BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a 71-year-old Bellevue man suspected of using a hatchet to kill his wife of 46 years and shoving her body under the bed before reporting her death to police two days later.
James Schumacher was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder. He remains in King County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
Charging documents say Schumacher told police his 71-year-old wife, Jean Schumacher, had threatened to divorce him and that he was tired of her verbal abuse. He told police hit her on the head about six times as she slept in her bedroom.
Schumacher turned himself into a police station Friday. His arraignment is set for April 10.
Prosecutors say his wife sought a protection order against him in 2010 because she feared he was going to harm her.
