Spring Hill man accused of with killing wife after argument

SPRING HILL — He did the most heinous thing he had ever done in his life, the man told the emergency dispatcher.

He called 911 late Saturday and confessed to shooting his wife, a St. Petersburg College professor about to retire, dead after an argument, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies responded about 11 p.m. Saturday to the couple's home at 7190 Raymond Place in Spring Hill, west of U.S. 19. They said they found Alan Osterhoudt Jr., 61, waiting for them outside.

Inside, they discovered his wife, Maria Osterhoudt, dead in the bathroom with a head wound, the Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies arrested Alan Osterhoudt. Charged with second-degree murder, he remained in custody Sunday without bail at the Hernando County Detention Center.

Records show he did not have any previous criminal history in Florida.

Maria Osterhoudt, 65, taught at the Tarpon Springs campus of St. Petersburg College.

After 11 years at the college, she planned to retire in July, according to campus provost Conferlete Carney.

A full-time faculty member in the college of computer and information technology, Maria Osterhoudt instructed several Web design and computer application courses this semester, Carney said. She led both on-campus and online classes.

She volunteered for several projects, assigning her students to revamp the Tarpon Springs campus website and create the original website for the Veterans Legacies collection at the campus library's Bilirakis Archive.

"I picture her now as always, walking with a purpose, heading to her classroom, always with a smile," Carney said.

Maria Osterhoudt's biography on the college website says she graduated from Jersey City State Teachers College in New Jersey and received a graduate certificate and master's degree from the University of Florida.

"I encourage students to explore the concepts of how technology works and how to make it work for them," she wrote on her biography page.

She also included a quotation from John F. Kennedy: "Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all."

Maria Osterhoudt once studied music and also dabbled in real estate, said Donald Carter, who was her husband in a previous marriage.

Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Stephanie Wang can be reached at swang@tampabay.com or (813) 661-2443.