Man held in wife's strangling

Cathy Wonders, 28, was found dead in her Tampa home in the Skylite Mobile Home Park on E Hillsborough Avenue.

By LINDA GIBSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 29, 2000

TAMPA -- Christopher and Cathy Wonders' tumultuous six-year marriage ended early Thursday.

They were arguing, according to police, when 39-year-old Christopher Wonders strangled Cathy Wonders, 28. He put her body on the couch in the living room and at 12:48 a.m. called 911.

He told police he didn't know how she had died, but a medical examiner determined she had been strangled, and her death was ruled a homicide.

Police took Wonders to police headquarters for questioning and at 8:45 p.m. Thursday charged him with first-degree murder.

The Wonders had lived since October in a mobile home in the Skylite Mobile Home Park at 4801 E Hillsborough Ave. Manager Darlene Stanley said they paid their rent every Friday.

"He seemed like such a nice guy," she said.

There had been a few complaints about the couple, though. Their neighbors had told Stanley that the Wonders had noisy visitors coming over late at night.

Cathy Wonders told the manager they were Christopher's friends from his job across the street at Trailers Unlimited, where he worked as a welder. They were coming over to watch sports on television because the Wonders had just gotten cable service.

Friday, the door of their mobile home was padlocked. A couple of lawn chairs and some exercise equipment were outside on the cement patio.

Cathy Wonders had asked for a restraining order against her husband in 1997, according to court records. He had been arrested on July 3, 1997, on a charge of domestic violence and again on Jan. 7, 1999, for violating his probation on that charge.

-- Linda Gibson can be reached at (813) 226-3382 or at gibson@sptimes.com.

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