Lancaster police charge man in murder of his wife, found killed with a hammer

Police have charged a man in the murder of his wife after she was found dead in her home Sunday.

Lancaster police said in a statement that they believe Matthew James Alman, 49, used a framing hammer found in the South York Street home to beat Mildred Burris Arnold to death. Alman is charged with murder, said Scott Grant, Lancaster police chief.

Arnold, 58, was found by her daughter, said Jennifer Collins, Lancaster County’s deputy coroner.

Arnold’s daughter, April Moseley, said she and her younger sister went to check on Arnold after they hadn’t heard from her in a day.

Moseley said Alman, her stepfather, had been telling the siblings their mother was sick. But Moseley said it wasn’t like her mother not to return phone calls.

Moseley said when she and her sister went inside Arnold’s home, the house smelled overwhelmingly of cleaning supplies and they could see blood.

“It was like something out of a horror movie,” she said Monday.

Moseley said her mother appeared to have been severely beaten.

“Neither one of us should have ever had to see something like that of our mother,” she said.

Moseley said she is praying for justice. She said the killing comes just after her son, Joshua Burris, 23, was killed in Charlotte in an August carjacking that remains unsolved.

“It’s been a hard two months,” Moseley said. “Losing Joshua in August was the most – it’s been the most horrifying experience of my life. He was my baby boy and my family’s taking it day by day. If I didn’t have the Lord in my life, I wouldn’t be standing.”

Alman was charged with an unrelated offense during the investigation, Lancaster police say, when a substance believed to be blood was found on his clothing.

Police said they investigated the South York Street home and found boots, believed to belong to Alman, with blood on them. They also found the framing hammer with blood and hair stuck to it.

Arnold showed severe physical trauma, consistent with physical assault, police said.

Bond was denied for Alman.

The State Law Enforcement Division is assisting with the investigation.

A pair of SLED crime scene agents went to the scene to help process it and collect evidence, said Thom Berry, SLED spokesman.

Moseley said her mother was very involved in her grandchildren’s lives.

Moseley said she and her mother, who was in recovery from a drug addiction, didn’t have a good relationship growing up, but in recent years had become closer.

“She had become one of my best friends,” she said. “Especially with the loss of my son. She was just humbled and she was closer to us.”

Moseley said she already had to take a month off work after her son was killed and her husband, Al, was laid off from his long-time job just two weeks ago. Moseley said her family is “exhausted,” emotionally and financially.

“I just want to trust in the Lord that he will provide,” she said.

Friends are reaching out. A family friend set up a gofundme campaign to help the family, where $300 in donations have been raised as of Monday.

Moseley said her family is overwhelmed with their losses.

“They didn’t just murder my little boy and my mom,” she said. “They murdered a part of my soul. And I’m just trying to cope the best that I can – a breath at a time sometimes.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 7:50 AM with the headline "Lancaster police charge man in murder of his wife, found killed with a hammer."