By Lisa Sweetingham
Court TV

FORT MYERS, Florida (Court TV) -- A trail of blood found in the home of a murdered Florida woman is just one of the many clues implicating her husband in her killing, prosecutors say.

In opening statements delivered Wednesday, prosecutors accused retired aeronautical engineer Donald Moringiello, 64, of shooting his wife four times in the chest, wrapping her in a white king-size sheet, tying her neck and head to heavy cinder blocks, and dumping her body in a bay near their affluent Fort Myers Beach community.

Moringiello is charged with the second-degree murder of his wife, Hattie "Fern" Bergeler.

When crime-scene detectives sprayed Luminol -- a chemical that detects trace-blood evidence -- in the couple's home, they found a trail of blood that appeared to be recently wiped clean, according to Assistant State Attorney Jean-Paul Galasso.

"It wasn't accidental blood," Galasso told jurors. "As you'll see in [a] video, it's a lot of blood."

Bergeler's body was found July 18, 2002, floating face down in about 18 inches of water, by three people fishing in Estero Bay. Initially, police were unable to identify the 57-year-old retiree because Bergeler was never reported missing by her husband.

A month after canvassing the neighborhood with fliers and interviewing locals for any helpful information, police received a phone call from Bergeler's niece in Alabama, who said she feared her aunt was missing, based on a strange call she received from Moringiello.

A police search of his home August 14 recovered rope, cinder blocks and linens that appeared to match items used in Bergeler's murder. Divers also found a Bersa .380 semiautomatic pistol -- deemed the murder weapon by ballistics experts -- in the waters behind the couple's home.

"What the evidence is going to show," Galasso said, "is that right here, right now, you are sitting in the room with the murderer of Hattie Fern Bergeler."

'We'll see about that'

But Moringiello's defense team says he was wrongly charged before all the evidence was in.

"The state would have you believe this case is cut and dry," defense attorney Wilbur Smith told jurors during his opening statement. "They say there was a lot of blood? We'll see about that. They say she was killed in the home? The stronger evidence will show she was not killed in their home."

Smith told jurors that, while he agreed with some of the prosecution's evidentiary findings, police jumped to conclusions and did not thoroughly examine all of the facts.

Defense attorneys are also expected to suggest to jurors over the course of the trial that Moringiello's son, who died last fall from a heroin overdose, was the actual killer.

According to Smith, Moringiello did not report his wife's disappearance because he didn't realize she was missing.

Bergeler allegedly took off during a disagreement the couple had shortly before Moringiello went on a two-week vacation to visit family in New England. When she still had not returned home after he came back from his trip, the defense said, Moringiello suspected she was divorcing him.

'I hope this is not a person'

Jurors also viewed graphic autopsy photos Wednesday when witnesses described the discovery of Bergeler's body. According to prosecutors, the corpse had been decomposing in Estero Bay for about two to four days before it was discovered.

Witness Charles Curran was fishing in the bay with his wife and nephew July 18, 2002, when he saw an "object" about 30 or 40 yards in the distance.

"I thought, maybe it was a dummy," Curran said. As they approached the floating form, Curran said his first reaction was, "I hope this is not a person. I hope this is not what we think it is."

Curran also described seeing something hanging on the dock near Bergeler's body. At first glance, it appeared to be a latex rubber glove, but on closer examination, he saw that it was several layers of skin from Bergeler's left hand that had sloughed off and clung to the dock's wooden ladder.

Piece by piece, jurors got a look at the evidence in the case, when crime scene technician Randolph Eubanks positively identified the cinder blocks, rope and bullets collected by police.

As prosecutor Galasso brought out two large paper bags filled with the victim's clothing and the sheet that was wrapped around her body, a strong salty smell filled the courtroom.

If convicted, Moringiello faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. His defense team has promised jurors they would hear from Moringiello himself because he is planning to take the stand in his own defense.

Court TV is broadcasting the trial live.