Elderly Bellevue man pleads ‘not guilty’ to killing wife with hatchet
Apr 10, 2012, 10:58 AM | Updated: 12:08 pm
An elderly Bellevue man who police say confessed to
murdering his wife of 46 years with a hatchet pleaded not
guilty to first degree murder Tuesday, according to the
King County Prosecutor’s Office.
James Schumacher, 71, allegedly confessed to the murder on
March 23, two days after the crime occurred.
According to charging documents, Schumacher walked into
the Bellevue Police Department and said he struck his
sleeping wife six times in the head and hid her body under
the bed.
“The suspect claimed he was tired of his wife’s abuse and
killed her with a hatchet, shut the door to her bedroom
and locked it, and waited two days before telling
authorities,” Iafrate said.
When police arrived at the couple’s home at 144 159th Ave.
SE, they found the deceased woman.
Schumacher claimed his wife was verbally abusive, although
court records show that she feared for her life.
Jean Schumacher had sought a no contact order against her
husband, and told a judge he threatened to kill her if she
ever left him.
Schumacher is being held at the King County Jail on $1
million bail. A case setting has been scheduled for April
25.
