Husband kills estranged wife when she returns home for her belongings, Florida cops say

A man is accused of killing his wife who left him two weeks earlier when she came back to their home to get her belongings, Florida authorities said.

Timothy Kramer, 51, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Rosa Maria Kramer, as well as animal cruelty, according to Escambia County court records.

McClatchy News reached out to the public defender’s office for comment July 30 but did not immediately receive a response.

The 47-year-old woman separated from her husband, was reported missing and was later found dead at her former home in Pensacola, deputies with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an arrest warrant.

She had been staying with her father in the weeks since she left her husband, but she wanted to go get some of her things she’d left behind, deputies said.

She left her dad’s home at about 6 a.m. July 23 and planned to be back in time to take him to a doctor’s appointment, her father told investigators.

But she didn’t come home, and she didn’t answer calls from her sister or father, deputies said. Her sister tried reaching out on Facebook, and someone messaged her from her Rosa Maria Kramer’s account saying she was at the beach having a drink.

Her sister told deputies this was unusual because she hardly ever went to the beach, and she knew she was supposed to take her dad to his appointment.

Family reported her missing that day.

Escambia deputies put out a missing and endangered person alert for her, saying she may be with her husband.

Investigators began looking for the missing woman, and they found her empty car behind a dumpster between two baseball fields, where it couldn’t easily be seen, deputies said.

Rosa Maria Kramer had planned to get her items while her husband was still working his overnight shift, but when investigators spoke with neighbors, they said he got there before she did, deputies said.

He arrived at the home at about 5 a.m. and parked his truck in the backyard behind a fence, which was unusual for him, neighbors told deputies.

Deputies said he likely did this to avoid tipping off his wife to the fact that he was there.

When they searched the Pensacola home, they reported finding puddles of blood on the porch, bloody footprints and Rosa Maria Kramer inside a closed bedroom, with a gunshot wound to the head.

Investigators also found a dog inside the home that had been shot.

Deputies pinged Timothy Kramer’s phone and found him at his sister’s apartment about a 25-mile drive away.

When police arrived, the sister said her brother had shot his wife in the head at their home, but he led her to believe it was in self-defense and she encouraged him to call the police, deputies said.

Investigators said the story he told his sister was “fictitious,” and he hadn’t shot his wife in self-defense.

He was arrested and booked in Escambia County jail. Court documents show he pleaded not guilty to the charges July 26.

Escambia County is in the Florida Panhandle.

This story was originally published July 30, 2024 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Husband kills estranged wife when she returns home for her belongings, Florida cops say."