Elias Udechime has been arrested for the murder of his wife Chinonye Udechime.

Litchfield Park man who claimed his wife had killed herself in 2015 is now charged in connection with her death, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

Elias Udechime, 53, was indicted this month on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of his wife, 39-year-old Chinonye Udechime. 

Officials say Elias Udechime called police at around 5 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2015. He claimed to have found his wife in bed, not breathing and cold to the touch, the Sheriff's Office said.

Udechime told deputies that she had taken medicine the night before and had made suicidal statements to him previously, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Public records show Chinonye Udechime was a licensed pharmacist in Arizona and, previously, in Virginia. 

Officials report that a Maricopa County medical examiner performed an autopsy of the body and ruled her death as a homicide in June 2016, the Sheriff's Office said. 

Investigators had learned that the couple had been involved in a domestic-violence incident in February 2015. Udechime had been arrested on charges of domestic-violence assault. 

An arrest warrant was issued on Sept. 5, and Udechime was taken into custody without issue, according to the Sheriff's Office statement.

“Working with our partners at the Medical Examiner and County Attorney’s Office, we were able to arrest a person who believed he’d gotten away with murder," Sheriff Paul Penzone said in a prepared statement. "Justice will be served, even if it takes time to make the case.” 

Udechime is scheduled to appear 8:30 a.m. Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court.



Chinonye Udechime nee Okolo was one of  our own in UNN
Continue to rest in peace. A painful tragic loss.