Police arrested a Delaware man accused of stabbing his estranged wife and her mother to death as they prepared to leave their home to go to church Sunday morning.
Police say Gilbert Rochester, 66, of Clayton, parked his silver Chevrolet Caprice approximately a mile east of a home in a field entrance off Hawkey Branch Road in Smyrna, Delaware Sunday. Rochester's estranged wife Mary Lane, 56, was staying at the home with her mother, 80-year-old Louise Cavuto Carrow, as well as her 87-year-old step-father, police said. Rochester and Lane were in the process of a divorce, according to investigators.
Shortly before 7:30 a.m., Carrow left the home and began walking to the detached garage in order to leave for church. Rochester allegedly approached her and stabbed her to death. Shortly after that, Lane also left the home and began walking to the garage. Rochester then attacked her and stabbed her to death as well, police said.
Neighbors heard screams coming from the home and witnessed Rochester killing Lane, according to investigators. Police were then called to the area.
The responding officers found the bodies of the mother and daughter. They then found Rochester hiding in the woods near the property, investigators said. Police say Rochester still had the knife in his hand and did not obey orders to drop it. A Clayton Police officer then shot him with a Taser, temporarily incapacitating him, according to investigators.
Rochester was taken to a nearby hospital where he received medical attention. He was then taken into police custody and charged with two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. He was arraigned and is being held at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center without bail.
