Yonkers Man Sues Wife, Accuses Her Of Cheating, Trying To Kill Him
YONKERS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A bitter fight has broken out between a Westchester County husband and wife – with allegations of adultery, and attempted murder and the middle of the night.
As CBS2's Lou Young reported, the Halloween skeleton hanging in the foyer is hardly the creepiest thing in one mansion on Pondfield Road in northwest Yonkers.
Last November, police were called to the home, and the man of the house, Kenneth Dearden, was carried out wounded on a stretcher.
"I was wondering what happened; I didn't even know if he survived or not," said neighbor Alex Lamas.
Kenneth Dearden did survive. And he has since accused his wife, Emily Dearden, of shooting him and trying to kill him.
The shooting happened in an upstairs bedroom around 4 a.m. on Nov. 14 of last year. Kenneth Dearden said he woke up with a sharp pain in his jaw, and his pillow covered in blood.
He discovered he had been shot in the back of the neck while he slept.
Kenneth Dearden said he went down stairs and found his wife on the ground, claiming she had been knocked down by an intruder. But he said that story never checked out, because the alarm system had been turned off from the inside.
He thinks Emily Dearden tried to kill him.
Emily Dearden is a senior psychologist with the NYPD, while Kenneth Dearden is a major developer in Yonkers. Emily Dearden filed for divorce nine months after the shooting.
Kenneth Dearden's court filings called the shooting "a sadistic attack by an adulterous defendant," and claimed that Emily Dearden was "getting pressure from her lover to end the marriage."
Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore told CBS2 on Thursday that the case is very much on her radar.
"We are fully familiar with everything that's going on in this case," DiFiore said.
When asked if criminal charges can be expected, DiFiore said, "Well, I'm not going to comment, but we are following and examining the evidence, and we'll take the evidence where it leads."
Kenneth Dearden claimed his wife was "caught washing the clothes she had worn the night of the shooting, and asked if police had a warrant" when they returned to investigate further.
Yonkers police also have been working the case.
"We are actively working it, but at this point I really can't release any additional information," said Yonkers police Commissioner Charles Gardner. "(The investigation is) not closed. It's active."
CBS2 is told the weapon in the shooting appears to have been one of two antique Derringers given to Emily Dearden by her parents.
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