A Florida man accused of killing his wife and leaving her body in their Miami Beach apartment for more than a week was arrested on Wednesday following a standoff with police and SWAT officers.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox News, a friend of the unidentified victim went to the couple’s apartment shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday to check on her and noticed “a foul odor coming from inside the apartment and flies around the area.”
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“She attempted to knock on the door,” Officer Ernesto Rodriguez told Local 10 News. “The male inside slammed the door on her, which is when she then contacted police.”
Russel Ewing, 53, is accused of killing his wife and leaving her body in their Miami Beach apartment for more than a week, according to police. He was arrested on Wednesday after surrendering to SWAT officers.
(Miami Beach Police)
When officers arrived, 53-year-old Russel Allen Ewing opened the apartment door, revealing himself to be naked with a knife in his hand. The affidavit added that Ewing refused to come out of the apartment.
A SWAT team and hostage negotiators were called to the scene and about twenty minutes later negotiators were able to arrange for “a peaceful surrender,” Miami Beach police said.
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According to court documents, Ewing eventually agreed to turn himself in after several unsuccessful attempts to reach him via telephone. Police said he was taken into custody without incident.
When police went inside the apartment, they found the victim’s body “in an advanced state of decomposition” under a blanket on the living room floor, court documents said.
Ewing, whose occupation is listed as “cook” in the affidavit, told investigators he had been arguing with the victim about finances while he was taking kitchen knives out of a bag. The document said that Ewing claimed he turned around to say something to his wife and accidentally stabbed her once in the abdomen.
Ewing told police he was afraid to notify authorities about the stabbing, which he believed happened Oct. 20. However, the affidavit states the stabbing likely happened two days earlier, on Oct. 18.
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He faces a charge of second-degree murder.
The affidavit states that Ewing and his wife had been together for a total of 20 years and had been married, divorced and reconciled over that time.
