MILTON — A Santa Rosa County grand jury returned an indictment charging Todd Michael Brown with first-degree premeditated murder for the death of his wife, Jamie Marie Pogreba-Brown, State Attorney Bill Eddins said.
Brown, 34, was arrested Feb. 22 after he allegedly admitted that he killed Pogreba-Brown.
Deputies answering a disturbance call at 6420 Eva St. detained Brown as he left the home, a sheriff's office arrest report said. They entered the home and found Pogreba-Brown lying in the kitchen.
She was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola "with severe head trauma," the report said and was pronounced dead at 3:01 a.m.
Brown waived his Miranda rights and told deputies he and Pogreba-Brown "engaged in a verbal dispute … about the money; $4,000 they owed his parents," a sheriff’s office report said.
The report states Brown called 911 and said that "he had struck his wife in the head with a hatchet." A hatchet was found in the home's laundry room, the arrest report said
Brown is serving time in the Santa Rosa County Jail without bond. His next court date is March 23.
Northwest Florida Daily News writer Tom McLaughlin contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton man indicted on first-degree murder