Was money a motivation for murder? That premise will serve as the springboard for trial as opening statements and prosecution testimony got under way this week for a Point Loma man accused of killing his estranged wife from Ocean Beach. Trial opened Monday for Henry Lisowski, 69, who prosecutors allege murdered Rosa Lisowski on March 24, 2008 in an attempt to dodge child-support payments for the two young children they shared and to avoid scrutiny over what the prosecution maintains was $1.3 million in underestimated assets held by Henry Lisowski. Confidants of Rosa Lisowski and San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Nicole Cooper have alleged Henry Lisowski leveled threats to harm Rosa, who disappeared after walking the couple’s youngest son to school at Barnard Elementary in Ocean Beach. Her body was never found. San Diego County Deputy Public Defender Richard Gates disputed the murder allegations and motive of financial gain, however, maintaining Rosa died as the result of a fall at Henry Lisowski’s home in the Midway area in which she allegedly tripped on a set of stairs and struck her head on the pavement. Police investigators have said they were in possession of a letter allegedly written by Henry Lisowski, admitting to his wife’s death and that he had confessed to disposing Rosa’s body at a landfill. Gates contends that Henry Lisowski did not report his wife’s death immediately out of fear of Rosa’s family in Honduras. Neither Gates nor Cooper returned calls for direct comment by press time. The trial, being heard before San Diego Superior Court Judge John Einhorn, was expected to continue through Thursday, Feb. 11 and resume Tuesday, Feb. 16. Court officials estimate the trial may continue through March 11.