Florida woman accused of stabbing her husband over 140 times in attack that left kitchen covered in blood

A Florida woman is accused of stabbing her husband over 140 times in an attack that left over half the couple’s kitchen floor covered in blood, police said.

On Feb. 20, a Palm Beach County judge ordered Joan Burke, 61, be held without bail in connection to the murder nine days earlier.

Ricardo Anthony Green, 41, phoned police after he returned home from work on Feb. 11 and found his stepfather, 62-year-old Melvin Weller dead in a pool of blood in the kitchen, WPTV reported.

Investigators at the scene found a meat cleaver in the kitchen sink as well as blood covering counters, cabinets, the walls and the room’s floor, police said.

A plastic bag in the kitchen contained what detectives believe was Burke’s bloodied nightgown as well as the victim’s cell phone, police said, noting there were cleaning supplies near the body.

In the home’s master bedroom, officers discovered the dead man’s wife, Joan Burke, 61, lying awake but silent in her bed.

An arrest affidavit states Burke had multiple cuts on her palms.

An autopsy showed Weller suffered 140 stab wounds as well as a fractured skull, possibly after the accused bludgeoned him with the meat cleaver in the rear of his head, police said.

Burke was arrested on a first-degree murder charge.

Authorities have not released a possible motive for the stabbing.