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Police: Woman stabbed her caretaker husband
By CANDACE RONDEAUX, Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG -- When firefighters broke into the house, they found Marvin Andre's body on the kitchen floor, a blanket over his legs, a stab wound in his midsection. His 80-year-old wife was in her nightgown in the bedroom, incoherent. Suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Marie Andre had stabbed her husband of 56 years "either intentionally or accidentally," police said, then spent the next two days inside the home at 1842 59th Way N. Called Monday by a relative who hadn't heard from Marvin Andre in a while, police found the doors locked. An autopsy revealed the stab wound was not deep, and police think Andre, 74, could have survived with medical care. But because of his wife's "diminished mental faculties," police do not intend to charge her with a crime, said St. Petersburg police spokesman George Kajtsa. He said police would refer the case to the State Attorney's Office. A retired General Electric computer engineer, Marvin Andre spent the last years of his life caring for his ailing wife, neighbors said. Neighbors said the couple were private and seemed to go out less often as Marie Andre's condition deteriorated. Experts on Alzheimer's say that while delusions or hallucinations caused by the disease can occasionally lead victims to believe they are in danger or under attack, extremely violently responses are rare. "I have never heard of it happening but that doesn't mean it can't happen," said Janet Nelson, program specialist with the Florida Suncoast Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. "Numerous people with dementia go through hallucinations. Who's to say that she wasn't spooked? We don't know. Part of the problem is that she can't tell us. We have a person whose brain is dying daily. It's very sad," she said.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
