Tuesday, April 24, 2012

St. Petersburg, FL: Update: Police Arrest Man in Apparent Murder-Suicide Attempt, Victim ID'd

Update, 10:45 a.m.: St. Petersburg Police disclosed the identity of the woman suffocated in an apparent murder-suicide attempt as 61-year-old Judith Davis, the wife of the accused killer.

Albert Crandall was charged with first-degree murder on Sunday. Police allege that Crandall suffocated his wife with a pillow and then attempted suicide. He was found by police in bed with his wife. Police said her body had begun to decompose.

Police said Crandall’s sister had received an alarming email from Crandall, which tipped them off to a problem at their residence, at 661 77th Ave. N.

She advised that she had just read an email message from her brother that sounded as if it were a suicide note, and that his wife already was deceased.

Upon entering the unlocked apartment, officers and paramedics found the couple. According to police, Crandall was found to have wounds to both wrists that appeared self-inflicted, but was conscious. He was transported to Bayfront Medical Center where he was treated and later released.

A suicide note was also found inside the apartment.

During the course of his medical treatment, police said Crandall made statements indicating that he had suffocated his wife with a pillow due to a chronic and painful medical condition she had been experiencing.

The nature of that illness has not yet been ascertained, according to police.

Earlier: A St. Petersburg man has been arrested by St. Pete Police and charged with first-degree murder on Sunday.

Police say 55-year-old Albert Crandall suffocated a woman to death and then unsuccessfully attempted suicide.

Crandall of 661 77th Ave. N. left a suicide note at the scene of the crime, according to TBO.com.

The Tampa Bay Times adds:

"He had written a 'murder-suicide note,' police said. They did not explain how he tried to kill himself, but said he was treated and cleared at Bayfront Medical Center, then charged with first-degree murder."

According to police, the woman's name is not being released until next of kin are notified.

Crandall, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office records, had two previous run-ins with the law.

In 2010, Crandall was charged with a DUI following his refusal to take a BAC test. In 1998, Crandall was arrested by U.S. Marshals on charges involving drug manufacturing, according to court records.

According to Crandall's Facebook Page, he worked as a manager at the Daiquiri Deck, on Maderia Beach.

On March 23, Crandall's birthday, he posted the following message to Facebook.

"Thanks Everyone for the birthday wishes,I never anticipated 55 but its still SEX(not as frequent) DRUGS(ibuprofen) & ROCK n Roll (at least some things never change).O yeah proably my first SOBER birthday of my adult life."


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