Traverse City Record-Eagle

Benzie County

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August 21, 2009

Affidavit details night of shooting

BY ART BUKOWSKI

BEULAH -- A Benzie County woman accused of fatally shooting her husband -- a Michigan State Police sergeant -- referred to him as a "controlling bastard" in a call to a 911 dispatcher, but said the two weren't fighting or arguing when the shots were fired.

"I just killed him," suspect Joni Holbrook allegedly told Benzie County 911 dispatcher Nicole Smith shortly after 1 a.m. on Aug. 10, according to an affidavit filed with the district court by Benzie sheriff's deputy Mark Ketz.

Holbrook allegedly shot state police Sgt. Melvin P. Holbrook, 53, with his department-issued .40-caliber Sig Sauer handgun as he slept in the couple's 10877 Derby Lane residence near Beulah.

Melvin Holbrook was assigned to the state police Traverse City post, where he worked as a desk sergeant.

Benzie deputies allegedly arrived at the shooting scene to find Joni Holbrook standing on the front porch with her hands in the air. Holbrook's service weapon was recovered from a kitchen counter, Ketz's affidavit said.

Joni Holbrook told deputies at the scene she shot her husband as he slept, according to the affidavit. Ketz went into the master bedroom and found Melvin Holbrook dead with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

Joni Holbrook is charged with an open count of murder and is being held in the Benzie County Jail. Her attorney and neighbors contend she had been the victim of domestic abuse, but Joni Holbrook bore no obvious signs of physical trauma upon her arraignment.

Benzie Prosecutor John B. Daugherty didn't return a call for comment. Holbrook's attorney, Jesse L. Williams, doesn't believe the 911 recording "even insinuates premeditation," he said.

"We are not surprised or concerned about the statements made in the 911 recording," he said.

A preliminary examination is pending to determine whether enough evidence exists to bind over the case to circuit court for trial.

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