A Florida woman confessed to killing her 81-year-old mother after an argument and then told investigators where to find the body, according to an arrest affidavit.
Crystal Kohler, 38, was arrested Monday night on charges of first-degree murder and grand theft auto.
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She admitted to killing Carmelina Kohler after an argument in the elder woman’s garage, NBC affiliate WPTV of West Palm Beach reported. Carmelina Kohler was reported missing Monday night, according to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.
Her husband told authorities his wife and daughter had an appointment at a nail salon that afternoon, but his wife never returned home. Crystal Kohler did, however, according to a case report. She told her father she had come home to change her clothes because Carmelina told her she “looked like a bum,” the report states. She later left in her mother’s van, which her father reported stolen that evening.
Carmelina Kohler’s cellphone was found Monday at an intersection.
During an interview with detectives, Matt Wilhelm, Crystal Kohler’s ex-boyfriend, said she had shown up unannounced at his home Monday night and appeared distraught, the station reported. Wilhelm said she told him “the less he knew, the better.”
Information he provided led detectives to a boat he owned at the Fort Pierce Marina where Crystal Kohler was, the station reported. She agreed to go with detectives to the sheriff’s office where she became upset while being questioned about her mother’s disappearance and requested an attorney, according to WPTV.
On Tuesday, she told detectives her mother was dead in the garage of her home and admitted “she was responsible for her death,” WPTV reported, citing an arrest report.
Crystal Kohler is being held without bond in Indian River Count Jail awaiting a May 1 arraignment.
