Oviedo, FL: Wife shoots, kills ex before stabbing self

Updated: Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 7:45 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 7:45 PM EDT

OVIEDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - For neighbors, it was a shocking twist to a domestic dispute in Oviedo. Police said 41-year-old Anita Smithey shot her ex-husband several times, killing him. Then, police said she stabbed herself in the stomach with a pocket knife to make it look like she killed her ex in self defense.

Investigators have charged Smithey with the second degree murder of 41-year-old Robert Cline. Neighbors along Corbin Court in Oveido didn't know what was going on early this morning.

"Our dogs started barking probably around 2 a.m. and I woke up to a loud noise kind of sounded like a car door," said Tatiana Santos, who now thinks the loud noise may have been a gun shot. "We heard a woman screaming," she said. That was around 2:40 this morning.

She was about to call 911 when rescue crews pulled up to the house. Santos watched as Smithey opened the door.

"She was screaming and crying."

When police arrived, Smithey had a cut to the abdomen, and Cline was dead inside the home.

Smithey had just recently moved to Corbin Court when she and Cline separated. We stopped by Cline's house where the two had lived together with Cline's two children and Smithey's two children on Hanging Moss Drive.

Neighbors there were shocked to hear what happened. "Are you kidding. Oh my God. My hubby just saw him yesterday," said Nadine Jackson.

Jackson described the two as a nice couple. She knew they had recently split because and that they hadn't been getting along.

"One time they had a fight, but nothing crazy," Jackson said. "I just saw her leave and police showed up," said Jackson.

Neither Smithey, nor Cline has a criminal past. Police did confirm the past incident reported by a neighbor, which happened at the end of 2009.

Police said they have found probably cause that Cline was to blame in a domestic dispute. The state attorney's office was looking at that case, but had not decided whether to file charges.

Smithey was transported to South Seminole Hospital to receive treatment for her injuries before being transported to the Seminole County Jail.