Wife charged in 85-year-old’s death

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This article was published 23/07/2018 (2796 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 73-year-old woman has been charged with second-degree murder after her 85-year-old husband was found dead in the couple’s Henderson Highway apartment Saturday morning by Winnipeg police.

Police said Hans George Scheppner had been stabbed to death nearly a week earlier; his wife, Anne-Dore Maria Scheppner, was taken into custody.

Ember Rost said Monday she hadn’t seen her next-door neighbour in nearly a week, prior to Saturday’s discovery.

He was often out and about, Rost said, collecting cans or bottles from the recycling bins strewn around the residential complex where he and his wife lived for more than 20 years.

But for several days, his car, which is always parked next to Rost’s, hadn’t moved.

“I started thinking, ‘Oh, my God, what has happened?’” Rost said from her front patio Monday afternoon.

Winnipeg police said officers found Scheppner deceased, with “obvious stab wounds,” after an out-of-province family member had called, concerned over their relatives’ well-being.

Police said they believe the couple was involved in a dispute July 15, which ended with the man being stabbed in the upper body.

Neighbours said the Scheppners were an introverted but active couple.

However, Rost, who has lived next door for about seven years, said some residents in the building had become concerned about Anne Scheppner’s mental state, which she said had worsened in recent years.

Another neighbour, who declined to be identified, said Anne Scheppner had frequently gone over to visit.

“I know she felt isolated, and I felt very concerned for her,” the neighbour said.

Police spokesman Const. Jay Murray said he couldn’t provide any further information, but the fact the suspect allegedly stayed in the apartment for several days after the fatal incident was “certainly unusual.”

Murray said the couple had no past record of criminal activity, adding anyone with information that may be useful to police is asked to contact the WPS.

The building’s management company would not comment.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca