Walter sent to mental-health facility
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Daily Record photograph by Sarah Nader Myrtle Walter, 75, of Rogers, who is suspected of killing her husband, was escorted out of the Benton County Courthouse in Bentonville by Benton County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Martinez after her bond hearing Tuesday afternoon.
BENTONVILLE — A 75-year-old Rogers woman accused of killing her husband will be released from the Benton County Jail and taken to a mental-health facility in Fayetteville.
Myrtle Walter was being held in the Benton County Jail on suspicion of capital murder, a class Y felony.
She told police Saturday that she shot and killed her 74-year-old husband — Paul Walter — while he was sleeping in their bedroom, according to court documents.
Rogers police officer Tiffany Terral responded with medics from the Rogers Fire Department and found (Paul ) Walter dead in the couple’s home at 1105 S. 12 th Place. Police went to the location in response to a 2: 35 a. m. Saturday 911 call from a woman claiming her mother had been in an accident.
Myrtle Walter appeared in court Tuesday afternoon for a bond hearing in the case.
Her attorney, W. H. Taylor, filed a motion seeking his client’s release from jail and her transport to Generations, a secure geriatric psychiatry facility in Fayetteville.
Taylor provided Circuit Judge John Scott with a letter from Dr. Gary Linker that claims Myrtle Walter suffers from dementia, which causes her to experience periods of confusion. Linker’s letter also states that Walter’s physical condition is strained because of medical conditions that include hypertension, high cholesterol and cerebrovascular disease. Her adaptive functioning is compromised because of dementia, complications of depression and a long-standing anxiety disorder as a result of sustained sexual abuse in childhood, the letter states.
Linker claims Walter’s intellectual functioning has declined because of her dementia and she gets lost while driving, cannot recall previously well-learned names and at times has difficulty naming common objects.
Linker recommended that Walter be admitted to Generations to make diagnostic observations, to complete structured neuropsychological testing and to fully evaluate her medical status so that he (Linker ) can make the most accurate recommendations in the case.
Walter made her first court appearance Sunday morning, when District Judge Jeff Conner granted a prosecutor’s request to hold Walter without bond.
Deputy Prosecutor Stephanie McLemore told Scott at the hearing that prosecutors are not aware of any aggravating factors, so they are not seeking the death penalty in the case.
McLemore recommended that the court set Walter’s bond at $ 250, 000. McLemore did oppose Taylor’s request to have Walter transported to Generations.
Walter testified during the hearing that she would be willing to go to Generations. “ If it’s warmer, it will be fine, ” Walter said when questioned by Taylor.
Walter said she and her husband had owned their home for at least 20 years. The house was appraised at $ 215, 300, Taylor said.
Scott ordered that Walter be transported to Generations. If the court receives a satisfactory report, the judge said Walter then could post $ 250, 000 bond.
Her house will be put up for $ 200, 000 as a security bond while the remaining $ 50, 000 will be a cash or corporate surety bond.
Walter told Terral she had an argument with her husband and she shot him, according to court documents. When questioned by Rogers police detective Brian Hanna, Walter claimed her husband was mentally abusing her, an affidavit in the case states. She claimed she was “ at her wits’ end. ” She said her husband wanted to have sex, but she did not want to, court documents state.
During the interview, Walter said she could no longer take being mentally abused, the affidavit states.
Walter said that she drank four or five beers earlier that evening. Her husband had also been drinking, according to court documents. Walter said that while sitting on the porch, she told herself she could not longer take it and that it had to end, according to court documents.
Walker later went into the bedroom and took a hand box and then went into the bathroom, according to court documents. She retrieved a gun and found it was loaded, the affidavit states. She went back into the bedroom and shot her husband once, but also fired two more times after she saw him move, court documents reflect.
Police found a. 357-caliber revolver lying on the bed.
Paul Walter was shot three times. One bullet grazed his face and the other two were in the shoulder and neck region.
Myrtle Walter’s arraignment is scheduled for 8: 30 a. m. Nov. 3 before Circuit Judge David Clinger.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
