Inset left: James Pate (Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office). Inset right: Cheryl Pate (Dignity Memorial). Background: Police investigate the scene of a stabbing at a residence on the 1800 block of South 14th St. in Pekin, Illinois (WEEK).
An elderly man allegedly cut the throat of his wife after an argument broke out between them following their plans to file for divorce.
Ninety-three-year-old James Pate has been accused of the first-degree murder of his wife, Cheryl Pate, who was 80, as reported by the Pekin Police Department. The incident took place on a Tuesday in the modest city of Illinois when James’ “pent-up anger” allegedly erupted.
The couple was traveling in their car, with James Pate behind the wheel, when a heated dispute occurred, according to information from the Tazewell County Circuit Clerk. A divorce was imminent, and James later confessed he had bottled up his anger and “couldn’t take it anymore.”
Upon parking the vehicle, James explained that Cheryl “lunged toward him as if to scratch his face,” prompting him to push her away and hit her, he relayed to authorities.
But that is not where the violence ended.
“James stated that he then pulled a knife out of the center console and cut Cheryl’s throat,” the affidavit reads.
Pekin police responded to the incident on South 14th Street, where they discovered a vehicle in a lengthy private driveway. Cheryl Pate was found on the pavement on the passenger’s side, “covered in blood from the neck down,” with a visible “laceration on the front of her neck.”
James Pate was also located by officers, appearing to have substantial blood on him. He confessed to cutting Cheryl’s throat, the affidavit reveals. He added that he discarded the knife in a wooded area close to the driveway, where officers subsequently found it.
Cheryl Pate was transported to a nearby hospital in Peoria, but she was unresponsive, and soon after, she was pronounced dead. The Peoria County Coroner’s Office said Cheryl Pate’s autopsy “demonstrates that she suffered multiple sharp force injuries that were incompatible with life and unsurvivable.”
The affidavit added that her cause of death was determined to be “multiple sharp force injuries of the neck.”
James Pate was arrested and charged with his wife’s murder. He had no known prior violent criminal history.
