Tampabay: Deputies: Wife slain trying to escape

PALM HARBOR -- A month ago Neyda Olivares was worried enough to tell deputies about her husband's threats. Thursday, she was unhappy enough to tell her husband she wanted out of the marriage.

Moments later, authorities say, she lay dead in a hallway of the home she had shared for more than a decade with Roger Harold Hamburg.

Deputies say that she told Hamburg she was leaving and she went into the bedroom. He went into the kitchen and picked up a knife.

He followed her into the bedroom and began stabbing her, deputies say. Olivares tried to run, but she fell and died outside the bedroom.

Hamburg remained in the house with his wife's body, emerging only when sheriff's deputies talked him into surrendering after a nearly 13-hour standoff. Pinellas County sheriff's deputies handcuffed him about 10 p.m. Friday, almost 24 hours after they say he murdered his wife.

Deputies charged Hamburg with first-degree murder on Saturday after he described stabbing his wife, sheriff's spokesman Greg Tita said.

Tita said there's no record to indicate Hamburg had ever attacked Olivares before. The only indication that something was wrong was two reports.

Olivares made one about a year ago, saying her husband had threatened her. Then she made another last month. She told deputies she was not afraid, she just wanted to get the information on the record in case something happened, Tita said.

Interviews with friends and co-workers unearthed no indication of earlier physical abuse, Tita said, but they did draw a picture of Hamburg as being a "very controlling person."

"There came a point where she could no longer live under that dominance, I guess," Tita said.

Pinellas Park police Officer Bill Holmes, who is that department's expert on domestic violence, said he knew nothing about Olivares' marital situation. But for a woman to be killed once she decides to leave an abusive situation is not unusual. There's a 75 percent greater risk of harm once they leave, Holmes said.

"Domestic violence is all about power and control," Holmes said. "Once this controlling person realizes they're about to lose power and control, they'll take measures to retain that."

Deputies were still scouring Hamburg's home at 1321 Indian Trail N for clues Saturday afternoon.

Some children rode scooters on the shady street.

Several adults gathered in a small cluster to chat and watch as cars drove along the street only to be turned back at the yellow crime scene tape.

Other neighbors reflected about a couple who stayed mostly to themselves.

"I feel sorry for him," said Betty Stinnett. "He just snapped."

Stinnett lives across the street from Hamburg's home and frequently spoke with him when both were walking their dogs.

"He was very mild-mannered. (We) spoke of our dogs, gardening, cruises, just things in general," Stinnett said.

Hamburg seldom spoke of his wife, and Olivares was seldom seen, Stinnett said, but she had no idea they were having marital problems.

"I didn't see much of her, but when I did see her, she was very sweet," Stinnett said. "I thought they were very happy. I was very surprised to hear they were having problems."

Stinnett said she last talked with Hamburg on Tuesday. That day she had talked of her plans to visit Busch Gardens. Hamburg had recently visited the theme park and gave her tips on where to go and what to do. Then, out of the blue, he mentioned that "he couldn't take the stress of a job."

Although speaking of something so personal was uncharacteristic for him, Stinnett said she saw no other sign that anything was wrong or that an explosion was imminent.

Although Stinnett got along with Hamburg, she admits his relationships with the rest of the neighbors were not so cordial. Most people seemed to have experiences similar to that of Dick Zylstra, who lives two doors away.

Zylstra walks most days and often saw Hamburg. Zylstra said Hamburg would keep his head down, eyes on his feet as he walked quickly, heel to toe.

"He would never look up. Never talk to you. Never said hello," Zylstra said. "He avoided looking at you. . . . The only term I can think of is anti-social."

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