The Fresno County Sheriff's Department homicide unit has made an arrest in the murder of 51-year-old Robert Ellis. Investigators believe the victim's wife, 48-year-old Kathryn Ellis, is responsible. She was arrested in Clovis on Thursday afternoon after being questioned for hours at sheriff's headquarters.
Inside a well-kept home on a quiet street in Kingsburg, detectives believe a wife murdered her husband. It happened Wednesday night around 8pm. A sheriff's department spokesperson said the story Kathryn gave investigators didn't add up.
"I think the best we can say without getting into a lot of details is that the statement she gave conflicted with physical evidence at the scene," said Deputy Chris Curtice.
The story Kathryn apparently gave Wednesday night was that she and her husband heard a noise in the house. Robert went to check it out, then she heard gunshots and found him dead in the living room. Neighbors say violent crime is rare in their area.
"Very shocking, very unsettling, scary. The last thing that happened here was a few years back and it was random, at a gas station down the way. Since then, nothing ever happens here," said Jennifer Allen, who lives around the corner from the victim's home.
News of the city's first homicide of the year, the fourth since 2008, travels fast in a small city, even circulating at the high school.
"Yeah a lot of people are talking about it and it's just going around school," said Veronica Palacio, a student.
What's still unknown is why Kathryn may have killed her husband. Deputies do not know if there was a history of domestic violence between the couple.
"My understanding from Kingsburg P.D. is they had no calls at that house whatsoever," said Curtice.
The couple has a 15-year-old son who was at a school function Wednesday night, when the crime happened.
