Palo Alto Lounge Owner Accused In Murder Takes Stand
SAN JOSE (BCN) -- The trial of Palo Alto hookah lounge owner Bulos "Paul" Zumot, accused of strangling his girlfriend and setting her body ablaze, was brought to a tense standstill Wednesday when he wept for nearly five minutes on the witness stand.
When asked why he had chosen to testify in his own defense, Zumot, clad in a dark suit and tie, replied, "Because I'm innocent."
Four weeks into the trial, Zumot stepped up to the witness stand because "There are a lot of things that need to be covered that we haven't covered yet."
The 37-year-old owner of Da Hookah Spot faces a maximum of 33 years to life in prison for charges of murder and arson in connection with the death of 29-year-old real estate agent Jennifer Schipsi.
Prosecutors claim the couple had a history of domestic abuse, and that Zumot killed Schipsi and then set their Addison Avenue home on fire with her body inside on Oct. 15, 2009.
He spent much of the testimony, at times nervous and emotional, attempting to contradict those claims as he outlined the events leading up to the night of Oct. 14, 2009, when he and Schipsi had gotten into a fight following his 36th birthday celebration at a restaurant in Sunnyvale.
Zumot described the relationship as volatile almost from the beginning. He said it was like "a roller coaster. Every day, up and down."
He said he and Schipsi got into their first major fight in February 2008, four months after they met at a gym at San Jose's Santana Row. Though Zumot said he could not recall what the argument was about, he claimed Schipsi had attempted to run him over and that he had become upset and kicked her car.
Schipsi retaliated by filing a police report, but a week later she sent him an e-mail saying she loved and missed him, Zumot said.
He recounted another fight they had the following month at Santana Row, where he admitted to calling Schipsi names and spitting at her, prompting Schipsi to file a restraining order against him in civil court and accuse him of making harassing phone calls.
He pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to three years of probation and was required to take 52 domestic violence classes.
They took a break until October 2008, when Schipsi showed up at the hookah lounge and asked for him, Zumot said.
He said she sent him an e-mail telling him that she regretted filing the restraining order, explained it was a misunderstanding, and said that it was actually a neighbor who was making the harassing calls.
She said she loved him and that she would request to have the order modified to allow "peaceful contact," Zumot said.
One of Schipsi's emails was displayed on a screen for jurors and struck an emotional chord with Zumot, who covered his face with his right hand and wept softly for several minutes.
He said that at the end of 2008, Schipsi had become increasingly controlling and jealous to the point of breaking his phone and throwing a set of keys at his face, causing a large wound above his right eye, after she read a text from his ex-girlfriend wishing him a merry Christmas.
She initially ran away to her parents' house, but was later arrested and charged, Zumot said. He said he bailed her out, hired her an attorney, and changed his story so that the charges against her would be dropped.
Zumot said Schipsi would get jealous of his female friends on Facebook and of customers at the hookah lounge. When they had arguments, she would threaten to go to the police, which he took seriously because he was on probation, he said.
When she asked him to stop spending time with his friend Joe Martinez, Zumot said he listened to her.
"I loved her and wanted to do what she wanted," he said.
The pattern of fighting and then making up came to define the couple's relationship, Zumot said, but in March 2009, he told Schipsi he didn't think the relationship was working out and suggested that they go their separate ways.
In September 2009, the two of them went on a camping trip to Lake Camanche, and things between them went "back to normal," Zumot said.
He said that at the same time, Schipsi began telling him that she was depressed because of the bad economy and that she was unable to function at work.
Text messages from Schipsi shown in court indicate she was unhappy with the relationship. In one message she wrote, "Don't take this as me hurting u but no ring pls (sic)."
But in October, they talked about making the relationship work and had even planned to get engaged, Zumot said.
He said the birthday dinner at DishDash, his favorite restaurant, was a surprise from Schipsi and that they had had a "great time."
In the car on the way to the hookah lounge after dinner, Schipsi reached over from the back seat and showed him a text message sent by their friend Jaber Al-Suwaidi, Zumot said.
He said he looked at the message and then tossed the phone back toward her because he was upset with Al-Suwaidi for ignoring him on his birthday and didn't want to talk to him.
Zumot said that at one point he told her to "shut up," but that he said it jokingly.
"She got upset," he said. "She was not happy. She started crying."
When they arrived at the hookah lounge, Zumot said he quickly went inside. Later, when he looked for Schipsi and couldn't find her, he figured she went home. He said he called her a few times, but that she didn't answer.
Later that night, he said Schipsi sent him angry text messages, but that it was "not a big deal."
"When we were mad at each other, we called each other names," he said. "It was just a disagreement."
He said he and his friend Victor Chaalan went next door to Bella Luna and played poker.
Zumot will continue his testimony Friday morning.
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