SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The widower of an elder-care nurse found dead nearly two years ago alongside a hiking trail near their Jamul home was arrested on the East Coast on Tuesday and booked on suspicion of murder, authorities reported.
Winnie Perry Whitby, 49, was taken into custody Tuesday morning in Goldsboro, Maryland, on suspicion of killing his 49-year-old spouse, said San Diego County sheriff's Lt. Rich Williams.
On the afternoon of Jan. 7, 2017, a hiker came across Melissa Whitby's body on a footpath off the 15800 block of Skyline Truck Trail, about a mile west of the couple's home. She had suffered traumatic injuries to her upper body, and her death was ruled a homicide, but exactly how she died has not been made public.
The victim's co-workers had reported her missing a week before her body was found. Her husband told authorities his wife had gone out two nights prior to New Year's Eve and never returned.
The suspect was booked into Talbot County Jail in Easton, Maryland, pending extradition to San Diego County.
Williams did not disclose what led detectives to identify Winnie Whitby as his wife's alleged killer.
In 1995, the suspect stood trial in Denton, Maryland, on charges of gunning down his fiancee's two brothers. He was acquitted of two counts of first-degree murder and four other criminal charges in the case, the Star Democrat newspaper reported.
RELATED COVERAGE
