Spartanburg, SC: Police: Man, 90, killed wife with hatchet

Published: June 2, 2010 at 6:16 PM
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SPARTANBURG, S.C., June 2 (UPI) -- A 90-year-old South Carolina man has been charged with killing his wife with a hatchet.

Spartanburg County sheriff's deputies say a grandson who went to check on William and Jeanette Martin at their home in Moore found his 85-year-old grandmother mortally injured, WSPA-TV in Spartanburg reported. She died after being transported to a hospital.

Martin was charged with murder. He appeared in court Tuesday afternoon where a judge refused to grant bail.

When deputies arrived at the home at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, they found Mrs. Martin on the living room floor, Sheriff Chuck Davis said. Her husband was in a chair in the hall with his grandson standing over him.

A neighbor, Brenda Hooker, told the Spartanburg Herald Journal William Martin is an "awfully gentle person." She called his wife "a sweet lady."

"I wouldn't have been more shocked if this had been my own parents," Hooker said. "That was totally out of character."