Alleged gay ‘wife beater’ arrested in Georgetown murder

D.C. police on Tuesday charged a 47-year old gay man with second-degree murder for the Aug. 12 death of his 91-year-old wife, whose marriage he describes as a relationship of  ”convenience,” according to the Washington Post.

Albrecht Gero Muth, who was married to Viola Drath for 21 years, said in a series of emails that he’s attempting to convince D.C. police homicide detectives that he isn’t the person who killed his wife, the Post reported on Tuesday.

D.C. police said Drath, a popular Georgetown socialite, was found dead in the bedroom of her home on the 3200 block of Q Street, N.W.  The city’s medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, saying there were no signs of a forced entry into the house. The medical examiner didn’t disclose the specific type of injury that caused her death.

The Post reports that D.C. Superior Court records show that Drath obtained several protective orders against Muth during the time of their marriage on grounds that he physically abused and threatened her. One such order in 2006, when she was 86 and Muth was 42, says Drath told police her husband attacked her with a chair, sat on her, and held her captive in her home.

Following a fight with his wife in 2002, Muth moved into the home of Donald Davis, with whom he was having a romantic relationship, the Post reported. Davis confirmed that he and Muth were romantically involved for several years until Muth began to threaten Davis, the Post reported. According to the Post, Davis obtained a protective order against Muth in 2004 after Muth threatened to have Davis killed. A short time later, Muth moved back into Drath’s house in Georgetown.