Woman charged with stabbing brother

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BARABOO, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a southern Wisconsin woman suspected of stabbing her brother to death during a confrontation over cigarettes with first-degree reckless homicide.

Investigators believe Anne M. Simon, 58, of Baraboo, killed Donald E. Simon, 56, early Dec. 22 in her kitchen. The Baraboo News Republic reports that the criminal complaint states Simon told investigators that her brother had verbally abused her around 2 a.m. Monday, asking her for cigarettes. At one point he grabbed her from behind and yelled at her about his cigarettes. She then grabbed a knife from the counter and stabbed him in the chest, according to the complaint.

He walked back to a recliner and collapsed, the woman told detectives. She then went to bed and fell asleep. She woke up about nine hours later, found her brother in the same place on the floor, dead, and called 911, according to the complaint.

An autopsy showed he had been stabbed in the heart.

Personnel from the state crime lab found a set of knives hidden in the home’s basement foundation, according to the complaint. Police had to break through the concrete block foundation wall to recover some of them.

Simon said she placed the knives in the walls but had no explanation, according to the complaint.

Sauk County District Attorney Kevin Calkins asked Judge James Evenson to set Simon’s bond at $100,000 during her initial court appearance Friday. Calkins said Simon is a flight risk and has a lengthy criminal record that includes drunken driving, disorderly conduct and battery. Evenson set bond at $40,000 cash.

Simon’s attorney, Gregory Sacra, declined to comment to The Associated Press when reached by phone Saturday. Simon is due back in court on Jan. 30.

Information from: Baraboo News Republic, http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr