79-year-old husband charged with murdering wife, investigation ongoing

By Ricardo Tovar

Click here for updates on this story

    CARMEL, California (KSBW) — The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has arrested the husband accused of murdering his 78-year-old wife on Thursday morning.

Investigators say that 79-year-old Donel Mark Geisen admitted to murdering his wife and attempting suicide in the High Meadows community of Carmel.

A deputy spokesperson said the incident occurred at around 4:20 a.m. on Thursday near 3700 Raymond Way.

“We received a call through our 911 system where a male had called in, specifically stating that he had murdered his wife,” the deputy spokesperson said.

There were no other calls about the incident, according to the spokesperson.

When deputies arrived, they found Donel and a 78-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds in the bedroom of the home. The female victim was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The woman was identified as Barbara Lynn Geisen of Carmel.

Donel was treated for multiple self-inflicted stab wounds; his injuries were considered life-threatening, according to the spokesperson. After receiving medical treatment for his wounds, he was arrested and booked into the Monterey County Jail.

It is unclear if a murder weapon was recovered at the scene.

Neighbors expressed shock at the situation.

“It’s very quiet. So to have, you know, multiple police and other vehicles show up at 4:45, 4:30, with all the lights. Shocking,” said Mark Howard, a neighbor.

Howard further described the scene, saying, “My wife was awoken first, and she woke me up to let me know there was excessive police activity right across the street. I didn’t see it, but she saw the two ambulances and the two fire trucks, multiple police vehicles, and she… we just saw a lot of police activity outside, including, she thought, them carrying at least one and potentially two stretchers.”

When KSBW 8 asked the sheriff’s office if there had been prior calls to the home, a spokesperson stated that the information was currently unknown.

The investigation is ongoing. No motive has been released at this time.

Donel was booked into the county jail for one count of murder. His bail was set at $1 million.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.