Tulsa woman accused of pushing husband out of high-rise window faces murder trial

(CBS) - A Tulsa woman accused of pushing her husband to his death from a high-rise apartment building has been ordered to stand trial for murder.

Josh Hilberling was 23 when he died this June after falling 17 stories out of an apartment  window. On Wednesday, a judge found enough evidence to hold his wife, 20-year-old Amber Hilberling, for trial on charges of second-degree murder.  

Judge Deborrah Ludi Leitch also found enough evidence to hold the defendant on a manslaughter charge as well, reports the Tulsa World. 

Hilberling is accused of stating many times to various law enforcement officials that she pushed her husband out of the window, the newspaper reports.

Her defense attorney, Mark Collier, said that evidence of statements from Amber about pushing him doesn't rule out that the death was accidental.

At the time of the alleged murder, there were glass repairmen inside the apartment doing work on the window.

One of the men, Armando Rosales, testified that he was in the bedroom when he heard a crash and a man screaming. His employee claimed that when went downstairs to get materials from his truck he saw Josh Hilberling screaming as he fell the 17 stories to his death. Amber supposedly appeared at the window seconds later.

The employee said, "I was walking toward the building. I heard glass break. It was like the movies. I see this guy falling. I could hear him screaming. He was really scared on the way down."

Robert Peters of the Tulsa Fire Department said he saw Amber crying and extremely upset, saying, "I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to push him out the window."

Authorities said when they arrived at the scene Amber had a gash on her arm. She was seven months pregnant.

Holloway recorded Amber on his cell phone and in the recording she is heard saying, "Me and Josh got into an argument. He threw something at the window and broke it. I went back into the living room. I pushed Josh into the wall - and the wall was windows. I pushed him into the candle stick things and he fell."

Defense attorney Collier says, "She didn't just talk about pushing him - she talked about not meaning too. She talked to these various witnesses about how he tripped on some candlesticks - about she pushed him against the wall, not the window. She tried to catch him."

No trial date has been set for Hilberling, who will be back in court on October 31st.