Pottstown Man Charged with His Wife’s Murder
POTTSTOWN PA – A 69-year-old Pottstown man has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the Wednesday (April 8, 2020) strangling death of his wife, which he reported two days later to Pottstown police. The couple had been involved in an argument, the suspect allegedly told investigators.
Michael Hatfield of 331 N. Hanover St. also faces charges of third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime in the death of his wife, Mary Hatfield, 71, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele reported.
Steele and Pottstown Police Chief Michael Markovich said police received a call from Hatfield on Friday (April 10) at 11:03 a.m., claiming he had hurt his wife. When police arrived on the scene they found Mary Hatfield dead in the living room.
During a joint investigation begun by police officers and the Montgomery County Detectives Bureau, Hatfield reportedly told them he and his wife had argued Wednesday night, and “he used an orange extension cord to strangle her.”
Hatfield was preliminarily arraigned and later jailed without bail in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville PA. He is scheduled for a Friday (April 17) preliminary hearing.
An autopsy on Mary Hatfield’s body was conducted Sunday (April 11) by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. It determined the cause of death was strangulation, and ruled the manner of death as a homicide, Steele said in a media release.
Steele called the case “the worst end-result of domestic violence.” He reminded those living with domestic violence “there is help available, even in these unprecedented times. Reach out to Laurel House or the Women’s Center of Montgomery County,” he said. “They can help.”
Hatfield photo from the district attorney’s office
