Police: Woman, her mother killed by husband near Smyrna

A mother and her daughter were found stabbed to death Sunday morning by the daughter’s estranged husband at a home on a quiet, rural road outside Smyrna, state police said.

The daughter’s husband, whom she was in the process of divorcing, has been arrested and charged with the murder of the two women Sunday, Master Cpl. Gary E. Fournier said.

Gilbert E. Rochester, 66, of Clayton, was taken into custody after police found him hiding on the property shortly after the stabbings, Fournier said. Rochester was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony.

Troopers arrived at about 7:42 a.m. to the 300 block of Hawkey Branch Road shortly after a 911 call alerted them to a man stabbing a woman outside the pale-yellow home with gray shutters and a white picket fence.

When police arrived, they found Mary C. Lane, 56, dead in the long driveway leading back to the home, Fournier said. Further interviews showed that Rochester attacked his wife as she exited the home on her way to the detached garage in order to leave for church, Fournier said.

Troopers also found Lane’s 80-year-old mother, Louise M. Cavuto Carrow, in the detached garage, stabbed to death, Fournier said.

Through further investigation and interviews, police believe Rochester parked his vehicle about a mile east of the home along the rural road surrounded by fields and sparse trees. He then walked to the home and waited outside for the women to exit, Fournier said.

"We don't even lock our doors out here," a neighbor and family friend said. "I never expected this."

The neighbor asked not to be identified out of respect for the family.

Troopers found Rochester hiding amongst some trees on the far end of the property, which a neighbor said is nearly 3 acres deep. He was still wielding the knife police say he used to kill the two women, Fournier said.

After failing to drop the weapon after multiple police commands, an officer from the Clayton Police Department used his departmentally issued stun gun to incapacitate him and ultimately take Rochester into custody, Fournier said.

Rochester was transported to an area hospital for treatment and released before he was taken to Troop 3 in Camden and charged. He is currently being held without bail at Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna.

Neighbors heard much of the commotion Sunday morning, calling for 911 as state police cars and emergency vehicles swarmed the small stretch of homes and trailers on Hawkey Branch Road.

A nearby resident and friend of the family described Carrow, whom he said had lived in the rural home for many years, as very kind.

"She was a very kind woman and kept me fed,” he said. “They're going to be missed."

The man was driving home from work when a police car passed him on the two-lane road flanked by fields Sunday morning. He recalled seeing a strange vehicle parked in a field up the street from the home but didn't piece the information together until after he found out what happened.

“I was just over there yesterday,” he said. “I like to check in on them and see how they’re doing.”

According to the neighbor, the daughter moved home with her mother and stepfather to get away from her husband. The two had been fighting, he said, and it continued over the phone since she moved in.

Police said Lane lived at the Hawkey Branch Road address with her mother and 87-year-old stepfather.

By Sunday afternoon, many cars remained outside the home and along the driveway, but a police officer said family members had been moved to an alternate location while police continued their investigation.

The deaths come as a shock to those who live there, though. Some neighbors declined to talk, but the family friend said moments like these are the reason many who live outside Smyrna have guns.

Autopsies will be performed on Carrow and Lane by the state Division of Forensic Science to determine the exact cause and manner of their deaths, Fournier said.

Contact Brittany Horn at (302) 324-2771 or bhorn@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @brittanyhorn.