Thursday, November 22, 2012

Roanoke, VA: UPDATED: Roanoke mother killed by husband, police say

The Roanoke City Police Department just sent out an update.

According to police department spokeswoman Aisha Johnson, officers were called to the 1300 block of Salem Avenue at 2:05 a.m. this morning (wednesday), after the E-911 center received a call about a man who stabbed his wife and was trying to kill himself.

When officers arrived, they found two children inside the home looking out of a window, and yelling to get their attention.  Officers tried to get inside the home, but a padlock on the door prevented them, and the two children also could not open the door.  The officers then forced their way into the home through a window.

The children told the officers that the man who stabbed his wife was in the basement.  When the officers got to the basement, they found one man lying on the floor unresponsive, and another man holding a knife.  Police took the man holding the knife into custody.

Investigators determined the man lying on the floor was the man who stabbed his wife, then tried to hang himself.  The man with the knife was the adult son of the couple, and used the knife to cut the rope.

Officers found the wife in a bedroom upstairs, with multiple stab wounds.

Police named the woman killed as 40-year-old Mariam Ndarugiriye, of Roanoke, and the suspect in the stabbing as 44-year-old Claude Ndumurwanko, also of Roanoke.

Charges against Ndumurwanko are pending.  He's being treated at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Police say the couple have eight children, ranging from age 4 to 21.  None of them were hurt.

The investigation is ongoing.

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