Husband's statements didn't match witness accounts
By Meg Thilmony
Sunday October 7, 2007
The News-Gazette
Robert Arnette, the estranged husband of Naomi Arnette, was arrested early Saturday morning on charges of first-degree murder and concealment of her death.
URBANA Inconsistent statements that Robert Arnette gave to police investigating the death of his wife, Naomi Arnette, have led to his arrest for her murder.
Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh said Arnette, 38, was arrested at about 12:15 a.m. Saturday at his residence at 4 Aztec Place, C, on charges of first-degree murder of Naomi Arnette and the concealment of her death.
Formal charges are expected to be filed Tuesday.
The remains of Mrs. Arnette, a mother of seven, were found Sept. 29 in a shallow grave about 3 miles south of Sadorus. She had been missing since May 21.
Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said Saturday that sheriff's investigators interviewed Arnette several times in the wake of his wife's disappearance.
"He had given statements previously as to his whereabouts and contacts with her on the day she disappeared. Those statements were inconsistent with statements of other witnesses who had seen her that day," she said. "Since the discovery of her remains, the investigation focused on statements he made as recently as Friday to a woman with whom he had become acquainted after the disappearance of his wife. That woman has been cooperating with investigators and through her, investigators learned of his story of finding his wife dead in the basement.
"He claimed that she had hung herself and that to spare the children, he removed her body and disposed of it in rural Sadorus," Rietz said. "That version is not consistent with the physical evidence, the way the body was found.
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