Complaint: Woman beat 77-year-old man to death with ceramic angel inside New Berlin home
WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A 43-year-old woman has been charged with first degree intentional homicide after a 77-year-old man was found dead inside his New Berlin home.
According to court documents, Martha Brown and the victim -- identified as Richard Platt -- had known each other for several years and had lived with each other at one time.
Officials say on Feb. 12, around 7 p.m. officers responded to a home on Glen Park Ct. in New Berlin, just south of National Avenue, and found Platt lying lifeless in a basement corner. He was pronounced dead.
That same day, authorities in Cedarburg located a suspicious female who was running through the backyards partially clothed, wearing a shower curtain, on Prairie View Road.
It was determined the woman -- identified as 43-year-old Martha Brown -- was connected to the death investigation in New Berlin, court documents say.
Brown and the victim, according to the complaint, had known each other for 14 years. Court documents say Platt was a longtime family friend who helped Brown care for her son with autism. At one point, Brown and her two children lived with Platt at his New Berlin home, documents say.
While transporting Brown to the police department, she allegedly stated, "If I got rid of Richard today and he was with them, I can get," and then stopped talking and began whimpering.
According to court documents, during an interview with Brown, she admitted she was upset with the victim and chased him into the basement. Brown told investigators, the criminal complaint says, she struck Platt eight times with a ceramic angel and struck him with her fists five to eight times.
In court on Wednesday, Feb. 28, Brown's cash bond was set at $1 million.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 8.