Estranged husband took Uber to wife’s house, snuck in and killed her, PA officials say

A Pennsylvania woman’s estranged husband is accused of taking an Uber to her home, climbing through a window and killing her, officials say.

Police in Springfield Township searched the house on the morning of April 10 and found the woman, 37-year-old Elizabeth Shea, dead inside the main bedroom, according to an April 11 news release from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office. She was on the floor of the bedroom “with obvious cut wounds to her head and neck,” prosecutors said.

Officers went to check on her after receiving a call from a dog day care center in the area, as there was concern when she didn’t show up to work that morning, WCAU reported.

A window-mounted air conditioning unit had been pushed out of the way and investigators said they believe that is how the husband got inside.

There were multiple cameras installed at the home, and four hard drives and three cellphones “had been discarded in the bathroom sink and toilet,” officials said.

It’s not clear if any video could be obtained from the hard drives or if they were successfully destroyed.

In January, Shea’s husband was charged with assault following a domestic violence incident and, in March, he was evicted from the home and served a protection from abuse letter by police, WCAU reported.

Detectives learned that the husband, 37-year-old Kenneth Shea, had called an Uber to pick him up from his hotel after midnight on the day his wife was found dead. Uber’s records show Shea was dropped off on a street near his wife’s home, then got a ride back to his hotel at about 3:37 a.m.

Police from neighboring Bensalem waited outside Shea’s hotel room and arrested him as he exited, the release said.

“This is a tragic case, and our hearts go out to the family of Elizabeth Shea,” District Attorney Kevin Steele said in the release.

Her husband is facing charges of murder in the first, second and third degrees, and was arraigned on April 11, officials say. He was booked into the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

Springfield Township is a suburb of Philadelphia and is a roughly 10-mile drive west of the city’s downtown.

This story was originally published April 11, 2024 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Estranged husband took Uber to wife’s house, snuck in and killed her, PA officials say."