A 71-year-old woman in the United States has been accused of trying to kill her husband after he received a postcard from a woman he dated 60 years ago. According to The Independent, Bertha Yalter from Florida was arrested after police received a call from a man who claimed his wife had tried to kill him at their home. When the cops arrived on the scene, they found the man in an “extremely fragile” state with “several serious bruises and open lacerations…as well as open bite marks that were bleeding”.
North Miami Beach Police Department said that Ms Yalter and her husband had been married for nearly 52 years when the incident occurred. The man told the officers that the attack happened after he received a postcard from a woman he dated before marrying his wife in the 1960s. According to the outlet, he said that the postcard greatly angered the 71-year-old, who tried to smother him with a pillow.
As per the investigators, footage of at least some of the attack was captured on a cellular phone. The clip appeared to confirm the man’s account of the attack. Prosecutors also stated that Ms Yalter had admitted to depriving her husband of his cell phone at some point. She also allegedly confessed to committing that attack when interviewed by law enforcement.
However, Ms Yalter’s attorney denied the claims of the assault. “This is a couple who has been married for 51 years,” the attorney reportedly said. “The police overcharged this case in the extreme. Our client’s husband said he is perfectly fine. That he regrets the argument. And that he regrets what happened,” they added. The attorney also stated that Ms Yalter’s husband was only taken to the hospital by the police because the police insisted he go.
The 71-year-old has been charged with one count each of attempted murder in the second degree, aggravated battery against an elderly person, and tampering with a witness or victim. She was also ordered to have no contact with her husband.
The 71-year-old’s lawyer called the attempted murder charge “absurd”. “I am very confident that we’re going to get this case resolved quickly and favourably,” they added.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, argued that the attempted smothering by a pillow covered attempted murder because “that would suffocate and kill him”. “I think she also admitted to urinating on him,” the state’s attorney said. “So, I think if you look at the totality of the circumstances, this appears to be more than a domestic battery by strangulation,” they added.
