Pfister to appear Friday in wife’s murder

By DORIS COOK - Staff Writer
Star Beacon

July 07, 2008 10:47 pm

— CHARDON — A preliminary hearing is set for 11 a.m. Friday before Chardon Municipal Court Judge Mark Hassett for accused wife killer Alex Vincent Pfister of Claridon Township.
In Geauga County jail since the day of the killing, Wednesday, Pfister faces the charge, an unclassified felony, for the fatal stabbing of his 30-year-old wife, Marileyda.
The day of the killing, Pfister called E-911 to report he stabbed his wife. Deputies responded to the call, which came into the Geauga sheriff’s department dispatch center at 4:05 p.m.
Deputies and detectives at the couple’s home, 11871 Aquilla Road, to find Marileyda Pfister with multiple stab wounds to her upper torso and neck. Chardon Rescue Squad took the woman to UH Geauga Medical Center emergency room.
The husband was arrested immediately and deputies recovered a four-inch folding knife believed used in the murder. Pfister told the E-9111 dispatcher he tossed the knife outside of the couple’s home.
Marileyda Pfister was pronounced in the hospital at 5:22 p.m. Investigators said three of the couple’s children were in the house at the time of the killing. Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland said the children are temporarily placed with the victim’s relatives out-of-the-county.
At the time she was killed, Marileyda Pfister had a court civil protection order to keep her husband away from her. Records show the CPO was signed and issued June 27 by Geauga Common Pleas Court Magistrate Dorothy Lee.
Geauga County Public Defender Robert Umholtz is the court appointed defense lawyer for Pfister. The defendant’s bond is set at $500,000 cash or surety.