RIT professor arraigned in wife's murder
A Perinton man accused of strangling his wife and dumping her body in a Mendon park pleaded not guilty in Perinton Town Court today.
Sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. John Helfer said Timothy D. Wells, 57, was charged with second-degree murder, a felony. Wells is accused of “strangling his wife until she was deceased,” according to court documents.
Neighbors, friends and other records identify Wells’ wife as Christine Sevilla, 58, also of Perinton. Deputies have not officially released her name, pending notification from the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Shortly after 2 a.m., deputies found Sevilla’s body inside a car in the area of a small pond known as “Devil’s Bathtub” in Mendon Ponds Park in Mendon, after receiving a 911 call from Wells, Helfer said, adding that Wells was taken into custody a short time later.
The involved car, a four-door sedan, was registered to Wells, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, and was later towed from the park, Helfer said.
The couple’s dog was also found at the scene, about 100 yards from the car, Helfer said. The dog had been struck, but is alive and is expected to be all right, Helfer said.
According to court documents, Wells allegedly strangled Sevilla in the couple’s home – 4 Springwood Lane – around 10 a.m. yesterday. Helfer said it was not known when she was moved to the park.
Sevilla was well-known in local environmental and arts circles. She was a photographer and an instructional and information designer, and had served as an adjunct faculty member at Rochester Institute of Technology in the masters human resource development program from 2000 to spring 2008. Sevilla’s resume listed degrees from RIT, the State University College at Brockport and the University of California – Santa Barbara.
She had written eight books, including a design textbook, a guide to local wetlands and a volume entitled Memorias - An American in Spain, A Spaniard in America.
For the last 12 years Sevilla and her husband had operated Lumin Guild, an information technology company that designs instructional programs and solutions.
Wells is an associate professor of information sciences and technologies at RIT, where he had been since 1990. His interests included business consulting, project management and media psychology, according to his university Web site.
A friend said the couple had no children.
The Medical Examiner’s Office this morning retrieved the body from the park and will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death, Helfer said.
As part of the investigation, deputies today searched the couple’s residence on Springwood Lane, Helfer said. Deputies closed the road to motorists for much of the day.
Helfer said deputies executed search warrants for couple’s home and involved sedan today. Around 1:45 p.m., deputies were seen removing computers from the couple’s house, which until that time was secured with yellow police tape.
Wells today was remanded to the Monroe County Jail without bail. He is due to return to court at 2 p.m. Friday.
