Carsner Says Her Stepfather Sexually Abused Her For Years

A woman facing capital murder charges in the shooting deaths of her mother and stepfather took the stand in her own defense Wednesday afternoon and testified that she was sexually molested by her stepfather beginning when she was the age of 11.

Laura Grisel Carsner, 48, a chiropractor and 1982 graduate of Irvin High School, is accused of shooting and killing Irma Quiroz, 68, and Alejandro Quiroz, 66, in the back yard of their Northeast El Paso home in 2009.

Carsner was in tears throughout much of her testimony, including when she told the jury that Alejandro Quiroz “sexually molested me for years, for years, literally for years.”

“He would leave my bedroom, and I would put my underwear back on,” Carsner said. “In the morning, there were stains. I would put them in the hamper. My mom finds them and she would put them in my face and smear them and say, ‘I never want to see this again.'”

The defense had said in its opening statement that Carsner shot her parents but that there was good reason why, referring to the alleged abuse and claims that her mother did not believe her.

“Eventually I would get infections,” Carsner said. “She (Irma Quiroz) would take me to the doctor. (The abuse) happened when they would go out to drink and they would come back. It was in the middle of the night. I don’t know how often. It was just for years.”

The defense’s first witness was Claudia Sprowso from Albuquerque, a longtime friend of Carsner’s. Sprowso said Carsner called her both before and after the killings. She testified that Carsner said she was going to do it and then told her later, “I did it.”

“She’d been involved in a child custody case and they awarded her daughter to her parents the day before,” Sprowso said. “She was upset about that, so she was going to eliminate the situation.”

Earlier Wednesday, Carsner’s nephews took the stand and described the day of the shootings.

“She (Carsner) was shooting my abuelo (grandfather) and abuela (grandmother),” Alex Quiroz, 11, had testified before detailing what happened in the backyard.

Quiroz said he, his brother Juan and their cousin — Carsner’s daughter — were in the back yard of their grandparents’ home when he saw his aunt come through a side gate, smiling, with her hands behind her back.

The boy said that moments later, he and his cousin ran through the house and to the front yard. He said he heard gunshots when they were several houses down, turning back to the house when we heard his brother screaming. Once he retrieved Juan they took off running. He testified that when he looked over his shoulder to check on his brother, he saw his aunt running in the opposite direction.

Lead prosecutor Denise Butterworth asked Juan, now 8, “Why did you run (from the back yard before the shooting)?”

Juan replied, “Because I was scared to get shot.”

Butterworth then asked, “Did you hear your abuelo and abuela say anything?”

“My abuela says, ‘Please don’t shoot me,'” the 8-year-old testified. “Then she shot them. I heard a gunshot, like, three times.”

Carsner is expected to be back on the stand again Thursday, when she is expected to describe what happened on the day of the shootings.