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Indictment of wife reveals details in 2008 Clearwater slaying

 
Rebecca Fenton is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of her husband, Larry Fenton.
Rebecca Fenton is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of her husband, Larry Fenton.
Published April 8, 2014

CLEARWATER — Rebecca Ayn Fenton held a knife to Alfred Nolen's throat and threatened to kill him just as she had killed her husband, according to court records.

Nolen, who lived with Fenton in the past, didn't report the confrontation to police. It wasn't until a Clearwater homicide detective interviewed him that Nolen reported the threat.

These and other details were revealed in an indictment released to the Tampa Bay Times after Fenton, 46, was arrested March 21 in connection to the 2008 slaying of her husband, Larry Fenton.

A Pinellas grand jury indicted Rebecca Fenton on a first-degree murder charge.

Clearwater police have not disclosed a motive or what evidence triggered the arrest last month, but the indictment chronicles the moments after Larry Fenton's death.

On Feb. 3, 2008, Rebecca Fenton called 911 to report that her husband was "lying in a pool of blood" in the foyer of their Clearwater home at 1051 Nokomis St. An autopsy determined that Larry Fenton, 57, had been shot in his back, arm and neck.

At the Clearwater Police Department, Rebecca Fenton told detectives that she was working out in the detached garage of the home when she heard what sounded like something falling off the roof. When she went into the house, she said, she discovered her husband's bloodied body.

She also told detectives she had checked for Larry's pulse on his arm and neck, but the pool of blood "appeared undisturbed" and she did not have blood on her hands or her shoes, according to the indictment.

Larry Fenton's Jeep Cherokee was missing from the driveway. A few hours after Rebecca Fenton called police, an officer found the SUV a block south. In the rear cargo area were a jewelry box, Larry Fenton's wallet, a laptop and an iPod.

Investigators later searched Rebecca Fenton's Hyundai Sonata. Under the front passenger seat, they discovered a white plastic bag that contained the keys to Larry's Jeep, a gun case and several pieces of jewelry. They also found a .38-caliber revolver he had purchased in November 2007, according to court records.

The revolver contained five spent casings — the same number of bullets that had been fired in the Fentons' home, the indictment says. Authorities determined that the bullets had been fired from Larry Fenton's revolver.

The Fentons married in November 2004.

After her husband's death, Rebecca Fenton became the owner of their two-story house, where she continued to live until it was engulfed in flames last year. Within one week in June, the sage green house caught fire twice, resulting in more than $100,000 in damage.

Authorities said both blazes, which remain under investigation, may have been intentionally set. Police declined to say this week if Fenton is suspected of setting the fires.

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She pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and remains at the Pinellas County jail without bail.

Laura C. Morel can be reached at lmorel@tampabay.com or (727) 445-4157. On Twitter: @lauracmorel.