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Husband: Wife killed over request for rent

By LANA MUTHLER

lmuthler@lockhaven.com

MILL HALL –The two-story gray house sits along the highway among other residences in the quiet village of Rote. It was peaceful and quiet in that neighborhood last Saturday morning. But that wasn’t the case on Friday evening when all hell broke loose inside that home.

At one point two brothers and the wife of one of them were physically entangled on the floor of their home as they argued and fought viciously, police said.

Minutes later, the wife was dead, her husband was injured and his brother was wanted for murder.

That’s the way William Neff, 69, described the events leading up to the death of his wife, Agnes, 62, in the home the couple shared with his brother Timothy Neff, 56, police said.

Soon this serene countryside, where Amish buggies share the road, was filled with sirens and lights as police cruisers and emergency vehicles rushed to the house at 2194 Long Run Road. The road was blocked off and neighbors stood outside watching and wondering what had happened.

Asked what prompted the argument that turned deadly, William told police he and Agnes left a note on the kitchen table on Thursday night telling Timothy he had to begin paying $700 a month to live there beginning June 1. They also wrote that every week he was late he would need to pay an additional $25. William said they left the note on the kitchen table and the next day he saw that Timothy had written nasty comments over the note. According to the affidavit of probable cause:

It was about 5:30 p.m. when state police from Lamar were notified of a stabbing at the address. Trooper Lauren Pohlig was the first to arrive and found Agnes dead on the kitchen floor.

The trooper asked William Neff what happened and he said that his brother and Agnes were arguing and he (Timothy) stabbed her.

William said his wife and Timothy had been arguing and Timothy punched Agnes in the face with his fist, giving her a bloody nose and lip. Timothy followed Agnes into the living room, pushing her to the floor and again attacking her. William tried to break them up and soon all three of them were on the floor. That’s when Timothy lunged toward Agnes with a kitchen knife, stabbing her in the upper center back area, William said.

William said Agnes got up and walked to the kitchen area near the sink where she fell to the floor. William said he he pulled the knife out of Agnes’ back and called 911, listening to directions from the dispatcher and rendering aid to his wife until police arrived.

In the meantime, Timothy Neff ran out the back-side kitchen door and drove away in his truck, William told police.

During the struggle, William Neff suffered an injury to his left forearm that required medical attention, police said.

Police also interviewed Sabrina Jo Neff, the ex-wife of Timothy at about 8 p.m. Friday. Sabrina told police she called Timothy’s cellphone a few minutes before speaking to police and she asked him where he was. He told her he was “somewhere peaceful,” she said. Sabrina said Timothy told her that Agnes “started bitching that he needed to get out” while he was preparing food in the kitchen, and then she hit him really hard in the back of his knee and kicked him in the knee… all the while knowing he has bad knees.

Timothy told Sabrina he didn’t know what happened after that … that he “blacked out.” He said he was in a lot of pain and his knee is swollen huge and he can’t walk,” Sabrina related. She said she again asked him where he was and he again replied, “somewhere peaceful,” then told her he loved her and hung up.

This isn’t the first time that Neff has been in trouble with the law.

Online court records show Neff pleaded guilty in 2006 to an aggravated assault charge in Clinton County and was sentenced to more than two years in prison.

He also pleaded guilty to drunk driving charges in 2005 in Montgomery County and in 2007 in Union County. He spent time in jail on both.

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