83-year-old charged in wife's death shot her hours before he called 911, prosecutor said

An 83-year-old man arrested Thursday in the fatal shooting of his wife allegedly told police that she was "verbally abusive" and waited hours before calling 911, a Cumberland County prosecutor said during Leslie David Brewer's first appearance in court on Friday.

Brewer is charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Betsy Craven Brewer, 83, a news release said.

At a brief hearing Friday before Judge Cheri Siler-Mack, Assistant District Attorney Rob Thompson said Brewer shot his wife of 60 years Wednesday, then left for cigarettes, before calling police the next morning.

"He was deciding whether or not to call," Thompson said. "He intended on living off the land."

Thompson said that Brewer told police that his wife "was very verbally abusive to him."

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After Brewer called 911 about 10 a.m. Thursday, police found Betsy Brewer dead of a gunshot wound in the couple's home in the 600 block of Pleasant Loop, a news release said. Leslie Brewer was arrested at the scene.

Thompson said in court that the slain woman was shot with a lever-action .22-caliber rifle.

Brewer, who was brought into the small courtroom at the jail for the hearing, appeared calm and responded politely when asked questions.

When the judge asked how he was doing, Brewer said, "I'm doing fine."

The judge appointed Brewer an attorney and set his bail at $500,000.

According to property records, he has owned the home on Pleasant Loop since 2007.

Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: 83-year-old charged in wife's death shot her hours before he called 911, prosecutor said