On Christmas Day, a New Jersey woman was charged with murder after fatally shooting her husband, a figure in local Republican politics.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said in a release that Hamilton Township police responded to a residence in the 5200 block of Mays Landing Somers Point Road on Sunday for a report of an injured man.
Officers discovered David B. Wigglesworth with an apparent gunshot wound. He was declared dead at the scene.
His wife, Marylue Wigglesworth, 51, called 911 after a fight and told responding officers she shot her husband, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Press of Atlantic City.
She was arrested and booked into the Atlantic County Justice Facility in connection with his death.
According to prosecutors, an autopsy determined that Wigglesworth died from a single gunshot wound and that his death was a homicide.
Wigglesworth was an active Republican Party supporter in New Jersey.
He previously served as president of the Hamilton Township Planning Board and ran unsuccessfully for the Township Committee as a Republican in 2012, according to The Press.
“He was a dedicated member of the party and worked tirelessly to support many Republican campaigns over the years, including his own,” Hamilton Township Republicans said on Facebook. We send our condolences to his son and extended family.”
According to online records, Wigglesworth had not entered a plea.
“A tragedy occurred on Christmas evening,” her attorneys, Jonathan E. Diego and Melissa Rosenblum, said in a statement. Ms. Wigglesworth is not guilty of the charge brought against her. The facts of that tragic evening will be revealed in a court of law, not in a court of public opinion.”
