San Diego

Agonized screams were heard on a tape of a 911 emergency call placed by John Morency, who is accused of poisoning his wife by lacing tequila drinks with strychnine. The tape was played Wednesday at Morency’s preliminary hearing.

According to police records and Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Eichler, the male voice on the tape belongs to Morency, who told the police dispatcher that his wife was suffering from a headache.

Morency, 47, is accused of murder in the death of his 30-year-old wife, Sue Morency, who died July 31.

Testifying Wednesday was paramedic Mark Karlan, who was dispatched to the Morency household on Caminito de La Escena that night. Karlan said Sue Morency was experiencing convulsions: “They were violent, jerking-type motions that were very sudden. . . . They were something I’d never seen before.”

Karlan testified that Sue Morency screamed and convulsed often, but that, between these episodes she was lucid and able to answer questions from the medical team.

“This didn’t seem like a typical headache,” Karlan said.

After both Morencys decided against a trip to the hospital, Sue Morency suddenly lost consciousness, stopped breathing and had no pulse, Karlan said.

Later, at the hospital, Karlan said he spent 20 to 30 minutes with John Morency, who looked “like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.”

Testimony will resume today before San Diego Municipal Judge Nicholas Kasimatis.