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Pa. Man Allegedly Stabbed Wife To Death With Fire Poker And Knife Amid Argument Over Infidelity
Daniel Barrett turned himself in at a local precinct on Monday and admitted to having killed his wife, Mary Barrett, according to police.
A Pennsylvania man was arrested this week for allegedly killing his wife by attacking her with a fire poker then stabbing her in the back during an argument about infidelity.
Daniel Barrett, 40, turned himself in at the local police station on Monday evening and admitted to having killed his wife, Mary Barrett, days prior, WNEP reported. The couple got into an argument on Saturday at their home in Plymouth, during which he accused her of her infidelity, he reportedly told authorities. He said that the situation turned violent after she admitted to spending time with someone else, after which he punched her and pushed her to the ground near their fireplace, as detailed in court documents obtained by the station.
Barrett told police that he then blacked out and the next thing he remembered, he was standing over his wife’s body with fireplace tongs and using them to beat her, after which he attacked her with a fire poker, WOLF reports. He told police that he then grabbed a knife and stabbed her in the lower back multiple times. Afterward, he said that he went to splash some water on his face, but when he heard noises coming from his wife, he dragged her down to the basement. He did not return to the basement until the following day when he went to cover her body with a sheet, he told police.
On Sunday evening, Barrett phoned Robert Atkinson, the biological father of Mary Barrett’s teenage daughter, and told him that she had cheated on him and that he’d murdered her, according to the criminal complaint obtained by local newspaper The Citizens’ Voice. He turned himself in 10 minutes later, police said. Police found a trail of blood leading to Mary’s body in the basement, where they found her covered in blood and with a hole in her skull, they said. A fireplace poker had been placed next to her body, Citizen’s Voice reported.
Police said that prior to turning himself in, Barrett told them he considered going on the run or taking his own life, according to The Citizen’s Voice. He was denied bail and is currently in custody at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility on a homicide charge. He is scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on January 20.
The Plymouth Township Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Oxygen.com.
Daniel and Mary Barrett had been married for five years, The Citizen’s Voice reported. She retired from the Air Force in 2014 and was working as a secretary for Plymouth Borough when she died.
