A 58-year-old man authorities say shot his wheelchair-bound wife to death inside their York County home last week was ordered to be held in jail without bond.
Brian Keith Patterson is charged with second-degree murder and using a firearm in a felony in the death of wife, Princess Chapman, 86.
He appeared by video conference Tuesday before York Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Wade Bowie. He is being held in the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.
York-Poquoson Sheriff’s deputies were called at around 8:31 p.m. March 27 after Patterson called 911 and said “he just shot his wife,” according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.
The emergency dispatcher asked Patterson why he shot her, and he replied, “It was complicated,” according to the complaint.
Deputies arrived at the home and saw Patterson standing outside, holding his phone. As he was detained, deputies went inside and found Chapman. Investigators said she had been shot in the face.
York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Capt. Troy Lyons said Tuesday that Patterson didn’t give any statements to investigators other than the brief one to the 911 operator. Lyons said investigators haven’t determined a motive for the shooting.
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