Thursday, August 18, 2011

Summit County, OH: Elderly man tells why he killed his wife

Dressed in an orange and white jail jumpsuit and sitting in a wheelchair, Glenn Burbridge, 87, spoke candidly from the Summit County Jail about using his .38 caliber handgun to kill his 83-year-old wife, Alice.

"I just shot her. I didn't think. That was it. The last three words she said to me after I shot her was, 'Honey, I love you. I love you,'" Burbridge said, during an exclusive interview with NewsChannel5.

When asked if Burbridge loved his wife, he said, "I loved her very much. I hope to see her again." On Tuesday, Burbridge pleaded guilty to murder. Judge Lynne Callahan sentenced him to a mandatory 15 years to life.

Alice Burbridge was shot in the face last March inside the couple's Copley Township home on Cleveland-Massillon Road.

Glenn Burbridge called 911 and told a dispatcher, "I just shot my wife."

The question that many in Copley community have wondered: Why would a man, who once served an auxiliary Summit County sheriff's deputy, murder his wife of 67 years?

Burbridge said he snapped after Alice repeatedly accused of having affairs, which Burbridge adamantly denied.

"I said, 'Honey, what's an 87-year-old man going to do with a woman today,'" Burbridge said.

Copley Township Lt. Luke Marchmon said Alice may have been dealing with mental health issues.

"Perhaps the early stages of Alzheimer's, but we don't know that for a fact. These are some of the things that the family was telling us," Lt. Marchmon said.

Police said Burbridge hadan option that day. He could have called family members or a mental health agency for help. Instead, he pulled the trigger.

"Ultimately, despite his age, he's a murderer," Lt. Marchmon said.

As Burbridge prepares for a prison transfer, he has accepted he'll die behind bars. He wishes he would have done things differently.

"I would just leave the home. I wish it had never happened," Burbridge said.



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