LAKESIDE — A Lakeside man was arrested Wednesday after he walked into the Santee sheriff’s substation and told deputies that he had killed his wife, authorities said.
The man led deputies to his home on El Nopal, off Riverford Drive, about 1 p.m., and a woman’s body was found inside, said sheriff’s homicide Lt. Larry Nesbit.
Authorities backed out of the house and were seeking a search warrant to investigate further.
Investigators later booked Andrew R. Welch, 45, on suspicion of murder. They did not release his wife's name or details on how she died.
Nesbit said they lived at the end of a long driveway in one of two or three houses on the property. The house at the rear is nestled at the foot of some rocky hills. Across the street, emus and ostriches roam several pens at Hilliker’s Ranch Fresh Eggs.
Public records show that Welch lives at the rear house. His family has owned the property in the Eucalyptus Hills neighborhood for several years.
Neighbors offered varying opinions about the couple, and some expressed shock at the incident.
Joe Kahler, who lives next door, said Welch and his wife celebrated their first anniversary a few months ago.
“He’s a good-natured guy,” Kahler said. “I’ve known Andy since he was in diapers. It’s awful to hear.”
He said he sometimes overheard the couple when “they got into a few little spats,” but that he hadn’t talked to either of them for nearly a year. He said Welch’s wife also grew up in Lakeside and had a prior marriage.
Kahler said Welch races trucks at off-road desert courses.
Another neighbor, 14-year-old Nathan Heximer, said Welch often helps him and other children with their dirt bikes, and that he works at a local transmission shop.
“They’ve never been a fighting couple,” Heximer said. “He’s more of a loving, caring person from what I know.”
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