A LaPorte County man accused of killing his wife was in LaPorte Superior Court for an initial hearing Thursday.
The affidavit for probable cause outlines a gruesome incident in which Joseph Jemiolo allegedly beat and stabbed his wife, Kathy Jemiolo, to death at their home in the 800 block of E. Street in LaPorte on Tuesday, June 11.
The victim’s daughter, Jennifer, was a witness to the incident where she told police that she heard a thumping in the basement and “some stuff” going on in the basement.
She heard someone coming up the stairs and it was her father, Joseph Jemiolo, who stated that Jennifer’s son, who was downstairs, was ok. Jennifer went downstairs and picked up her son who was lying next to her unconscious mother.
She went back upstairs and then saw Jemiolo hit Kathy Jemiolo in the back of the head with a baseball bat. She called 911 where she told dispatchers that she thought an intruder was in the house. Jemiolo heard her on the phone and told her to go downstairs. Jennifer asked where her mother was and Jemiolo allegedly stated, “she’s dead”.
Jennifer then saw lights outside and ran out the back door and ran to police. She told police that before she ran outside, she saw Jemiolo sitting on the end of the bed covered in blood.
Police took Jemiolo into custody after he attempted leaving out of the back of the residence covered “in what appeared to be blood”. Jemiolo would not answer officer questions without an attorney present. He was booked into the LaPorte County Jail on a charge of murder and he was officially charged with that charge by the LaPorte County Prosecutor. He pleaded not guilty to the charge in LaPorte Circuit Court Thursday.
An autopsy was conducted by Dr. Joseph A. Prahlow at the St. Joseph Hospital in Mishawaka. The official cause of death is subdural hemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds.
Kathy and Joseph Jemiolo were reportedly going through a divorce and he had just moved back into the house the day this alleged murder occurred.
The day the incident occurred Jemiolo reportedly called Kathy Jemiolo wanting his car and his gun. The car and the gun were removed from the property before Jemiolo arrived at the home. Kathy Jemiolo barricaded all of the doors with chairs because she was scared of him.
It was later that night when Kathy Jemiolo was murdered.
