Bond has been set for a Milan man charged with first-degree murder after his wife was found dead in the couple’s apartment last month.
The court set bond for 20-year-old Edward James Elijah “Eli” Withey at $100,000 cash only. He was previously to be held on no bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 22.
Withey has also been charged with the felonies of armed criminal action and abandonment of a corpse.
A probable cause statement says two friends of his wife, Mattie, went to the apartment in the 300 block of North State Street and found her body on the floor in the doorway between a bedroom and an attached bathroom. She had an apparent gunshot wound to her face.
Milan Police Chief Gail Hayes took Eli Withey into custody. Upon his arrest, officers observed red stains, which appeared to be blood, on the hooded sweatshirt he was wearing.
The probable cause statement notes that, during the execution of a search warrant at the apartment, officers found a .22 caliber Savage rifle in the same bedroom in which Mattie was found, and a half-pint Ball jar with ammunition was found in a living room.
