BEULAH -- Questions abound in the death of a Michigan State Police sergeant whose wife told authorities she shot him in their Benzie County residence.
Benzie Sheriff's deputies found Melvin P. Holbrook, 53, dead in his home on Derby Lane shortly after 1 a.m. Monday. Holbrook, 53, served since 2002 as a desk sergeant at the state police post in Traverse City.
Police arrested his wife of ten years, Joni K. Holbrook, 47. She was arraigned Monday morning on an open count of murder in front of Benzie District Judge Brent Danielson and is being held without bail.
Joni Holbrook called Benzie County 911 at about 1:10 a.m. and said she shot her husband, Benzie County Prosecutor John B. Daugherty said. Daugherty said during her arraignment that Holbrook allegedly admitted to shooting her husband as he slept.
Deputies went to the residence and were met by Joni Holbrook. They found Melvin Holbrook dead from apparent gunshot wounds in a bedroom.
Benzie Sheriff Rory Heckman said it would be "premature" to provide details of Joni Holbrook's statements to police. He also wouldn't identify the firearm involved.
It's not clear what happened in the hours before the shooting, Heckman said.
"We don't know at this time what led up to the incident; that is still being investigated by deputies," he said.
Holbrook's defense attorney is Jesse L. Williams, of Traverse City.
"She has certainly endured an enormous amount of hardships that no one should have to endure and when the time is right and appropriate we will comment on those hardships," Williams said.
Neighbors of the Holbrooks said the couple had a stormy relationship and that they witnessed signs of physical abuse. Brooke Baker, a daughter of neighbor Barbara Johnson who lived for about three years on Derby Road near the Holbrooks, said Joni Holbrook appeared at Johnson's home last fall and said her husband had just beaten her.
"I asked, 'Why don't you call the cops?'" Baker said. "(Joni) said 'He is the police.'"
Johnson, who moved from the neighborhood July 10, said the alleged abuse wasn't hard to detect.
"She came to my house twice to borrow the phone so someone would help her," Johnson said. "I gave her advice; she should leave him."
"I have watched him push her out in the snow with no coat and then fling her clothes out, and heard arguments in the middle of the night so loud we would get up and listen," Johnson said. "We know that was an officer there, and we were kind of shocked at the behavior that was going on."
Baker said she and her mother never called police to report the alleged abuse, and she's not sure if Joni Holbrook ever did.
Capt. Tim Rod, commander of the state police's 7th District headquarters, refused to say if the state police ever had disciplinary issues with Holbrook.
"That wouldn't be something I could comment on," he said.
The sheriff's department hadn't fielded complaints at the Holbrook residence before, Heckman said.
"Benzie County deputies haven't responded there on any type of call for service or disturbances or domestics or any of that in the past," he said.
Joni Holbrook, whose maiden name is Ankerson, worked for 86th District Court as a clerk from March 1991 through the end of 1999. She was twice divorced before she married the state trooper in November, 1998, according to court and county records.
The couple separated in November 2007. She moved out of the house and he filed for divorce in Benzie County Circuit Court two months later on Jan. 11, 2008. Within two weeks the couple agreed to reconcile, court records show, and the divorce case eventually was dismissed.
Members of Joni Holbrook's extended family were struggling with the news Monday and didn't want to talk about it.
"She's a great person, we all love her dearly, and this is really a hard time," said her cousin, Terri Zenner.
Joni Holbrook's adult son was in the residence at the time of the shooting and provided a statement to police, but Heckman wouldn't give details.
Holbrook hired on with the state police in 1986. He spent time at posts in Manistee and Ionia before being transferred to Traverse City in 1997. He was promoted to sergeant in 1999 while at Richmond and transferred back to Traverse City in 2002.
Holbrook's superiors said he was a diligent and cheerful worker.
"He made sure equipment worked, vehicles were cleaned and oil was changed in the proper sequence," Rod said.
"He was always willing to help other people," said Lt. Bill Elliott, his boss at the Traverse City post. "Always kind of bubbly, always in good spirits."
Holbrook volunteered for the Benzie Central School track team for the past four years and worked closely with the shot-put and discus throwing athletes, school officials said. His daughter will be a senior there this year.
"(Holbrook) was willing to be a part of it ... he was always willing to work with and talk with everybody," said Benzie Central athletic director Karen Leinaar.
Staff writer Laura Wright contributed to this report.
