New features are coming soon. Login with Facebook to get an early start and help us test them out!
2 dogs, woman shot to death
Lewisville, TX (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Mar 27, 2012
County: Denton
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Michael Stephen Stolz, Sr.
According to police with the Lewisville Police Department, an elderly man has admitted to shooting and killing his wife after becoming frustrated with one of his dogs for defecating inside their house.
Police say they became aware of a problem on March 27, when a supervisor with Verizon called to report that 49-year-old employee Bernice Stolz hadn't been to work for several days and that it wasn't like her to miss work without calling.
Officers went to Stolz home, in the 1600 block of Chisolm Trail, and after getting no response from doorbell rings and knocks on windows and doors went into the backyard. When police entered the house through a sliding glass door an officer saw a dead dog on the living room floor.
According to a police affidavit, when officers entered the house and began announcing their presence, an elderly man yelled out from a hidden position and said he would be "out there" in a minute and that officers should not come back to where he was. As officers continued to try and coax the man out they noticed a smell that they believed to be that of a decomposing body.
After the man refused to identify himself, come out into the open, or allow them to check the welfare of Bernice Stolz, the Lewisville SWAT team was called and executed a search warrant on the house.
A robotic device, with an attached camera, was sent in and showed homeowner Michael Stolz Sr., 76, lying on the floor, it was then the SWAT team broke into the house.
After Michael Stolz was taken outside, police discovered a second dead dog and then the body of a deceased female. Police said it appeared the woman had "suffered a gunshot wound to her head." Officers did locate a gun inside the house.
Michael Stolz was soon taken to the Lewisville Police Department and questioned. It was then officers said they learned Stolz had been upset with one of his dogs for defecating inside the house. Stolz told detectives that when his wife continued to complain about the dog he went into the bedroom and got a gun.
According to the affidavit, Stolz then admitted to walking into the living room, shooting one dog in the head, and then shooting the other dog at least twice.
During the outburst Bernice Stolz allegedly had run, screaming into the kitchen. Michael Stolz told detectives that after killing the animals he then "started shooting his wife" until he ran out of bullets.
Michael Stolz then claimed that he hadn't planned the murder out, because after killing his wife he didn't have any bullets left to shoot himself.
Michael Stolz has been charged with Murder and remains in the Denton County Jail on $250,000 bond.
An autopsy on Bernice Stolz was performed Wednesday and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner ruled she died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Police Captain Kevin Deaver said this is the first murder of the year in Lewisville. References |
