June Trial Scheduled In Woman's Bathtub Drowning
HART, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - A June trial has been set for a former city council member in a small western Michigan community charged in the bathtub drowning of his wife.
Timothy Shannon, 34, of Hart, faces an open count of murder in the Dec. 29 death of 34-year-old Lee-Ann Shannon.
A trial has been scheduled for June 19 to 21 in Oceana County Circuit Court in White Cloud.
Timothy Shannon told police his wife accidentally drowned and he tried to revive her. According to the prosecutor's office, autopsy results released Thursday confirm she drowned.
In pre-trial testimony, police said Shannon eventually told investigators that he approached his wife while she was in the bathtub, allegedly after she's been drinking heavily. The Muskegon Chronicle reported Shannon said his wife became upset he was asking for a divorce and tried to pull him into the tub.
"Eventually [Shannon] admitted to holding her under the water until he realized she was dead," a detective testified in court. Another detective testified that Shannon told them he held his wife under water for at least three minutes.
The mistress allegedly moved in, but then out of the home a few days later -- when Shannon asked her to leave "because he needed time to heal," police said.
The Shannons have no known history of domestic violence, but family members allegedly told police there were marital problems. They were married in 2006 and have two young children.
Shannon was a Hart City Council member at the time of his wife's death.
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