Accused Beverly Killer To Police: 'I Strangled Her, I Think'

BEVERLY, MA -- Jurors in the trial of a Beverly man accused of killing his wife heard a 20-minute recording of an interview he gave police in the hours after he turned himself into police. At one point in the recording, Axel Scherer, 48, tells Massachusetts State Police Detective Matthew Wilson and Beverly Police Sgt. David Faustino "I strangled her, I think."

Scherer's attorney is mounting an insanity defense in his trial on first degree murder charges n the strangling death of the author Edith "Edie" Black-Scherer, 45. Black-Scherer was taken to Beverly Hospital in critical condition on Nov. 16, 2015 and died of her injuries several days later. According to the Salem-News, which first reported this story, jurors also heard from a court psychologist Thursday who interviewed Scherer in January 2016 and concluded "I did not think he had a good grasp on reality."

For more on this story, see the Salem News. Subscribe to Beverly Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Patch file photo via Shutterstock.