Pierce County man charged in ax attack that killed wife, stepdaughter

A 52-year-old Pierce County man was charged today with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder in the slayings of his estranged wife and her daughter on Friday night.

Prosecutors said it was too soon to comment on whether they will seek the death penalty against Charles Walter Nettlebeck.

Nettlebeck is alleged to have struck both women in their heads with an ax, according to court documents. Barbara Jo Nettlebeck, 52, was dead when deputies arrived at her Orting-area home. Her daughter, Bretta Joan Hawkins, 33, died Saturday night at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Nettlebeck and his wife were in the midst of a divorce. In January, Barbara Jo Nettlebeck, a King County corrections officer who worked at the Regional Justice Center in Kent, filed for divorce after a three-year marriage, according to Pierce County Superior Court records.

Hawkins worked at the front desk of the Renton Police Department for seven years, according to Paul Cline, patrol division commander.

In divorce papers, Barbara Jo Nettlebeck called her husband "violent and very controlling."

The attacks happened in the 27200 block of 168th Avenue Court East near Orting, where Pierce County sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call at 10:30 p.m. Friday from a man who said he had just assaulted his wife and stepdaughter.

Neighbors said the couple had held a garage sale hours before the fatal attack.