An Allen County jury took less than three hours to find a man guilty of murdering his wife, even though he claimed she pounced on him and threw a knife.

David Carwile, 56, faces up to 65 years in prison for the gunshot death in March with the possibility of an additional 20 years for using a gun to commit the crime. The sentence is set for December 17.

Carwile came to his defense on Thursday.

When Assistant District Attorney James Posey asked why he told police he hoped his wife was dead and called out his names, Carwile did not deny his statements made immediately after the shooting.

“I was upset,” he told jurors. “I don’t know why I said that,” he said in another explanation.

Posey said the most infuriating words came during an interview with police.

“The only thing I regret is that I didn’t even have my first cup of coffee,” Carwile told police.

Carwile, an antique dealer who sold knives among other things, killed his wife, Joyce Carwile, 59, around 9 a.m. on March 19. He testified that he was sitting on the sofa in his living room next to the gun he kept in a remote control. bag on the arm of the sofa.

Carwile said his wife threw a knife at him, a knife that somersaulted through the air and landed the blade in the middle of the sofa. He did not offer a possible motive for his alleged actions.

Fort Wayne Police crime scene technician Al Garriott said he had never seen the feat in his career covering more than 500 homicide scenes. No fingerprints were found on the knife or pistol, Garriott said.

Carwile, citing self-defense, said he drew his gun with a shaking hand due to his multiple sclerosis and shot him in the chest.

Forensic scientist Scott Wagner said the bullet entered Joyce Carwile’s body at a downward angle, the same angle that a second bullet entered Joyce’s back. Her husband said he fired the shot “accidentally” in the kitchen after rushing after her, fearing his wife would get another knife.

Posey called the “accidental shot” explanation a “wild tale,” primarily because David Carwile had to rearm the gun in order to fire again.

Suffering from two gunshot wounds, the 4-foot-8 victim left the house and sought help from neighbors. Carwile said he told her to get in the car so he could take her to the hospital, but she apparently didn’t trust him. Both shots were fired from 6 inches to 3 feet from his body, according to court testimony.

While their disabled daughter was alone in her room, Carwile sat down and wrote a note about the 20-year-old’s medical condition and introduced her daughter in a Chevrolet Equinox.

He did not call 9-1-1. A neighbor did. Carwile drove past police assisting his wife and another police car stopping at the house in the 4400 block of Alverado Drive.

“Why didn’t you stop? Posey asked him.

“I wanted to take my daughter out. She didn’t need to see that, ”Carwile replied.

Less than an hour later, a Fort Wayne officer arrested Carwile. He complied, according to court documents and testimony, by handing over the note outlining the constant care his daughter needed, including the phone numbers of two doctors.

His hateful words towards his wife, who was taken to a hospital where she died, were captured by the police car’s registration system.

“Well, I hope she dies,” he said. “Take me downtown and lock me up.” “

The words were similar to those used the night before when Joyce Carwile called 9-1-1, concerned about the location of Carwile’s gun.

She reported that they had a fight and that she was upset that he texted her sister calling the victim a “good bitch for nothing”. During that call, Carwile said he wished his wife was dead.

It’s no different than the story Tiffany Carwile, Carwile’s 30-year-old daughter by his first wife, told the Journal Gazette in a phone interview.

Tiffany Carwile lives in Ohio where she grew up. She said Joyce and David Carwile divorced and remarried. Joyce helped her husband sell antiques and worked at a local Salvation Army store, Tiffany Carwile said.

“Unfortunately, I am not shocked. He fooled people, ”Tiffany Carwile said.

She broke off communication with her father when she was a first year in high school, citing constant verbal, mental and physical abuse. She said he hit his children with a cane, wooden two-by-fours and belts. Tiffany Carwile also claimed he threw them into the walls.

She found his claims of self-defense “sickening”.

Her half-sister, known as Patty, currently lives in a house, but Tiffany Carwile hopes to find herself in a position where she can accept her non-verbal sister into her home.

Ryan Gardner, who represented David Carwile, has repeatedly said his client only shot his wife after being attacked by her.

It was up to the prosecutor to prove that Carwile had not reacted in self-defense.

Carwile appeared in court in a wheelchair but did not use one on the day of the shooting, nor did he use it all the time, according to testimony.

“Can you run?” a juror wanted to know. “No” was the answer.

Posey left the jury with Carwile’s own words. After Carwile said he hoped his wife would die, he added that he would “put her down, like she was a dog,” Posey said.

“He lied, twisted the facts, looked for sympathy and didn’t call 9-1-1,” Posey said. “I don’t care how angry you are with your wife, you are not allowed to kill her.”

jduffy@jg.net