Brunswick, GA: Man Kills/ Buries Wife In Their Front Yard....
Slimpickins
Slim
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Glynn County police officers excavate a grave at a home off Buck Swamp
Road in Brunswick Thursday.
-- Terry Dickson/Staff
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Slain wife buried in front yard
By Teresa Stepzinski
Times-Union staff writer
BRUNSWICK -- A Glynn County man has been charged with killing his wife, then
burying her body with a backhoe in the front yard of their home in an
upscale marshfront subdivision.
Detectives using shovels and metal detectors in the meticulously manicured
yard unearthed the body of 53-year-old Yukie Tatro Thursday morning from a
makeshift grave concealed beneath fresh mulch amid palmetto bushes, small
water oaks and blackberry brambles.
She was lying in the fetal position, buried about feet deep and within about
100 feet of the front door of the house. The body was too decomposed for
authorities to immediately determine how she died. An autopsy has been
ordered.
William David Tatro, 52, was charged with malice murder Wednesday night
after being confronted by officers who found blood on a golf cart in the
couple's $300,000 home on Red Maple Lane in Serenoa Cove Estates, said Capt.
Jack Hopper of the Glynn County Police Department.
Hopper said Tatro told detectives he accidentally shot his wife with a .9mm
semiautomatic pistol Saturday.
"Mr. Tatro said that he was bringing the gun out to show her and while he
was putting the magazine in, the gun accidentally went off. He said he
buried her body because he panicked," Hopper said.
Police have recovered the pistol they think was used in the slaying, as well
as a second handgun, Hopper said.
He said detectives are checking on whether the couple had a history of
domestic disputes.
Police said Tatro was project manager for the Brunswick architectural firm
of John A. Tuten and Associates.
Neighbors said Yukie Tatro, a homemaker, delighted in working in the yard of
her house, which stands alone at the end of a cul-de-sac overlooking
pristine salt marsh.
The couple had been married for 29 years. They have a son in his mid-20s and
college-age daughter. They had moved into the subdivision, off Buck Swamp
Road near U.S. 17 in southern Glynn County, about a year ago, neighbors
said.
"My God. I just can't believe it, " said Stephen Stan, a friend as well as a
neighbor who sold the couple the lot for their home.
"I know both of them pretty well and I don't understand how this could have
happened," said Stan, who described William Tatro as pleasant and outgoing
while his wife was quiet and shy. "This is the American Dream out here. You
expect or think something like this could ever happen here."
Yukie Tatro apparently had been killed about 6 p.m. Saturday. She then was
buried overnight with a backhoe that had been parked on neighboring
property, said Cpl. Chip Anderson, lead investigator on the case.
On Sunday, Tatro reported his wife missing to Glynn police. About the same
time, the couple's son discovered her abandoned 1999 Toyota Avalon in the
parking lot of the Brunswick West Shopping Center on U.S. 341, Hopper said.
Glynn police detectives went to the home about 8 p.m. Wednesday to talk with
the husband about the investigation. Sgt. Ted McDonald then noticed what
appeared to be dried blood splattered on a golf cart parked inside the
garage, Hopper said.
Detectives seized the cart and took Tatro to police headquarters for
questioning where he was charged in the slaying, Hopper said.
The couple's closest neighbors live across the street about 200 yards away.
Police said no one reported hearing any gunshots or a backhoe either
Saturday or Sunday.
Tatro remains jailed without bail at the Glynn County Detention Center and
could not be reached for comment. Information was not available about
whether he had retained an attorney.
http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/100600/met_4268929.html
DedNdogYrs
semiautomatic pistol Saturday.>
Uh huh. And the Sharon Tate murders were an accident too.
Dogs & children first.