to the parking garage that night. He said he went to his car, and she went to hers.

Aridi said throughout the investigation, her ex-boyfriend always reassured her that he had nothing to do with Morris’ disappearance. He told her, “It’s a sad situation.”

Also on Wednesday, one detective testified about finding pieces of grass under Arochi's car during a search in October. The defense pointed out that contradicted another detective's testimony that the underside was absurdly clean when he tried to install a tracking device in September.

Yet another detective told jurors he found sticky notes in Arochi’s trash with bullet points in Spanish referring to a black shirt, text messages from Aug. 29 and bank and cellphone bills. He also found a bottle of OdoBan, multi-surface cleaner and a used roll of black Gorilla tape.

Then late in the day an investigator testified that she used an alternate light source to look for signs of bodily fluids in Arochi's car. She said she found nothing of forensic value.

The judge ordered someone to check Arochi’s vitals during the lunch break because he complained he was not feeling well. A nurse determined he was okay to continue in court.

He faces up to life in prison if convicted of aggravated kidnapping.