County man held in wife's death

A county man was arrested on Sunday after allegedly causing the death of his wife of 53 years. Edward Svoboda is believed to have struck his wife with a truck in the couple’s back yard.

Three deputies from the Crook County Sheriff’s Office responded on September 5 to reports that Edward had driven his truck into the back yard and struck his wife. She was pronounced deceased when the Hulett ambulance arrived on scene.

According to the incident report, deputies learned that Edward had driven to the neighbor’s house and asked for a ride, saying his wife had kicked him out of the house. Edward allegedly then got into another person’s car and drive back to his residence.

Shortly after, the victim allegedly sent multiple text messages to a family member asking for help and saying her leg was broken. The family member went to the residence and found her in the back yard; at that time she was still alive and talking.

While investigating the scene, deputies determined that the victim had been hit and driven over by a pickup truck hauling a tandem axle trailer with skid steer on the trailer. Tire tracks allegedly showed where the truck had driven into the yard and turned left, and the position of the victim’s body was consistent with her being driven over by the trailer tires.

At time of going to press, charges were pending with Circuit Court.