Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 29, 1993 TAG: 9309290239
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Walter Anderson, 37, had admitted earlier that he choked Delphine Anderson at her Lincoln Terrace apartment Feb. 9.
But Anderson testified Tuesday that he never meant to kill her. He said he was only trying to calm her down during one of the many arguments of their failing marriage.
Anderson said he had been struggling for months with a substance abuse problem, and attributed what happened to crack cocaine and alcohol.
Prosecutors attributed it to jealousy. Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Wanda DeWease argued that Anderson was angry because he believed his wife was dating another man - even though Anderson was living with his girlfriend within sight of Delphine Anderson's apartment.
"It was a double standard," DeWease said. "He could go out and have his relationship, but she was not entitled to do the same."
Delphine Anderson, an assistant manager at a fast-food restaurant, had complained in the weeks before her death of her husband's increasingly abusive and violent behavior.
She predicted her own death in an application for a protective order. "He says all the time if I leave him, he is going to kill me," she wrote in requesting a court order to keep Anderson away from her. The order was granted five days before she was killed.
On the afternoon of Feb. 9, the Andersons' two children came home to an empty apartment. After worrying through the night, Anderson's 15-year-old daughter checked a closet the next day for a suitcase, thinking perhaps her mother had left town.
She found her mother's body, covered with blankets and with a lawn mower pushed partially on top of it.
Anderson, who had continued his cocaine and alcohol binge through the day, was picked up by police several hours later. In a statement to a detective, he said he had decided to confront his wife after seeing his son out "running the streets" in places where drugs are sold.
"Mr. Anderson, in this terrible irony, knew what drugs could do," Assistant Public Defender Steve Milani said.
After roaming the streets for hours, Anderson said, he went to talk to his wife the morning of Feb. 9 and quickly became involved in a fight.
In a rambling statement, Anderson admitted to police that he tried to pour insulin down his wife's mouth during a scuffle and then choked her for three to four minutes. He then dragged her body into a closet and fled in a panic.
"I was afraid of what I had done." he testified. ". . . It was like I just lost my mind."
Milani asked Judge Clifford Weckstein to impose a sentence of 20 years, the minimum for first-degree murder, based in part on his client's lack of prior offenses and good work record.
DeWease wanted a life sentence. She said Anderson will be eligible for parole after serving about 6 1/2 years of his 40-year sentence.
Anderson, who tried to hang himself in jail and slashed his throat after he was arrested, testified Tuesday that he still grieves for the woman he loved.
"How much love and respect did you show her as you dragged her body through the kitchen and stuffed it in the closet?" DeWease asked.
"Not any," Anderson said.
Keywords:
ROMUR
by CNB