Inset: Bonnie Tietgens (St. Lucie County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The suburban home where Tietgens allegedly killed her husband in Fort Pierce, Fla. (Google Maps).
A Florida woman is behind bars after killing her husband with a billy club and a cleanup effort gone awry, Sunshine State police say.
Bonnie J. Tietgens, 60, stands accused of one count of each of murder in the second degree and obstructing justice by tampering with evidence, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.
The underlying incident occurred late Wednesday night at a home on Birch Drive in Fort Pierce, a medium-sized city located along Florida’s Treasure Coast, a region made up of three southeastern counties.
That night, at around 10:30 p.m., deputies responded to reports about a possible deceased male and found William Tietgens, 64, dead inside the suburban home, according to the sheriff’s office.
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“Detectives determined that earlier in the evening, the suspect attempted to contact her adult son by phone, and the son returned the call to Bonnie, at which point she informed him that dad was dead,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Richard Del Toro said during a press conference on Thursday. “And she admitted to striking him with a wooden billy club in the head.”
The defendant’s son returned her phone call at around 9 p.m., according to sheriff’s office sources cited by West Palm Beach-based NBC affiliate WPTV. Then, the son contacted his sister and the pair arrived at their parents’ house together after failing to get in touch with their father. There, they confirmed the grim news and dialed 911.
After finding the victim, deputies attempted lifesaving measures, but the severe head trauma rendered such efforts for naught. Then, deputies found the defendant in what appeared to be something of a compromising position, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Deputies located Bonnie Tietgens in the garage, standing near a washing machine. A blood-soaked blanket was on the ground beside her, and the machine was found fully loaded,” Del Toro said during the press conference as reported by Tequesta-based ABC affiliate WPBF. “She was in the process of basically pressing the start cycle on the machine, apparently attempting to destroy the potential evidence.”
The washing machine itself contained “blood-soaked clothing and towels,” the sheriff added during the press conference.
News of the alleged brutal bloodletting was a shock to residents in the community.
“I see them occasionally,” a neighbor told WPBF. “He walked his golden retriever, said ‘Hi’ or ‘Good morning’ and that’s it. That never crossed my mind.”
Another neighbor offered some insight into the marital situation.
“They definitely had their history, you know, drinking and fighting,” the second neighbor told WPTV. “It’s just it was kind of just a common occurrence for years.”
The sheriff’s office did not offer a motive for the alleged crime. The homicide investigation is said to be ongoing.
Law&Crime reached out to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office for additional details on this story but no response was immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
The defendant is being detained in the St. Lucie County Jail on $250,000 bond, sheriff’s office records show. She is also currently subject to a mental health hold under Florida law.
