80-year-old man stabbed wife to death, Montgomery Co. police say

An 80-year-old man allegedly killed his wife during an altercation over the holiday weekend in Montgomery County, Maryland, police said.

It all started with a disagreement over an issue with his doctor, according to charging documents.

Vivian Stewart Nation, who turned 80 in February, told investigators the fight between him and his 78-year-old wife, Beverly Rose Fletcher, happened Saturday.

The couple lived in an apartment in Leisure World, a Silver Spring community for residents who are at least 55 years old.

According to charging documents, Nation said they started to physically fight and he then pushed Fletcher to the floor, where she “may have hit her head.”

He then got on top of her and pressed a hammer down on her throat, the documents said.

Police were called to the apartment at 3310 North Leisure World Blvd. shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday. When they arrived, a Leisure World security officer and Nation met them near the scene.

A knife and a screwdriver, both appearing to be bloodied, were found next to Fletcher in an office attached to the family room of their apartment, as well as the hammer that was found across her neck.

Police said she died from multiple stab wounds and other possible blunt force trauma.

Nation was transported to the Montgomery County police headquarters in Gaithersburg, where he was interviewed by police. He has been charged with first-degree murder.

Below is a map of the location of the incident: