A Florida woman accused of stabbing her physically disabled husband 140 times was charged with first degree murder and held without bail Sunday, according the Palm Beach Post.
In addition to the 140 stab wounds, the Medical Examiner’s Office found that 62-year-old Marvin Weller had been struck in the head with a meat cleaver, said a police report. His wife, 61-year-old Joan Burke, “remained mute” when police officers found her.
Weller’s stepson found his body in the kitchen of their home Feb. 11, lying in a pool of blood. Family members told authorities that Weller, who had filed to divorce Burke in December, struggled to walk and had poor grip strength.
“I am out of words as to exactly how I am feeling. This did not need to happen; this could have been dealt with through the courts in the best possible way,” said attorney Nicole Hamil-Scott, who was handling divorce proceedings for Weller, according to WESH. She believes millions of dollars in real estate that would have been divided in the divorce could have been a contributing factor in the incident.
Weller reportedly wanted to split the assets equally and retire to Jamaica.
Police officers found Burke lying on the bed in the main bedroom of their home on Feb. 11. She was “conscious and alert,” though she wasn’t speaking. She also had cuts on the palms of her hands, police said.
“It is very common for the offender to have lacerations to the palm of one or both hands when he or she stabs another person,” the police report noted. “This is especially true when the victim is stabbed many times, as was the case with Mr. Weller's death.”
There were also obvious signs of a violent struggle, said police.
“We remember Mr. Weller coming into our office — a very kind, calm, loving man. This is the last thing we would have expected from filing a dissolution of marriage,” Hamil-Scott said.
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