HERMANN — A Hermann woman rejected offers to help get her away — even briefly — from an alleged abusive relationship that ended in December of 2020 with the shooting death of Al Falco, according to the testimony Tuesday of two law enforcement officers.

Hermann Police Chief Marlon Walker was the state’s first witness in its first-degree murder case against Christine Elizabeth Weber, who has been in jail since the Dec. 15, 2020, death of Falco at their shared residence in the 900 block of Goethe Street. Weber also faces the felony charge of armed criminal action.

The case against Weber began Monday morning with the jury selection process that involved a jury pool of 83 potential jurors. After a day of questioning by members of the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, who are handling the case on behalf of Gasconade County Prosecuting Attorney Mary E. Weston, and defense attorney Matthew Mueller, a jury of eight men and four women — along with two alternates — were chosen.

The trial, originally scheduled for three days, has been extended through Thursday.

Walker testified that Hermann police responded to the residence three times on Dec. 15, 2020, for calls about a domestic violence. On the second response, Walker said he met Weber outside the residence and she had a pistol, which was holstered, raising safety concerns on the part of the police chief.

“I was concerned for the safety of the children across the street,” he testified, referring to a residence that provides child daycare service. The chief said he explained to Weber that she could leave the abusive situation, even for a brief time, by going to the local motel or to a center for domestic violence victims and their families. Removing abuse victims from a situation is the aim of what’s called the “12-hour rule” of state government.

Assistant Attorney General Greg Goodwin asked Walker how Weber would have traveled to someplace away from the residence she shared with Falco.

“I would have taken her,” the police chief said. However, he testified, Weber refused “several” times to accept the offer to leave the residence.

On the third response of the day to the residence, after a call about shots being fired, Walker said he found Weber “hysterical.” Entering Weber’s apartment, which is part of the main residential building occupied by Falco, Walker said he found the man lying on his back in the laundry room, suffering a gunshot wound. “He’s moving around, having difficulty breathing,” the police chief told the jury.

Falco would be transported to the hospital, where he would die before Walker could arrive and speak with him, according to the chief’s testimony.

During questioning by Weber’s attorney, the chief said he instructed Falco and Weber to stay away from each other to allow the situation to cool. However, apparently because he had laundry to collect, and the laundry room was located in the apartment, Falco wound up back in Weber’s residence, a point emphasized by Mueller.

“So he left his unit after you told him not to?” Mueller asked.“Yes,” said Walker.