Man tells 911 he killed
20-year-old wife in Newark

Sunday night, Greg Bessey of Mobile Drive, Newark called 911 to say he had strangled his wife, Sarah, in their trailer home.

Wayne County 911 received the call around 8:30 p.m. on September 23.

When police arrived at the residence in Martin's Trailer Park off North Main, they found that Sarah Bessey, 20, had died.

Greg Bessey, 23, was arrested by Newark Police Officer Randy Rice and taken into custody. He was charged with second-degree murder, arraigned before Village Justice Daniel Barrett, and committed to Wayne County Jail with no bail.

The young child is being cared for by relatives. Bessey had a hearing on September 26 in Newark Village Court.

Sarah Bessey went to the residence Sunday, where she, Greg and their two-year-old daughter had been living, to retrieve personal items and arrange for visitation for the child.

Police had not previously been called to their address for domestic violence or any other complaints.

Bessey, employed by Getty Mart in Newark, was arrested by Newark Police on Sept. 22 and was charged with driving while intoxicated.

Homicides are not common in Newark. In the past nine years, police have dealt with three murders: John Grant (1998), Josephine Greenwald (1999) and Lewis Brown (2001).

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