Husband charged in wife's death in Memorial Bend home

A woman is dead after a domestic dispute in a west Houston home Thursday. A woman is dead after a domestic dispute in a west Houston home Thursday. Photo: Jay R. Jordan Photo: Jay R. Jordan Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Husband charged in wife's death in Memorial Bend home 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

An 80-year-old Houston man has been charged with murder in the fatal beating of his wife in their Memorial Bend home.

Richard Engelbrink was arrested after what Houston police described as a domestic dispute Thursday morning. Alice Engelbrink was struck several times in the head in the attack, according to court documents filed with the Harris County District Clerk's office.

She was rushed to Memorial Hermann Southwest where she later died, police said.

The dispute unfolded inside a home in the 200 block of Faust Lane, near the West Beltway and Memorial Drive, shortly before noon, according to the Houston Police Department.

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Neighbors told police they heard a woman screaming and moaning, then saw Richard Engelbrink bleeding from the head and jogging away from the home, a Harris County prosecutor said at Engelbrink's probable cause hearing early Friday.

Alice Engelbrink was laying in the front of the house, bleeding all over her body.

One neighbor reported seeing Richard Engelbrink knocking on every door along the west side of Faust Lane. One resident let him in her home, where he washed his hands in the bathroom, the prosecutor said. She called 911 and he left.

About 4o minutes later, authorities were sent to a Chase Bank in the 12800 block of Memorial Drive, about 1 mile from his home, on a suspicious person report. Authorities reported that Engelbrink was in the bathroom, washing what appeared to be blood off his hands, the prosecutor said.

He was carrying a .380 pistol, which was also bloody, the prosecutor said.

Faust Lane is a small residential road off the West Beltway where each and every home flooded during Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.

Many of the homes on the street are still under construction or renovation.

"I used to see the lady ... ride her bicycle in the evenings," neighbor Pravi Jethwa said.

Jethwa said the victim and her husband recently moved back into their home about two weeks ago after fixing it up from the flood.

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Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com