CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (AP) - A 58-year-old man is charged with killing a 63-year-old woman who was found dead in the bedroom of their burning apartment at a senior citizens’ housing complex in western New York.
Cheektowaga police say officers were called to check on 63-year-old Jean Hartwig around noon Friday after she failed to show up for work at a Wegmans store.
When they got to the apartment, nobody answered their knock and smoke was seeping under the door. Officers forced their way inside and found Thomas Murphy standing in the smoke-filled apartment.
Hartwig was found dead after the fire was extinguished. An autopsy showed she had been strangled.
Police are calling it a case of domestic violence.
Murphy was charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bail.
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