disabled from cidp read story

[CIDP]

Man, 40, indicted on murder

By Chris Cobb
The Herald-Zeitung
Published November 18, 2008

By Chris Cobb

The Herald-Zeitung

Canyon Lake resident Robert Smith was indicted for murder this past
week by a Comal County grand jury, accused of killing his live-in
girlfriend, Nancy Shields.

The indictment states that the 40-year-old Smith is believed to have
“intentionally and knowingly” stabbed Shields repeatedly with a knife
during a domestic dispute at the couple’s home at 1235 Hedgestone on
July 11.

The 53-year-old Shields was alive when emergency crews arrived on
scene at around 9 p.m. but eventually died of severe blood loss after
being airlifted to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Smith was not arrested until six days later, after an autopsy
concluded that her wounds could not have been self-inflicted. He has
remained in the Comal County Jail on a $500,000 bond since his arrest.

His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 8.

Smith could face five to 99 years, or life in prison if convicted.

Neighbors said back in July that the couple had frequently gotten into
arguments and that police were regularly called to their residence in
the Tanglewood Shores subdivision to deal with domestic disputes.

According to family members, Shields had worked for a number of years
as an executive secretary in Houston before being diagnosed with
Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), a
potentially debilitating nerve deficiency that had rendered her
disabled.

Smith has served time in county jail at least three separate times
over the past five years, primarily for alcohol-related offenses.

The couple had been living together since 2006.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------