911 Call: Extremely Polite Man Admits Frying Pan Killing

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An extremely polite man called a Michigan 911 operator Saturday and admitted he had just killed his wife after an argument over a $400 bill she had failed to pay, police said.

Michael Rode, 51, of Traverse City is being held without bond in the Grand Traverse County Jail on a charge of open murder in the death of his wife, 72-year-old Sandra Rode, The Grand Rapids Press/MLive.com reports. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

Police said the victim had been choked, bludgeoned with a cast iron frying pan and stabbed several times.

According to audio recording of the 911 call posted on the Grand Traverse Record-Eagle website, Michael Rode called the dispatcher shortly after noon on Saturday to report what had happened.

“Ma’am,” he said, sounding as if he was out of breath, “... I think I just killed my wife.

“You just killed your wife?” the dispatcher asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” he responded.

When the dispatcher asked what had happened, he explained they had quarreled about the $400 bill he said his wife had lied about paying.

“She turned around and pushed me, shoved me, you know,” he said.

“What happened to her?” the dispatcher asked. “What did you do her?”

“I had a frying pan, you know,” he said, pausing. “Ma’am?”

“I’m listening,” the dispatcher replied.

“I had a frying pan, and then I went and I got a knife, I did,” he said.

“Did you stab her?”

“Yes, yes ma’am I did.”

When the dispatcher asked if she was breathing, Rode replied:

“Oh, I think she’s dead, ma’am,” he said.

A neighbor of the couple who watched as Rode was led from the in the Traverse City apartment in handcuffs told UpNorthLive.com that it appeared the had victim fought back.

“His hands were covered in blood and he had no shirt on, he had blood on his stomach,” Valentina Sus said. “The left side of his face was like ripped open and looked like someone had scratched him, he had blood on his face.”

The couple reportedly kept to themselves.

The apartment complex manager said in a written statement entered as evidence in Rode’s arraignment that the suspect had repeatedly called him two days before the alleged murder because the couple wanted to pay their rent separately. Both were highly agitated, according to the statement.