SPENCER MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER

(02/05/2004)
By David Hedges PUBLISHER

TIMES RECORD/ROANE COUNTY REPORTER

A Spencer man was arrested Friday and charged with the murder of his wife one week earlier.

Joseph Kelly Jr., 31, was charged in the death of 30-year-old Patricia Kelly. She was shot in the bedroom of the couple's mobile home at Mann's Trailer Court on U.S. 119, south of Spencer.

Police were dispatched to the home at 1 a.m. on Jan. 22, after Kelly called 911 to report that he had accidently shot his wife.

Patricia Kelly was shot once in the abdomen. She was taken to Roane General Hospital and then airlifted to a Charleston hospital, where she died.

The couple's two children, ages 11 and 8, were at home at the time of the shooting, according to Chief Deputy Jeff Smith of the Roane Sheriff's Dept. He said they were removed from the home after the incident.

The State Police Crime Scene Response Team conducted ballistics tests at the home before Kelly was charged ... more Times Record- Roane County Reporter