D'Iberville, MS: Man charged in wife’s murder

D’IBERVILLE -- Evidence in the fatal shooting of U.S. Navy member Philomena Roberts on June 1 indicates her husband fired more than one round inside their home, killing the 44-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to the chest, Police Chief Wayne Payne said.
A judge charged Troy Eugene Roberts with murder Wednesday when he was brought to the Harrison County jail courtroom for an unrelated hearing. He has been held since the shooting on a charge of felon in possession of a concealed weapon, identified as a switchblade.
Justice Court Judge Albert Fountain set the bond on the murder charge when he signed an arrest warrant. The $5 million bond is in addition to a $100,000 bond on the previous charge.

Court records in Newport News, Va., show Troy Roberts was convicted in 1991 of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of a man. He received a 15-year sentence.
Troy Roberts is 41 and faces life in prison if convicted on his wife’s murder.
Payne said the gun that killed Philomena Roberts has not been found and police aren’t sure of a motive.
The woman, from Arkansas, had been in the Navy 14 years. The petty officer 1st class was a logistic specialist with the Seabee Readiness Group in Gulfport. She was a survivor of breast cancer, friends said, and had a son who no longer lived at home.
After the shooting, police said Roberts told them he and his wife had been out drinking, and said he had dropped her off at the house and later returned to find her lying on the floor. He called 911 about 4:52 a.m. from their home on Forest Drive off Brodie Road.
“We have confirmed they went out to a casino together,” Payne said, “but we do not believe the wife had been drinking.”
“We have spent long hours interviewing witnesses, including some from other states, and recovering evidence leading to this arrest,” Payne said.
Payne said numerous agencies were helpful in the investigation, including the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Biloxi police and the Mississippi Crime Lab.
“We have talked to the District Attorney’s Office about this case at least once a week,” Payne said.
Payne said other details won’t be released until the case is brought to court for a preliminary hearing.
Philomena Roberts was a member of Little Rock Baptist Church in Gulfport.
She had served on the USS Merrimack and USS Nimitz. She also had been stationed in England at the Naval Air Facility Mildenhall and in Virginia at the Center for Combat Learning Site and the Naval Special Warfare Group 3.