Examination of Prosecution Witness ~Ms. Vera Arenas~

Examination of witness: Ms. Vera Arenas

Representing the State: Mr. Dragan Rajic, Esq.

Representing the accused: Ms. Lucia Moretti, Esq.

Q: Mr. Dragan Rajic

A: Ms. Vera Arenas

Excerpt:

Q. Could you describe your relationship with Dr. Tobias Kane?

A. I was his wife.

Q. Was?

A. Well, yes. Considering that he’s…

Q. Could you describe your relationship with Dr. Tobias Kane at the time of his death?

A. Married. I was married to Toby at the time of his death.

Q. Thank you. And just out of curiosity, is there any particular reason the two of you didn’t share a surname?

Ms. Moretti: Objection. Relevance.

The Court: Overruled. Ms. Arenas, please answer the question.

A. It was simply a practical consideration. I’m a novelist, and at the time when Toby and I were married, I had already published several books under my own name. My agent and I both agreed that I should keep my surname. Toby never had a problem with it.

Q. Never had, or never expressed a problem?

A. Never had.

Q. Thank you. And would you say you and Dr. Kane were… happily married? At the time of his death, I mean?

Ms. Moretti: Objection. Vague.

The Court: Sustained. Mr. Rajic, please clarify your question.

Q. Could you describe the specifics of your marriage at the time of Dr. Kane’s death? Kids? Living arrangement?

A. I’m not sure how children relate to the happiness of a marriage, but if you must know, we never had kids. Again, with mutual agreement. As for living arrangement… we were separated at the time.

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Q. Separated. For how long?

A. (pause) I think it would’ve been about a month… maybe two?

Q. Do you have a specific date you could give us?

A. No. Can’t say I remember the exact date when I moved out.

Q. September 8th, 2024. Does that sound about right?

A. (pause) I suppose it could be.

Q. Let the record show that Dr. Kane and Ms. Arenas began their separation on September 8th, 2024.

Ms. Moretti: Objection. Speculative. Relevance.

The Court: Sustained. Mr. Rajic, do you have evidence to show that September 8th was the exact date when Dr. Kane and Ms. Arenas separated?

Mr. Rajic: I do, your Honor. Should be on Page 53 of the court file.

The Court: (pause) Okay, I think I see what you’re referring to, but I’m going to need to speak to both of you about this. We’ll take a brief recess for a sidebar. Counsel, please approach the bench.

(Sidebar discussion held.)

The Court: Alright, we can proceed. Go ahead, Mr. Rajic.

Q. Thank you for your patience, Ms Arenas. To recap, at the time of Dr. Kane’s death on September 20th, you and he had been separated for nearly six weeks. This is based on the knowledge that you’d moved out on September 8th. Now, I’d say separation—no matter the reasons for it—is tricky and stressful for both parties in a marriage. Would you agree?

A. I suppose I would.

Q. Did anything happen to underscore that point? Particularly in Dr. Kane’s case? Perhaps some… unusual behavior that demonstrated he might not have adjusted to the change very well?

A. (pause) You must be referring to the lecture.

Q. The lecture. Yes. Tell us about that. Starting with the when.

A. I mean, I don’t have to search my memories for that one. It’s there for all to see. September 12th.

Q. September 12th—in other words, four days after the two of you separated—was when Dr. Tobias Kane gave what would be his final lecture at University Hall. Now, did you attend this lecture?

A. Of course not.

Q. Right. Because there’s really no reason for you to do so, given you’re not a medical student at the university. But you have seen the lecture, yes? At least in parts?

A. Yes.

Q. And how did that come about?

A. The lecture was livestreamed for E-learning. And… some of the students decided to post snippets of it on social media, where… I suppose you could say it’s gone viral.

Q. Would you, for the benefit of the jury, describe what you saw in some of these so-called snippets on social media?

A. (pause) In the most common version of the video, you can see Toby is… not quite himself. Distracted, stumbling over his words, visibly sweating. At some point during the lecture, he looks up and focuses on what I can only presume is someone sitting in the audience. He stops mid-sentence, takes a short pause, then goes on… I guess what you’d call a tirade, presumably directed at this person he saw in the audience.

Q. This person. Was he a student?

A. Well, I don’t know. Toby never referred to them by name.

Q. And we never see the individual he might’ve been talking to.

A. No. Whoever they were, they were out of frame.

Q. During this tirade, you called it, what did Dr. Kane say exactly? Do you remember any of it?

A. Like I said, it’s there for all to see. I think the university tried to remove the videos, but you know how these things go. And I’m sure you’d be showing it to us anyway, at some point during the trial.

Q. Yes. But I’m asking what you remember. What were the words that stuck out to you most?

A. (pause) I suppose the most memorable words, at least in my mind, were “I’ll fucking kill you.”

Q. Thank you. (pause) Next question, Ms. Arenas. When did you and Mr. Ezra Reisch meet?