SMYRNA, DELAWARE (12/13/2015) A 66-year-old man has been charged with murdering his estranged wife and her mother at a home east of Smyrna this morning, Delaware State Police said.
The two women were found dead at 334 Hawkey Branch Road.
Police found the body of one woman in the driveway and the body of another inside a detached garage about 7:42 a.m.
A man initially fled but was taken into custody not long after, police said.
This evening, police gave this account based on their preliminary investigation and witness interviews:
“Gilbert E. Rochester, 66, of Clayton, parked his silver Chevrolet Caprice approximately one mile east of the residence in a field entrance off Hawkey Branch Road and then walked to the house where he waited outside.
“Sometime between 7:20 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., Louise M. Cavuto Carrow, 80, exited her home and began walking to the detached garage in order to leave for church. It is at that time Rochester assaulted Louise causing her death.
“Shortly after that, Mary C. Lane, 56, also exited the home and began walking to the garage when she was physically attacked by Rochester in the driveway and subsequently stabbed to death before he fled the vicinity of the crime on foot. Nearby neighbors heard screams coming from the area of the home, and upon exiting their residence, witnessed the attack on Mary all while calling 9-1-1.
“Responding troopers and an officer from the Clayton Police Department located the two deceased victims and soon found Rochester hiding in some nearby woods on the property. Upon seeing the knife still in his possession and not heading the commands to drop it, the Clayton Police Officer temporarily incapacitated Rochester by utilizing a departmentally issued Taser.”
Police said Rochester was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment for injuries from the stun gun and then released.
He was then charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of possession of a deadly weapon during commission of a felony. He is being held without bail at Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna.
Autopsies were planned for the two victims.
Rochester and Lane were in the process of a divorce, police said, and she was living at the home with her mother, Louise Carrow, and her 87-year-old step-father.