Video report by Jeevan Vittal, Fox CT
Text by Nicholas Rondinone, Hartford Courant
ENFIELD — The husband of the woman found dead on Magnolia Drive Thursday night was arrested Friday and charged with manslaughter, police said.
Police identified the victim as 45-year-old Anja Dewees. The victim’s husband, John Dewees Jr., 49, was arrested following an investigation and charged with first-degree manslaughter, police said.
Police discovered the body after a neighbor called 911 saying that the victim’s husband was acting strangely. The neighbor called police about 9 p.m. Thursday, Lt. Steven Kaselouskas said.
Officers went to the home at 4 Magnolia Dr. to check on the husband’s well-being and found the man – later identified as John Dewees – inside his home refusing to come out.
Collins said he was “reluctant” but the officers on scene were able to convince him to come out of the house without incident. Police said they then entered the home and discovered a woman’s body – later identified as Anja Dewees.
She was not elderly and was not known to be suffering from a terminal illness, Kaselouskas said. Still, detectives will “go through medical records and check with doctors,” he said.
John Dewees is being held on $250,000 bond.
The State Police Major Crimes Squad responded to help Enfield detectives gather evidence at the scene, Kaselouskas said.
The home is in a quiet neighborhood on the north end of town, near the Massachusetts line. Police kept a portion of the street in front of the house closed off for hours Friday.
Police said there was no history of domestic disturbances at the house.