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Southington man in custody, charged with killing wife
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Royce C. Honaker
By Ed Runyan
SOUTHINGTON
The Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Wednesday that Royce C. Honaker, 60, is in custody and charged with killing his wife, Donna, 58, Tuesday afternoon at their Southington home.
He will make his first court appearance today, Major Tom Stewart of the sheriff’s office said.
Royce Honaker met sheriff’s deputy Ty Kata near the garage door of the home at 4480 Countyline Turnpike Road after 1 p.m., saying “I just killed my wife,” Kata said Wednesday.
“Then he said he was a bookie for Ford Motor Co. and that his house and woods were under surveillance and the neighbor and his wife were in on it,” Kata said.
Royce Honaker was then placed in the secured back seat of a sheriff’s cruiser without incident for nearly an hour until a deputy drove him to the sheriff’s office.
At the sheriff’s office, investigators were unable to ask Honaker any more questions because he asked right away for an attorney, Maj. Harold Firster said.
“It would be speculation on our part,” Firster said when asked whether investigators know why Honaker would have wanted to kill his wife or what the remark about the surveillance might mean.
A next-door neighbor said Royce and Donna Honaker both worked at the Walton Hills Ford stamping plant but Royce Honaker had left the job when he became ill.
Both Honakers were listed as “retired” on a divorce Royce Honaker filed against Donna Honaker in April.
Jail records say Honaker is charged with murder.
On Tuesday, authorities said a man at the Honaker address that they would not identify had called 911 and reported that he had just killed his wife. The wife was then found shot to death, and the man was taken into custody.