Posted on 05/29/2008 9:31:13 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
(Police say man threatened repeatedly to kill ex-wife)
Gerhard Witte, the 70-year-old physician charged Wednesday with slitting his ex-wife's throat in a downtown parking garage, repeatedly threatened to kill the woman after she filed for divorce in early 2005, once telling police he wouldn't need a gun because "he is a medical doctor, and he knows precisely where to cut someone."
Elisabeth Witte, who was killed Sunday after performing with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, was so afraid of Gerhard Witte, according court records, that she temporarily moved to Germany. But the threats continued.
On Aug. 4, 2005, two Whitefish Bay police visited the couple's home on N. Wilshire Blvd.
"He stated he considers his wife no more than an intruder who intends to steal his property," according to the incident report. "Witte states it is now war between himself and his wife, and he has given her an ultimatum with three choices:
"She can come home, . . . leave without any of his money, or be killed.
"When asked if he had any firearms, Witte stated he will not use a gun. Witte stated he is a medical doctor, and he knows precisely where to cut someone."
According to the complaint charging Witte with first-degree intentional homicide, he carried through on that threat Sunday.
According to the complaint:
After her performance with the symphony chorus, Elisabeth Witte, 65, had enjoyed a celebratory dinner with friends at Eagan's on Water, a restaurant near the parking garage. Dinner companions who left before Elisabeth Witte noticed Gerhard Witte in the parking structure. They tried to reach her at Eagan's, but she had already left.
One friend went to the second floor of the garage, saw Gerhard Witte clutching Elisabeth Witte's throat and called 911. Police found Gerhard Witte hugging Elisabeth Witte's body, which was in a kneeling position near a pool of blood. About 8 feet away was another pool of blood with a knife in it.
According to the complaint, Gerhard Witte immediately confessed to officers that he had stabbed the victim in the stomach then slit her throat.
According to court records:
The Wittes married in Germany in 1970. Court records indicate that Gerhard Witte was obsessed with money, while at the same time a spendthrift who crammed their home with objects. From 1997 to 2003, he worked as a physician at Racine Correctional Institution.
Elisabeth Witte filed for divorce on Feb. 9, 2005. Gerhard Witte became so distressed that the court at one point weighed his competency, and he was sent to the county's mental health complex under an emergency commitment.
The divorce was granted on Dec. 8, 2006, but Gerhard Witte refused to pay Elisabeth Witte $588 a month in support or share assets with her. In February, Milwaukee Circuit Judge Michael D. Guolee ordered, among other things, that Elisabeth Witte be paid $316,746.78 as her share of a Merrill Lynch account.
A portion of the account was also set aside to pay her monthly support.
Gerhard Witte's fury with the decision is expressed in a six-page letter to Guolee dated Feb. 25:
"I do not call you 'your honor' because I have been in your courtroom, and as a sentient human being, I am unable to force these words past my lips. In the aggregate, I have found your actions from the bench to be either malignantly incompetent or deliberately maleficent."
Gerhard Witte is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail, with bail set at $5 million. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 9.
Yikes. I’m going to hear the Milwaukee Symphony tomorrow.
Well, now there’s one less trombone in the band.
If this were Perry Mason ... the guy who makes the threats, has the obvious motive, no alibi, the means and opportunity is invariably innocent.
Let’s not jump to conclusions. Maybe it was a clever suicide designed to frame him for murder.
He tells the cops if she tries to get his ‘stuff’ he’s going to cut her and kill her....I guess he’d rather go to prison than get half...he is nuts
“Maybe it was a clever suicide designed to frame him for murder.”
I’m thinking, no, based upon the following quote from the article.
“One friend went to the second floor of the garage, saw
Gerhard Witte clutching Elisabeth Witte’s throat and called 911. Police found Gerhard Witte hugging Elisabeth Witte’s body, which was in a kneeling position near a pool of blood. About 8 feet away was another pool of blood with a knife in it.
According to the complaint, Gerhard Witte immediately confessed to officers that he had stabbed the victim in the stomach then slit her throat.”
Of course, I could be wrong, but I’m thinking, no.
“Della, call Paul Drake. Have him find everyone who purchased a knife like that in the Midwest in the past ten years.”
You are lonesome, aren’t you dear. ;-) I’ll admit, the reruns are light years ahead of what passes for entertainment on most networks these days; but without jumping to any conclusions, this guy is certifiable and has a date with a cellmate in his future.
My wife of a quarter century and I < heart> Perry Mason. Only she watches the two-hour specials, I won’t.
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