Husband Beats Wife to Death In Her Sleep with A Wrench

A Michigan man horrifically bludgeoned his wife to death with a wrench while she slept on their couch.

Justin Wagenberg, 37, is charged with homicide of a family member. According to Oakland County Jail records, he was denied bond.

Authorities said, “Wagenberg fatally beat his wife, Katy Dougherty, on Oct. 16. After the killing, Wagenberg fled the couple’s Waterford Township, Michigan home for Wisconsin, before eventually returning to allegedly confess to the crime.”

“Well, on the way back, he said he found Christ or something over the last month, and so he decided to go back home and turn himself in, but he came home first and went to bed, for I don’t know how long, and then he called the police,” Dougherty’s father said.

Another source that wish to be unknown said, “Well, he told them that he snapped. He was not on his meds, and he snapped. We didn’t want people to think she killed herself because she didn’t, and I think people think that, and she would never have done that.”

Dougherty’s family says she worked as a hairdresser at three different assisted living communities in the Oakland County area.

“She always had a smile on her face, she was my niece, and I loved her,” Dougherty’s aunt Peggy Dahl said.

Dougherty’s obituary read that she was a bright person who lit up any room she came into. Her smile was infectious. She loved her family and Coco, her cat. She was funny, giving, giggly and witty. She was truly loved because she was love!

Wagenberg was ordered on Tuesday to take a competency exam. In court, he voiced apparent confusion.

“I don’t know,” he said, stammering, when the judge asked if he understood it. “But I’ll agree to it.”