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A 59-year-old Clarence man with an apparent history of mental problems stabbed his wife to death and attacked his son Thursday morning inside a stately home in one of the town's priciest subdivisions, state police said.
Norris E. Wells of Spaulding Drive, in the Spaulding Lake subdivision off Main Street and Goodrich Road, is accused of killing Lynn M. Wells, 58.
She was stabbed multiple times in the chest just after 11 a.m., said Capt. George C. Brown of the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation. She was pronounced dead in Erie County Medical Center.
Their son, Daniel E., 29, was treated in ECMC for superficial stab wounds he received after trying to aid his mother. He was then released.
State police cruisers still surrounded the Wellses' corner lot at Spaulding Drive and The Maples late Thursday. Investigators were collecting evidence and combing the two-story brick mansion and its grounds for the murder weapon.
"He assaulted his wife with a knife. Why that happened I don't know, and what happened before that we don't know," said Brown. He said troopers went to the scene about 11:20 a.m., following a 911 call.
The Wellses' daughter, Deborah L., 26, and Daniel Wells' girlfriend were also in the house at the time of the attack, troopers said. Brown said that just before the incident, some family members were watching television or engaged in other activities. According to police, Daniel tried to rescue his mother and was stabbed in the arm and torso.
"He heard his mother screaming, and he tried to come to her aid, and that's when he encountered his father," said State Police Lt. Steven Nigrelli.
One of the women in the house went to a neighbor's house and asked her to call police, Brown said.
When troopers arrived, Norris Wells was found pacing outside and was apprehended without incident.
Troopers said Wells later told them he approached his wife while she was in the bathroom and attacked her with a large black-handled butcher knife.
He told police he was "a wacko" who had been in and out of ECMC's psychiatric ward, according to police reports. Police said he told them he killed his wife to protect her from several threats, including the Mafia.
Wells told police that he was last treated in ECMC on Tuesday.
He was arraigned Thursday evening before Clarence Town Justice William Waible on charges of second-degree murder, assault and weapons possession.
With messy silver-white hair, Wells stared blankly through wire-rimmed glasses as he was ushered past media into court. He wore a one-piece white paper prison jumpsuit and white paper slippers. His hands were cuffed in front of him.
Wells did not have an attorney at his arraignment. After initially asking state police for a telephone book to call one, he apparently decided not to, police said.
He stood rigidly at Waible's bench as the judge read the charges against him.
"I would recommend you get ahold of a lawyer," Waible said, explaining that it was unlikely that he would qualify for the indigent court-appointed counsel.
Wells shrugged. He told the judge he had not been to his job as an account manager for a distributor of Wonder Bread in several weeks.
Waible entered a not-guilty plea on Wells' behalf and sent him to the Erie County Holding Center without bail, pending a felony hearing Tuesday.
News of the fatal attack traveled quickly in the swanky subdivision of about 200 homes, where average property values are about $466,000. It is a place of meticulous landscapes where violence - especially homicide - is virtually unheard-of.
Keith Balisteri, a worker with Dan Zambito Construction, said he was mixing concrete for a new driveway across the street from the Wellses' home when he heard screams and saw a man, apparently clutching a wound, leave the house. One neighbor said he was acquainted with the Wellses.
"It was very surprising," said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. "They were fairly quiet." "I'm in utter shock," said Monica Rammer of The Maples as she slowly drove past a group of reporters at Spaulding Drive and The Maples.
"They are very nice people," added Rammer, who lives just up the street from the Wellses.
Rammer said the family has lived in the home for about seven years. She said she often saw one of them walking the family dog and often saw Lynn Wells working in the garden.
Added another woman walking by, "I guess it could happen anywhere."
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![[PokeCommunity.com] Stabbing near my house. Ack!](https://slakekilling.t35.com/0507scene.jpg "[PokeCommunity.com] Stabbing near my house. Ack!")
![[PokeCommunity.com] Stabbing near my house. Ack!](https://slakekilling.t35.com/0507stabbing.jpg "[PokeCommunity.com] Stabbing near my house. Ack!")
![[PokeCommunity.com] Stabbing near my house. Ack!](https://slakekilling.t35.com/spaulding.JPG "[PokeCommunity.com] Stabbing near my house. Ack!")
Norris E. Wells of Spaulding Drive, in the Spaulding Lake subdivision off Main Street and Goodrich Road, is accused of killing Lynn M. Wells, 58.
She was stabbed multiple times in the chest just after 11 a.m., said Capt. George C. Brown of the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation. She was pronounced dead in Erie County Medical Center.
Their son, Daniel E., 29, was treated in ECMC for superficial stab wounds he received after trying to aid his mother. He was then released.
State police cruisers still surrounded the Wellses' corner lot at Spaulding Drive and The Maples late Thursday. Investigators were collecting evidence and combing the two-story brick mansion and its grounds for the murder weapon.
"He assaulted his wife with a knife. Why that happened I don't know, and what happened before that we don't know," said Brown. He said troopers went to the scene about 11:20 a.m., following a 911 call.
The Wellses' daughter, Deborah L., 26, and Daniel Wells' girlfriend were also in the house at the time of the attack, troopers said. Brown said that just before the incident, some family members were watching television or engaged in other activities. According to police, Daniel tried to rescue his mother and was stabbed in the arm and torso.
"He heard his mother screaming, and he tried to come to her aid, and that's when he encountered his father," said State Police Lt. Steven Nigrelli.
One of the women in the house went to a neighbor's house and asked her to call police, Brown said.
When troopers arrived, Norris Wells was found pacing outside and was apprehended without incident.
Troopers said Wells later told them he approached his wife while she was in the bathroom and attacked her with a large black-handled butcher knife.
He told police he was "a wacko" who had been in and out of ECMC's psychiatric ward, according to police reports. Police said he told them he killed his wife to protect her from several threats, including the Mafia.
Wells told police that he was last treated in ECMC on Tuesday.
He was arraigned Thursday evening before Clarence Town Justice William Waible on charges of second-degree murder, assault and weapons possession.
With messy silver-white hair, Wells stared blankly through wire-rimmed glasses as he was ushered past media into court. He wore a one-piece white paper prison jumpsuit and white paper slippers. His hands were cuffed in front of him.
Wells did not have an attorney at his arraignment. After initially asking state police for a telephone book to call one, he apparently decided not to, police said.
He stood rigidly at Waible's bench as the judge read the charges against him.
"I would recommend you get ahold of a lawyer," Waible said, explaining that it was unlikely that he would qualify for the indigent court-appointed counsel.
Wells shrugged. He told the judge he had not been to his job as an account manager for a distributor of Wonder Bread in several weeks.
Waible entered a not-guilty plea on Wells' behalf and sent him to the Erie County Holding Center without bail, pending a felony hearing Tuesday.
News of the fatal attack traveled quickly in the swanky subdivision of about 200 homes, where average property values are about $466,000. It is a place of meticulous landscapes where violence - especially homicide - is virtually unheard-of.
Keith Balisteri, a worker with Dan Zambito Construction, said he was mixing concrete for a new driveway across the street from the Wellses' home when he heard screams and saw a man, apparently clutching a wound, leave the house. One neighbor said he was acquainted with the Wellses.
"It was very surprising," said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. "They were fairly quiet." "I'm in utter shock," said Monica Rammer of The Maples as she slowly drove past a group of reporters at Spaulding Drive and The Maples.
"They are very nice people," added Rammer, who lives just up the street from the Wellses.
Rammer said the family has lived in the home for about seven years. She said she often saw one of them walking the family dog and often saw Lynn Wells working in the garden.
Added another woman walking by, "I guess it could happen anywhere."
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