Husband Charged With Murder In Wife's Death At Leisure World

Updated at 1:05 p.m.

SILVER SPRING, MD — A man is in custody on murder charges after police say he fatally stabbed his wife in their apartment at the senior living community Leisure World, Montgomery County police said Monday.

Vivian Stewart Nation, 80, is charged with first-degree murder in Saturday's death of his wife, 78-year-old Beverly Fletcher.

A police news release said Fletcher was found by responders suffering from multiple stab wounds and possible blunt force trauma. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police officers and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service crews were called to the 3300 block of North Leisure World Boulevard just after 6 p.m. Saturday for the report of a person in cardiac arrest. They found Fletcher, who was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Nation was taken into custody and taken to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, and charged with first-degree murder. A bond hearing is scheduled for Monday.

Fletcher’s body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy. The cause of death was determined to be multiple sharp force injuries, and the manner of death ruled a homicide, police said.

The death occurred in a private residence, Jim Rudnick, Leisure World director of security and transportation, wrote in a message sent Saturday night to residents, Bethesda Today reported.

“At no time was there any threat or danger to other residents or the broader community,” Rudnick's message said.