The jury soon should get the case involving a 39-year-old Marshalltown man accused of strangling his 41-year-old girlfriend with an electrical cord. Closing arguments are scheduled to start Tuesday in the murder trial of Pedro Perez who’s accused of killing Laurie Ann Reyes of Marshalltown.

On Monday, a defense expert witness criticized the quality of the translator hired to sit in when Marshalltown police first questioned Perez. Reyes was found dead in her Marshalltown apartment on May 16, 2005. Perez is believed to be the last person to see her alive. He was arrested a week later after he was questioned by Marshalltown cops.

Officials say the jury could start deliberating Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors showed the jury a videotape of Perez being questions by Marshalltown police. The medical examiner testified that Reyes had bruises and scrapes on her body indicating she struggled against her strangler.