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Man Accused Of Wife’s Christmas Eve Murder Allegedly Told Father The Victim Took Her Own Life
Investigators say they found a blood-stained letter in which Christopher Colbert allegedly claimed he and his wife, Tamara Colbert, "had a fight" and "were not doing well," while denying involvement in her shooting death.
A Pennsylvania man is accused of fatally shooting his wife and leaving a blood-stained letter denying his involvement in the murder.
Christopher Colbert, 39, is charged with multiple crimes connected with the killing of his wife, Tamara Colbert, 39, according to the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office. Officials believe Mr. Colbert shot Mrs. Colbert in the head during a domestic violence dispute at their Wild Orchid Lane home in Enola – just north of Harrisburg.
Christopher Colbert is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, strangulation, and tampering with evidence, records show.
On Dec. 24 at around 4:00 p.m., Hampden Township Police were dispatched to the home when Mr. Colbert’s father – who lives in Florida – alerted authorities in Pennsylvania, according to CBS Harrisburg affiliate WHP-TV. The father told police his son sounded “irrational, emotional, and not completing sentences,” prompting him to request a welfare check, according to Penn Live. Per the CBS affiliate, the father reported his son claimed his wife had taken her own life.
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When police arrived, they found Mr. Colbert sitting in the backseat of a vehicle that was parked in the garage of the home, according to PennLive. A 9mm Sig Sauer handgun was also found at the scene, as was a bloody footprint observed on the garage floor.
They eventually found Tamara Colbert lying on her back in the third-story bedroom, PennLive reported. Police found a blood-stained letter in the living room.
“There is no one I love more than Tamara,” Mr. Colbert allegedly wrote. “She was my world, and I ruined it. I’m so impossibly sorry. Understand that I didn’t kill her. She and I had a fight. We were not doing well.”
Officers noted in the criminal complaint that Christopher Colbert had alcohol on his breath and that he was too inebriated to give a coherent statement, multiple outlets reported.
Investigators interviewed the suspect after giving him time to sober up, asking if he knew whether Mrs. Colbert was alright, PennLive reported.
“No, she is not,” Mr. Colbert allegedly told police. “She stormed upstairs, unlocked the gun safe, we wrestled. I need a lawyer.”
He admitted that he and his wife “had an argument,” authorities said.
According to charging documents, investigators believe the pair began to argue when Mr. Colbert brandished a knife, which police later found on the kitchen floor. Authorities say Mrs. Colbert “feared for her safety” when she ran upstairs and tried to gain access to a gun safe. The couple then wrestled for the firearms before it “was discharged,” authorities said, according to PennLive.
A coroner found during the postmortem examination that Mrs. Colbert was shot on the top of the head and presented signs of internal strangulation, both of which were factors when ruling the death as a homicide, according to PennLive.
Authorities also say Mr. Colbert tried to cover his tracks by removing his bloody pants and moving the gun into the garage.
A specific motive for the killing has not been revealed.
The Colberts married in February, both entering into their second marriages, according to PennLive.
A woman on Facebook purporting to be Mrs. Colbert’s former babysitter noted that the victim was Jewish and that her death came on the seventh night of Hanukkah, just days after her 39th birthday.
“I will always think of her as that beautiful and talented red-headed kiddo. Smart, kind, beautiful,” the woman posted.
Christopher Colbert remains at the Cumberland County Prison after being denied bail, according to the District Attorney’s Office. He is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 12.
