Posted: Friday, August 3, 2007 12:00 am
ROCK SPRING (AP) - A Rock Springs man charged with first-degree murder in his wife's death told police he struck her with a sword during an argument Sunday night, according to court documents.
District Judge Daniel Forgey on Wednesday set bail at $750,000 cash for Timothy Brandon, 27. Rock Springs police found Dawnita Brandon, 32, dead in the couple's Rock Springs apartment on Monday morning.
A police statement filed in court states that Kyle Watts called police at 6:11 a.m. Monday. Watts told police that Timothy Brandon, his boss, had called him at about 3:30 a.m. and said that he had killed his wife and "cut her up."
Watts told police that he went to the Brandon apartment after receiving the call and saw something on the kitchen floor covered by a blanket.
The Rock Springs Tactical Response Team entered the Brandon apartment. According to the police statement, officers found Timothy Brandon in a bedroom with what appeared to be blood on his clothing and skin.
Police say that Brandon told them that he and his wife had started arguing after she came home from a bar where they had been drinking on Sunday evening. He said he had arrived home from the bar before she did.
According to the police statement, Brandon told officers that his wife had pushed a plate of food in his face. He said that he started handling a sword and was holding it straight out when his wife came around a corner and impaled herself on it.
According to the statement, Brandon told officers that he then raised the sword and struck her "somewhere above the chest."
A bartender told police that she had served Timothy Brandon "a significant amount of alcohol" that evening and that she had heard him curse at his wife at the bar and tell her, "I'll take care of you later."
Judge Forgey on Wednesday said he could reconsider the bail amount once Brandon has a lawyer. Brandon said he would like to find his own lawyer, but was not sure that he could.
Information from: Rock Springs Rocket-Miner, http://www.rocketminer.com