A 65-year-old man from Maryland has been accused of murdering his former wife, a week after he allegedly tried to disguise the crime as a failed burglary.
Karl Danny Geiger informed WBAL that he dialed 911 upon discovering his ex-wife — 69-year-old Patricia Watson-Geiger — lifeless in the bedroom after returning from work on the evening of September 15.
The couple had been divorced in 2019 but chose to live in the house as roommates, he said.
According to court documents, Geiger recounted the same narrative to investigators, as reported by Law&Crime. He stated he had left for his job around 7:30 that morning and returned at approximately 8:30 that night.
“It seems like someone broke into my house, and my wife isn’t moving,” Geiger told the 911 dispatcher that night, according to the probable cause document. “[Geiger] described his home as ransacked and said his wife (ex-wife) appeared unresponsive.”
Geiger noted that drawers were open in his bedroom, although nothing seemed to be missing. He also claimed that he was unaware that [Watson-Geiger] had been shot until detectives revealed this during their talk.
This is when Geiger’s account started to unravel, according to documents. A witness reported to police that Geiger mentioned the day after the incident that his ex-wife was shot in the head. Police highlighted that “at no stage during this investigation was the defendant informed of the location where the victim was shot,” the affidavit revealed.
In fact, the documents say, Geiger told detectives during a follow-up interview on September 22 “that he still didn’t know where the victim was shot.”
Other witnesses cast doubt on the time Geiger said he left for work — including one who said they were walking their dog between 8 and 8:30 a.m. and heard gunshots. Then detectives obtained surveillance video from a nearby home that captured the sound of gunshots just before 8 a.m. Another video showed Gieger’s “rollback tow truck” leaving the residence at about 8:15 a.m. — some 45 minutes after he said he left for work.
Cell phone records also put Geiger still at the home until that time, police said.
Geiger was arrested on Wednesday and charged with first degree murder. He’s being held without bond.
