Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Southington Township, OH: Southington Man Arrested in Wife's Death

A Southington Township man is in custody after calling 911 Tuesday afternoon and admitting to murdering his estranged wife.

The following is the transcript of the 911 call:

Dispatcher: 911?
Man: heavy breathing
Dispatcher: Hello?
Man: Yeah
Dispatcher: Are you having a hard time breathing, sir?
Man: Yeah, I just killed my wife
Dispatcher: You just killed your wife?
Man: Yes
Dispatcher: What's your address?
Man: 4480 County Line Turnpike Road
Dispatcher: What happened?
Man: Hangs up

Moments later, the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office arrived on the scene and arrested Royce Honaker, 60, on a charge of murder. Police said he shot his estranged wife, Donna, at the 4480 County Line Turnpike Road home.

The two filed for divorce in April and Donna had been living in the house, which is down a long driveway and not visible from the street.

Moments after Honaker was taken away in the cruiser, the Trumbull County Coroner arrived at the house to assist in the investigation.

Honaker is being held at the Trumbull County Jail and will be arraigned in the next few days in Newton Falls Municipal Court.

Major Tom Stewart of the Trumbull County Sheriff's office said the investigation is just beginning and they are not sure what caused the shooting.

"Detective Marcello and Detective Stabile of the Warren Police Department, and the Trumbulll Homicide Task Force are doing a full investigation as we speak," Stewart said.

Sheriff officials said Honaker had no prior arrests and they had not been called out to the home in the past.

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