‘VIOLENT STRUGGLE’

Florida Woman Arrested After Whacking Meat Cleaver Into Husband’s Skull, Cops Say

The suspect also stabbed her physically disabled partner more than 140 times, according to Palm Springs police.

A Florida woman has been arrested after authorities say she fractured her husband’s skull with a meat cleaver and stabbed him more than 140 times. Melvin Weller, 62, was found lying in a pool of blood on his kitchen floor by his stepson earlier this month, according to the Palm Springs Police Department. Investigators concluded it was “obvious a violent struggle had occurred” between Weller, who family members say was physically disabled, and his attacker. Officers found knives and a meat cleaver in the kitchen sink, and blood splattered and smeared across the walls. Authorities found Joan Burke, 61, lying on the bed in the main bedroom of the house. She was “conscious and alert, but remained mute,” police said. Burke had lacerations on both her hands, which a police report identified as “very common” in a stabbing attack, “especially… when the victim is stabbed many times.” Burke made her first court appearance Sunday. The Palm Beach Post reported that Weller had previously filed to divorce Burke in December.