Bail kept at $1M for suspect in wife's murder - NJ.com

Bail kept at $1M for suspect in wife's murder - NJ.com

Sponsored By:
INSIDE NEWS
• Times of Trenton News
Bail kept at $1M for suspect in wife's murder
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Lisa Coryell
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
BY LISA CORYELL
TRENTON -- A Superior Court Judge yesterday kept bail at $1 million for a city man charged with murdering his wife and dumping her body in a Hamilton cemetery.
Prosecutors said a search of Clarence Kelsey's South Clinton Avenue apartment revealed blood evidence of a crime.
The 66-year-old is accused of stabbing Colleen Kelsey, 46, during a domestic dispute on June 20. He then left her body in the apartment for at least two days before dumping it in the North Crosswicks Cemetery, prosecutors said.
Her remains were discovered on June 28.
Kelsey tried to report his wife missing on July 17. Police searched his apartment after becoming suspicious that this missing person description was similar to the dead woman found in the cemetery, prosecutors said.
When confronted by the blood evidence in the apartment, Kelsey first told police his wife had stabbed herself, said Assistant Prosecutor John Boyle.
Kelsey later changed his story, saying his wife had pulled a knife on him during a quarrel and fallen on it in the ensuing struggle, Boyle said.
Prosecutors say Kelsey dumped some of his wife's wardrobe in a donation bin. A blood-soaked rag was recovered in a local convenience store, they said.
A defense attorney argued for a lower bail, saying Kelsey had no prior convictions, was the father of two and had served in the military in the 1960s.
When filing his missing person report, Kelsey told police had not seen her since June 19. He told police he had not reported his wife missing earlier because he believed she was in a drug rehabilitation program. But he filed a report after family members urged him to, he said.