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It took a jury just two hours to determine that Montgomery Village resident Jean J. Pierre, 50, was guilty of second-degree murder for the death of his 41-year-old wife Nerlande Forrest in August 2019.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said that Pierre was convicted following a five-day trial.
According to prosecutors, it is believed that Pierre stabbed and killed his wife inside their home in the 20000 block of Rothbury Lane in Montgomery Village on Aug. 21, 2019, then placed her body inside a shipping container that was carried out to a dumpster.
Pierre ultimately sealed his own fate days after the murder, calling the Montgomery County Police Department to file a missing persons report on Foreste, McCarthy said.
He stated that his wife's Volkswagen was still at the home they shared with a 15-year-old daughter, with her wallet and cell phone inside.
The daughter told investigator that she last saw Foreste on the day of hear death inside their family home, when she was reportedly leaving to go to a church event.
Pierre was supposed to pick up the teen from the event, but never showed, according to prosecutors. She attempted to call him multiple times, but there was never a response.
"Pierre stated that he would not be able to pick up (his daughter) and did not give a reason," according to officials, who noted that it was unusual because he was calling from the house at a time he was supposed to be playing soccer.
"Upon reaching the front door of her home, (the daughter) stated that it took several minutes of knocking before her father opened the door to let her in," they continued. "As (the daughter) began to walk towards her parents' bedroom, her father stood in front of the door."
Pierre later refused to allow the teen entry into the master bedroom, stating that Foreste was asleep and they could speak in the morning.
The following day, while Pierre was at work, the teen was able to get into the bedroom, which was "unusually messy" with bedsheets on the floor and multiple items out of place.
Officials say that the master bathroom was also "described as unkempt" with a broken towel hanger and soap dish.
On Aug. 23, 2019, Pierre was prompted by the teenager about where her stepmother was, and Pierre was unable to provide an answer before scurrying off to work. He later returned home with a carpet cleaner that was used in the master bedroom.
Concerned family members reached out to the daughter on Aug. 24, 2019, the same day Pierre filed the missing persons report for his wife.
Investigators say that Pierre had an inch-long scratch on his forearm, which he claimed was from a soccer game he never attended on the night of his wife's disappearance.
When officials made contact with a cousin of Foreste, she advised that on the morning of her murder, Foreste stated that her husband said that he was going to kill her.
"Foreste expressed fear for her life based on the statement her husband alleged to have made," they said.
During a subsequent search of the family's apartment, investigators found blood spatter in multiple places in the master bedroom and master bathroom, as well as a pink cellphone case inside a medicine cabinet covered in blood.
Pierre was taken to police headquarters by investigators, where he provided his an inconsistent timeline in the days before and after his wife's disappearance.
"Several times during the interview, Pierre stated 'his wife was gone and she wasn't coming back,'" according to the state's attorney's office. "Pierre continued that we wouldn't find her body."
During the interview, Pierre admitted to stabbing his wife, and taking her body to the dumpster in the early morning of Aug. 22, 2019.
The body has never been located.
When he is sentenced on Friday, July 14, Pierre will face up to 40 years in prison.
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